Laboratory for Cements, Mortars and Ceramics

In the Laboratory for Cements, Mortars and Ceramics we provide technical and expert support in the fields of cements, lime and other mineral binders, mortars, admixtures for concrete, cement-based adhesives for ceramics, cement grouts for tiles, screeds, grout for prestressing tendons, products for work with plaster, clay products, building glass, refractory materials, and salt for the winter maintenance of roads.

We co-operate with all branches of industry as well as with individuals who encounter problems or have questions in our field of work.

The Laboratory possesses top-class research equipment. We maintain professional excellence and strive to incresase our level of new knowledge, liaising with experts from various scientific and higher education institutes and from different branches of industries, both in Slovenia and in other countries.

Services

Testing of the chemical, physical-chemical, and petrographic-mineralogical properties of construction materials, preparation of opinions and expert studies, education of business personnel and individuals, assessment of systems for factory production control and for the external control of products, and the preparation of technical assessments and agreements.

The Laboratory has been nominated as a holder of the national etalon in the field of mole/materials (Decision of the Metrology Institute RS, which is part of MGRT, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.

Services in greater detail

• Research and development is concentrated on the following different fields:
• the chemical processes of the hydration of cements,
• the effect of mineral and chemical additives on the hydration of cement minerals, cements, and mortars,
• the chemical resistance of mineral-based building materials to aggressive media,
• the penetration of chloride ions into mortars and concretes,
• the use of secondary raw materials in the building materials industry,
• the use of waste for the production of (lightweight) aggregates,
• the use of raw materials for the ceramics industry,
• the main parameters which affect the resistance to freezing/thawing of ceramic building products,
• surface properties after exposure to mechanical and / or chemical effects (roughness, shine, and microstructure).

The Laboratory focusses mainly on the following materials and fields:

• cements and additives,
• refractory materials,
• lightweight aggregates,
• geopolymers,
• the cultural heritage.

Equipment

• ToniNorm compression testing equipment with a maximum loading of 300 kN
• Josef Freundl Easy M equipment for measuring bond strength by pull-off
• Munro Instruments Pendulum device for measuring the slipperiness of floors
• Thermo Scientific ARL PERFORM’X WD XRF spectrometer for materials and minerals analysis
• Empyrean X-ray diffractometer, manufactured by PANalytical (The Netherlands), equipped with a micro diffraction module
• Xradia MicroXCT-400 High Resolution 3D X-ray Imaging System for microtomography, XCT leaflet.pdf
• JEOL 5500LV scanning electronic microscope, with an OXFORD EDS analyser
• Carl Zeiss metallographic-confocal microscope
• Carl Zeiss Axio Scope.A1 polarized light microscope for petrographic investigations
• Perkin Elmer Spectrum 100 FTIR microspectrometer
• Horiba Jobin Yvon LabRAM HR800 Raman spectrometer
• Shimadzu UV-1202 spectrophotometer
• Sherwood M410 photoelectric flame photometer
• Netzsch DIL 402 C dilatometer
• SINT Technology Cordless drilling resistance measurement system
• Micromeritics ASAP 2020 gas adsorber
• Micromeritics AutoPore IV mercury porosimeter
• Brookhaven Instruments NanoBrook Omni instrument for measuring particle size and zeta potential
• Isothermal Calorimeter