Abstract
Portland cement pastes of various porosities were prepared using water/cement ratios of 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, 0.45, 0.50 and 0.55; and were hydrated for various time intervals ranging from 0.021 to 28 days. Pore structure and VL–t plots (plots of volume vs. thickness) of the hardened cement pastes were measured using nitrogen gas as the adsorbate. The results were found to be related to the mechanism of hydration as controlled by the pore system of the hardened pastes. Type ІІ adsorption isotherms of nitrogen were obtained for all hardened cement pastes. The adsorption-desorption isotherms indicated the existence of closed hysteresis loops for most of the investigated samples and in some other cases, these isotherms were fully reversible.