63028 2025 eng 1 23 137 58 article Springer Nature 1 -- -- -- In this paper, we demonstrate the value of 1 H NMR relaxometry for studying the hydration of clinker-reduced, climate-friendly cementitious binders. Our study includes white cement (WC), ordinary Portland cement (OPC), and samples incorporating reactive agro-waste based ashes and non-reactive biochars as supplementary cementitous materials (SCM). NMR measurements were performed over a period of up to 120 h during hydration with an echo time of 50 μ s and a relatively large sample size of 20 mL. The results were compared to heat flow calorimetry (HFC) data, and a detailed comparison with literature data was performed for pure OPC and WC. The results show that time-resolved NMR measurements, especially the analysis of individual NMR signal components assigned to defined 1 H reservoirs, are effective for studying hydration processes. They offer insights into the evolution of the microstrucure and specific chemical phases. NMR provides valuable information and serves as a good complement to HFC. The comparison with data obtained with shorter echo times (40 μs or around 15–45 μs with solid echo sequence) on much smaller samples showed almost identical developments with respect to the T2 distributions. For the SCM samples, NMR results indicated partially accelerated hydration processes compared to classical OPC hydration. One SCM sample acted as a highly reactive pozzolan, showing a similar hydration process to OPC with the strongest effect observed when superplasticizer was added. Adding biochar delayed C-S-H gel pore formation but significantly increased capillary pores and even free water, likely due to the sponge-like structure. Materials and Structures 10.1617/s11527-025-02632-x urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-630284 1871-6873 false <div class="errorPage"> <h2>Anwendungsfehler</h2> <div class="exceptionMessage"> Unable to Connect to ssl://api.crossref.org:443. Error #110: Connection timed out </div> </div> publish 12.05.2025 Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International Sarah Mandy Munsch Wolfram Schmidt Renata Lorenzoni Melissa Telong Lili Grobla Robert Lauinger Sabine Kruschwitz eng uncontrolled Nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry eng uncontrolled Heat flow calorimetry eng uncontrolled Cement eng uncontrolled Hydration eng uncontrolled Clinker reduction eng uncontrolled Carbon emission eng uncontrolled Kinetics Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik 7 Bauwerkssicherheit 7.1 Baustoffe 7.4 Baustofftechnologie 8 Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung Umwelt Circular Economy Material Verlagsliteratur Datei für die Öffentlichkeit verfügbar ("Open Access") Wissenschaftliche Artikel der BAM 8.0 Abteilungsleitung und andere Materialdesign Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/files/63028/Munsch_2025_hydration_clinker-reduced_binders_nmr.pdf