Influence of pozzolans on plant oil‐sulfur polymer cements: More sustainable and chemically‐resistant alternatives to Portland cement

Abstract

Low cost and high durability have made Portland cement the most widely-used building material, but benefits are offset by environmental harm of cement production contributing 8-10% of total anthropogenic CO 2 gas emissions. High sulfur-content materials (HSMs) are an alternative that can perform the binding roles as cements with a smaller carbon footprint, and possibly superior chemical, physical, and mechanical properties. Inverse vulcanization of 90 wt% sulfur with 10 wt% canola oil or sunflower oil to yield CanS or SunS, respectively. Notably, these HSMs prepared at temperatures ≤180 C compared to >1200 C hours for Portland cement CanS was combined with 5 wt% fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), or metakaolin (MK) to give composites CanS-FA, CanS-SF, CanS-GGBFS, and CanS-MK, respectively. The analogous protocol with SunS likewise yielded SunS-FA, SunS-SF, SunS-GGBFS, and SunS-MK. Each of these HSMs exhibit high compressive mechanical strength, low water uptake values, and exceptional resistance to acid-induced corrosion. All of the composites also exhibit superior compressive strength retention after exposure to acidic solutions, conditions under which Portland cement undergoes dissolution. The polymer cement-pozzolan composites reported herein may thus serve as greener alternatives to traditional Portland cement in some applications.

Chemical, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties of Sulfur Polymer Composites Comprising Low-Value Fats and Pozzolan Additives

“…Scanning electron microscopy with elemental mapping using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) of CFS 90 -derived composites showed uniform distributions of carbon, oxygen, and sulfur in the HSM domains, with voids in the high-sulfur domains at particles of the added pozzolan fines (Figure 2), as expected for a composite in which the added particles have not been chemically disintegrated. These data are consistent with the other three reports in which these pozzolans were used as additives for HSMs [13][14][15].…”

“…The incorporation of GGBFS into concrete as a substitute for other concrete components will, however, positively impact a material's rating in the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, from the U.S. Green Building Council) and BEAM (Building Environmental Assessment Method Plus, developed by the Hong Kong Green Building Council) rating systems for sustainability [12]. Therefore, one strategy we have employed for the development of sustainable alternatives to concrete has been to combine low-value co-products and/or waste products from other industrial processes into high-value materials that perform comparably or superior to conventional concretes [13][14][15].…”

Influence of Thermal and Chemical Stresses on Thermal Properties, Crystal Morphology, and Mechanical Strength Development of a Sulfur Polymer Composite

“…A tile of fully-cured OPC placed in even a dilute aqueous solution of H 2 SO 4 loses form and chemically decomposes within hours [56]. Before this study, it was known that HSMs that had already developed to full strength were acid resistant [10,36,44,45,57,58] but it was unknown how the exposure of freshly-poured HSMs to high ionic strength, acidic, or alkaline solution might influence their ultimate strength development.…”