Development of magnesium phosphate cement mortars formulated with reactive silica

Treballs Finals de Grau d'Enginyeria de Materials, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Any: 2018, Tutors: Joan Formosa Mitjans, Alex Maldonado Alameda
The construction sector has been in upwgrowing these last years and consequently the contamination is at a level that takes society to concern. That is why nowadays it is a challenge for engineers and scientists to develop sustainable and eco-friendly construction materials. This research project aims to replace portland cement (OPC) using Chemically Bonded Phosphate Ceramics (CBPC). This cement is characterized by having a spontaneous and highly exothermic reaction that leads to a very fast setting. It also uses by-products such as magnesium oxide (Lg-MgO) and Ceramic, Stone and Porcelain (CSP) to make the material more sustainable and at the same time have a more competitive price in the market. It is wanted to analyze if the CSP reacts with the structure of the MPC known as k-struvite. To reach the optimal formulation, different influence factors are determined in the mortar and they are assigned important values through an Experiment Design (DoE). The results show that an increase of CSP increases mechanical and physical properties, but reactivity with k-struvite is unclear. The resulting MPC can be used as a repairing mortar.