No abstract

Biological matter evolution provides an idea for the human design and synthesis of new materials. However, biomimetic materials only stay in laboratory-scale models, and their large-scale industrial applications are yet to be realized. Here, inspired by nacre’s architecture, we report a continuous, large-scale method to fabricate phosphogypsum composites by reactive extrusion strategy. After curing for seven days, with more than 50 wt% of beta-hemihydrate phosphogypsum (β-HPG), the compressive strength and softening coefficient were 24.98 MPa and 0.78, increasing by 110.0% and 20.0%, respectively, compared to the pouring method. The results show that the screw extrusion process can improve the mechanical strength and waterproof properties of β-HPG hydration specimens without any special chemical admixtures and cements.

Polyester fiber and SBR latex cement concrete is prepared as pavement surface material; its fracture properties including fracture toughness, fracture energy, CMOD, and flexural strength are studied comparing with those of normal concrete (NC), polyester fiber modified concrete (FMC), SBR polymer modified concrete (SMC), and the combination of polyester fiber and SBR polymer modified concrete (FSMC). The modification mechanism of the latex and fiber on the concrete was also studied by the methods including X-ray test, chemically combined water, heat of hydration, water loss, and scanning electron microscope. Results indicated that the concrete modified by latex and polyester fiber has flexural strength, fracture toughness, and fracture energy of 44.4%, 397.0%, and 462.8% higher than the reference normal concrete, the polymer retarded the hydration process and reduced the hydration degree of cement at early age, while the hydration degree is promoted by the polymer film for its excellent water resistance after 28 d, and the bond between the fiber and cement paste is improved by the latex.