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ConcreCem Nano additive for adding durability to concrete performance

March 19, 2024
|
Les Ellaby
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Essentially, we at PowerCem love to tackle durability. The durability of PowerCem products reduce the high costs associated with maintenance and repairs. 

To improve concrete resilience to degradation, PowerCem creates nanomaterials with a size range below 20 nm (0.02 microns), delivering chemical functionality increases long term durability.    Materials with a sub 20 nm particle size range, corresponds to nanotechnology classification.

The key source of structural failure in construction material systems, comes from porosity. Pores cause cracks, structural failure and enable the penetration of corrosive and harmful agents.

Porosity is very important, in determining the strength of a material. In bone, increased porosity, causes bone fragility (osteoporosis). The same concept applies to concretes.

Pores in concrete determine the strength and overall ability of the construction material to withstand mechanical strain caused by heat, shear forces or chemical degradation. Pores with a size of 2.5 to 20 nano meters (nm) (or 0.0025 to 0.02 microns) are considered harmless pores. Pores with a size of 20 – 50 nm (0.02 – 0.05 microns), are less harmful pores. Pores above 50 nm (0.05 microns), are harmful and compromise the long-term stability of a construction material like concrete.

Pores in construction materials (e.g. stabilised soil and concrete) without PowerCem nanoparticles will decrease the mechanical strength, density, as well as the ability of cement/concrete to resist degradation. When the pores in concrete are filled with ConcreCem, the mechanical strength, density and lifespan of the concrete system increases substantially. With the concrete performance maximized with a higher heat and fracture resistance.

The cement industry is responsible for high levels of CO2 emissions. For every 1000kg of cement produced, 900 kg of CO2 is emitted. The cement manufacturing process constitutes approximately 5% of all global industrial emissions. It is imperative that environmentally compromising methods of the UK construction industry are not passed on to our children.

Contemporary cement poses an additional problem to the structural stability of concrete with steel-reinforced systems – carbonation.

To preserve the integrity of concrete, it is essential that its pH does not drop below 11. Carbonation is the reaction of CO2 in the environment with the calcium hydroxide in cement paste and lowers the pH to around 9. Under these circumstances, the protective oxide layer surrounding reinforcing steel breaks down and corrosion commences.

ConcreCem reduces CO2 absorption into concrete made with contemporary cement, which is a source of structural degradation.

ConcreCem nano additives can be used in cement replacement endeavours as well as property enhancement of both cement and concrete systems.

When PowerCem products are added in very small amounts typically within construction material systems, they confer both structural integrity and superior functionality, with less cement. Enabling constructions to withstand agents of degradation such as shear forces, corrosion, chemical attack, and temperature extremes.

The construction industry currently relies on silica fume for concrete performance improvement. Silica fume typically has Blaine values of 15,000 – 30,000 cm2/g. Blaine values for ConcreCem range from 359,300 to 703,000 cm2/g for the substantial enhancement of cement and concrete systems.

At such high Blaine values, our nano additives are very effective for accelerated curing, cementitious, porosity minimising, corrosion inhibiting and enable a seamless reduction in the carbon footprint of concrete.

 

 

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