Application of Electrokinetic Nanoparticle Migration in the Production of Novel Concrete-Based Composites

摘要

Electrophoresis has been widely used to build up complex composites by infiltrating particulate phases into porous ceramics and to facilitate putting uniform mineral coatings on metal for enameling. This technique uses a potential field to move charged particles that are suspended in a fluid phase into a porous medium. Fabrication generally involves a second step that fixes the layer of particles together and bonds them to the surrounding surfaces. When electrophoresis is used to improve portland cement-based concretes or mortars, there is no easy approach to providing a densification or cementation step that will bond the resulting composite phases together. An advanced approach has been developed that uses electro-transport techniques to migrate nano-sized particles suspended in a gel or solution that can react with the matrix to produce a cementing reaction in the pore space of the mortar or concrete to form a new composite. Electrophoretic infiltration and cementation is investigated using two types of mortar and both silicate and carbonate-based cementation. Results indicate both systems can produce useful density changes in mortar.