provided herein are catalysts useful in the curing of cementitious mixtures , which catalysts comprise one or more alkylene carbonates in combination with glycerin carbonate . through use of a catalyst according to the present invention , cementitious mixtures containing sodium silicate may be cured at low temperatures because the catalysts of the invention function well at low temperatures , even though they contain ethylene carbonate , a material whose melting point of 36 ° c . otherwise precludes its use as a cure accelerant for silicates . fig . 1 is a graphical representation of the results shown in table ii .