Marjorie Etchevers
EPFL, Switzerland
About Marjorie Etchevers
Affiliation
EPFL, Switzerland
Innovandi Project
Core Project 16: Factors controlling early-age properties at low clinker factor
Background
Civil and materials engineer from Imperial College London and ESPCI Paris with a focus on construction materials. I am interested in contributing towards durable solutions to reduce CO2 emissions in the cement and concrete industry, especially relating to clinker chemistry.
Research topic
A central way to reduce CO2 emissions in cement production is to reduce the portion of clinker in cement. Clinker is main component in Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), driving its reactivity. It is also responsible for most of the carbon footprint of the cement industry. Low clinker cements replace up to 50% clinker with supplementary cementitious materials and therefore have a significantly lower carbon footprint than OPC. While those cements can perform similarly or better than OPC in the long-term for strength, it is slower to develop. My work focuses on strengthening hydrated cements at early-ages by tweaking the clinker’s formulation to keep up with OPC’s early-age strength, even with high clinker replacement.