Action of triethanolamine on the hydration of tricalcium aluminate

Abstract Hydration characteristics of tricalcium aluminate and tricalcium aluminate + gypsum were studied following addition of 0.5, 1.0, 5.0 or 10.0% triethanolamine (TEA) at a solution/C 3 A ratio of 1.0 after hydration periods of 1 to 60 min. TEA accelerated the hydration of C 3 A to the hexagonal aluminate hydrate and its conversion to the cubic aluminate hydrate. The rate of hydration increased with increased amounts of TEA, which also accelerated the formation of ettringite in the C 3 A-gypsum-H 2 O system.