The hydrated calcium silicates riversideite, tobermorite, and plombierite

Abstract

In a recent paper Taylor has shown that three distinct hydration levels exist within the ‘calcium silicate hydrate (l)’ group of artificial preparations (Taylor, 1953a, p. 168). The individual hydrates may be distinguished from the position of the 002 reflection in X-ray powder photographs. The d spacings corresponding to the three hydrates of this group examined during the present investigation are 14.6, 11.3, and 9.6 Å. These hydrates have H2O : SiO2 molar ratios of approximately 2.0, 1.0, and 0.5 respectively.A recent examination of the minerals crestmoreite and riversideite (Taylor, 1953b) has shown that both these minerals are intimate inter-growths of members of the above hydrate series with the mineral wilkeite. Both the artificial preparations and the crestmoreite-riversideite intergrowths have failed to provide material suitable for detailed optical study.