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The interest in concretes based on alkali‐activated binders (AABs) is increasing significantly along with the continued research into and development of these novel construction materials from lab scale to practical application. The paper summarizes current knowledge about concretes based on AABs to address the following questions: What are structural concretes based on AABs? What are the specific characteristics with regard to the chemical binder reaction? What has to be considered for the mix designs of AACs? And which material performances can be expected?

In this paper, experimental results about the shrinkage and creep behavior of an alkali‐activated slag concrete (AAS‐concrete) are presented. The autogenous shrinkage of AAS‐concrete is pronounced at a relatively high water to binder ratio of 0.41. The ultimate value of autogenous shrinkage is determined to be higher than that of high‐strength concrete (HSC). The observed self‐desiccation at a later concrete age can be one of the reasons for the autogenous shrinkage. In a drying environment of 65% relative humidity AAS‐concrete exhibits a significantly higher total shrinkage compared to normal‐strength concrete composed of Portland cement. In the contrary to normal and HSC carbonation shrinkage must not be neglected for AAS‐concrete in the early concrete age. The sum of drying and carbonation shrinkage develops much more rapidly for AAS‐concrete in the first weeks after the beginning of drying. Based on the experimental results the shrinkage behavior of AAS‐concrete cannot be predicted by conventional models. The creep behavior of the AAS‐concrete was investigated under sealed and unsealed conditions. The creep coefficients for both conditions are higher than those calculated when using conventional models.

Kaolins and clays are important raw materials for production of supplementary cementitious materials and geopolymer precursors through thermal activation by calcination beyond dehydroxylation (DHX). Both types of clay contain different polytypes and disordered structures of kaolinite but little is known about the impact of the layer stacking of dioctahedral 1:1 layer silicates on optimum thermal activation conditions and following reactivity with alkaline solutions. The objective of the present study was to improve understanding of the impact of layer stacking in dioctahedral 1:1 layer silicates on the thermal activation by investigating the atomic structure after dehydroxylation. Heating experiments by simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) followed by characterization of the dehydroxylated materials by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) together with first-principles calculations were performed. Density functional theory (DFT) was utilized for correlation of geometry-optimized structures to thermodynamic stability. The resulting volumes of unit cells were compared with data from dilatometry studies. The local structure changes were correlated with experimental results of increasing DHX temperature in the following order: disordered kaolinite, kaolinite, and dickite, whereupon dickite showed two dehydroxylation steps. Intermediate structures were found that were thermodynamically stable and partially dehydroxylated to a degree of DHX of 75% for kaolinite, 25% for disordered kaolinite, and 50% for dickite. These thermodynamically stable, partially dehydroxylated intermediates contained AlV while metakaolinite and metadickite contained only AlIV with a strongly distorted coordination shell. These results indicate strongly the necessity for characterization of the structure of dioctahedral 1:1 layer silicates in kaolins and clays as a key parameter to predict optimized calcination conditions and resulting reactivity.