BARRETO, MATHEUS DE FARIA E OLIVEIRA1, BRANDÃO, PAULO ROBERTO GOMES2,

1PhD, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, PPGEM, Belo Horizonte, Brasil, matheusfob@yahoo.com.br.

2PhD, Professor, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, DEMIN, Belo Horizonte, Brasil, pbrandao@demin.ufmg.br.

The characterization of Portland cement mortars is very important in the study of the interfaces and surfaces that make up the system grout / ceramic block. In this sense, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive (X-ray) spectrometer are important tools in investigating the morphology and chemical aspects. However, more detailed topographic information can be necessary in the characterization process. In this work, the aim was to characterize topographically surfaces and interfaces of mortars applied onto ceramic blocks. This has been accomplished by using the atomic force microscope (AFM) – MFP-3D-SA Asylum Research. To date, the results obtained from this research show that the characterization of cementitious materials with the help of AFM has an important contribution in the investigation and differentiation of hydrated calcium silicates (CSH), calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2, ettringite and calcium carbonate by providing morphological and microtopographical data, which are extremely important and reliable for the understanding of cementitious materials.

Keywords: Microstructural characterization, mortar, atomic force microscopy, interfaces and surfaces, cementitious materials.