The good, the bad and the ugly polishing: Effect of abrasive size on standardless EDS analysis of Portland cement clinker’s calcium silicates

Standardless Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) on polished samples of Portland cement clinker is routinely performed both for unhydrated phases as well as in cement pastes. Typically, the calcium to silica ratio is investigated. EDS analyses are highly dependent on the polishing quality of the sample. It is thus worth studying the Ca/Si ratios of cement phases in a clinker since they can be used as a reference. Indeed, alite (Ca3SiO5 or C3S in cement chemistry notation) and belite (Ca2SiO4 or C2S) should have an atomic Ca/Si ratio of 3 and 2, respectively. EDS carried out under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) is routinely used on polished samples to assess the composition of such phases. In the present study, Ca/Si ratios are investigated on a commercial clinker polished at various steps (6, 3, 1 and 0.25 µm diamond pastes, 0.05 µm alumina). All along the polishing process, ratios are coherent with theoretical ones and with the reference ones obtained by electron probe microanalysis (EMPA) in the present study. •Portland cement clinker is used as a reference material to study EDS analysis.•Two types of calcium silicates, Ca2SiO4 and Ca3SiO5, can be compared.•Ca/Si ratio obtained by EDS is accurate from only 100 counts.•Ca/Si ratio is accurate even before final polishing is obtained.•Rugosity parameters on polished samples yields a Ra range from 53 to 181 nm.