Research Expertise and Interest
cement chemistry, advanced characterization methods for cementitious materials, low-carbon concrete, supplementary cementitious materials, calcined clay technology, LCA of cement-based materials
Research Description
Franco Zunino is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His research revolves around the development of novel, environmental friendly cementitious materials with a fundamental scientific approach. Among his interests are advanced, time-resolved characterization methods of cement hydration, interaction of surfaces with polymers in cement paste, microstructural analysis through electron microscopy and optimization of the production process of clinker and supplementary cementitious materials.
His doctoral thesis was recognized in 2021 with the Nanocem 2020 prize, awarded to the best thesis in the field of cement and concrete science worldwide by a panel of international experts. In 2022, he received the Wason Medal, awarded by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) to the most meritorious paper published in 2021 in their journals. In 2023, he was recognized by RILEM with the Colonnetti Medal for his outstanding contributions to the fields of construction materials and structures.
Research Highlights
Limestone calcined clay cements (LC3)
LC3, blended cement produced by the combination of limestone, calcined clays and Portland cement provides a solution that achieves equivalent mechanical performance to OPC (Type I/II), better durability against chloride and ASR and a reduction of CO2 emissions by about 40%. Furthermore it is cost effective, and due to the similarities with OPC it is a material that can be adopted today using the same construction equipment and workforce worldwide. Among his contributions of Dr. Zunino to the LC3 technology, establishing a mechanism of sulfate requirement in blended cements and a detailed description of the microstructural development of LC3 can be considered landmarks of his work.
Hydration and phase assemblage of Portland limestone cements (PLC)
Limestone, while mostly inert, provides excellent nucleation surfaces for the precipitation of hydrates, and in some cases may positively contribute to the workability of the material. Nowadays, these cements are more common than conventional Type I/II Portland cements. Furthermore, the widespread availability of limestone makes these cements ideal candidates for scaling up replacement of clinker beyond what is feasible with just limestone with other locally available materials. This is for example happening currently in the USA, switching from Type I/II to almost exclusively Portland limestone cements (Type IL in ASTM C595), roughly saving 10% of CO2 relative to the previous situation where OPC was dominant. Dr. Zunino has extensive experience and continues working on the optimization and deployment of Type IL cements.