6055.1:
AFM study of water absorption and transport in cement on a molecular scale
Abstract
The goal of this project is to investigate, to understand and to quantitatively formulate the conditions for wetting of and water transport on the internal surfaces of porous building materials, mainly cement as a first, most important one. The conditions and the evolution of mono-, polymolecular films up to the formation of droplets, possibly of nanoscopic size shall be understood and transferred to the formulation of transport processes of heat and moisture in such materials. This research shall complement the phenomenological, thermodynamic approach to the understanding of such transport processes. It shall also help to build further up the base for the design of new materials with desired properties.