Methods for the assessment of carbon dioxide absorbed by cementitious materials

This chapter compares five methods for the assessment of carbon dioxide uptake by cementitious materials, including determination of mass change, gamma densitometry, ignition testing method, quantitative X-ray diffraction, and coulometric titration. As nondestructive methods, mass change and gamma densitometry methods can be used to monitor the carbonation process at different times by measuring mass or density change of sample. However, the evaporable water needs to be carefully collected for calculation of carbon dioxide uptake when using mass change method. The other three methods are used to calculate carbon dioxide absorption by testing the content of calcium carbonate in samples after carbonation. Nevertheless, the initial carbon dioxide in materials needs to be excluded.