Nuclear spin relaxation and water self-diffusion in hardening magnesium oxychloride cement

In this contribution, we report the results of NMR studies of the behaviour of water in a hydrating Sorel cement paste with a composition close to the stoichiometric optimum. Both the transverse spin-relaxation behaviour and water self-diffusion were studied in two separate experiments performed on samples on the basis of the same formulation. While there is a very strong initial decrease in the transverse relaxation time of the water in the past e, the diffusion coefficient is found to decrease mainly at later times of the hydration process where the decrease of the transverse relaxation time has already strongly slowed down. After about 6 h of the hardening process, the signal intensity available for a pulsed gradient diffusometry experime nt is not sufficient any more for reliable measurements of the diffusion co efficients.