Two international awards for the ICB Laboratory’s PCMC2 team
The PCMC2 (Physico-Chimie des Milieux Cimentaires et Colloidaux) team in the Interfaces department of the ICB Laboratory at Burgundy Europe University has recently been honoured with two prestigious awards in the field of cement science, underlining its scientific excellence.
Each year, the international scientific journal Cement and Concrete Research honours the three best papers of the year with the ‘Le Chatelier Distinguished Papers’ awards. The best of these papers is awarded the Le Chatelier Medal, the highest distinction in cement and concrete research. For the 2023 edition, the PCMC2 team was doubly rewarded, having co-authored two of the three prize-winning papers.
This work, carried out in international collaboration, explores the nucleation mechanisms of the main hydrate in cement in the presence of organic molecules and polymers.
- The first paper, supported by the European NanoCem consortium, was awarded the ‘Le Chatelier’ medal: C. Labbez, L. Bouzouaid, A.E.S. Van Driessche, W.L. Ling, J.C. Martinez, B. Lothenbach, A. Fernandez-Martinez, Mechanisms and kinetics of C-S-H nucleation approaching the spinodal line: Insights into the role of organics additives, Cement and Concrete Research 173 (2023).
- The second paper, funded by the German company BASF, won the ‘Le Chatelier Distinguished Papers’ prize: A. Picker, L. Nicoleau, A. Nonat, C. Labbez, H. Cölfen, Influence of polymers on the nucleation of calcium silicate hydrates, Cement and Concrete Research 174 (2023) 107329.
The PCMC2 team was also awarded the Brunauer Prize by the American Ceramic Society. This annual award recognises the most outstanding paper on cements published in the Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society or the Journal of the American Ceramic Society.
The winning article: A. Mériot, M.-N. de Noirfontaine, M. Courtial, L. Izoret, S. Tusseau-Nenez, M. Labourel, S. Gauffinet, F. Dunstetter, From selective dissolution to crystal chemistry of brownmillerite in sulfate resisting cement, Journal of the American Ceramic Society 106 (2023) 709-721.
These awards highlight the scientific excellence and international impact of the research carried out by the PCMC2 team. They underline the importance of the work on understanding chemical phenomena related to cements and concretes, with concrete applications in the materials industry.