What Is Polymer Concrete?

A collective term for particulate organic-inorganic composite materials. Refers to concrete made from a combination of organic polymers, inorganic cementitious materials and aggregates. According to its composition and manufacturing process, it can be divided into: polymer impregnated concrete; polymer cement concrete, also known as polymer modified concrete (PMC); polymer cement concrete (PC), also known as resin concrete (resin concrete, RC).

1. polymer cement concrete;
Polymer cement concrete is a combination of organic polymer materials and cement.

Compared with ordinary concrete, polymer cement concrete has the characteristics of high tensile and flexural strength, ductility, cohesion and impermeability, impact resistance, and abrasion resistance. However, it has poor heat resistance, fire resistance, and weather resistance. It is mainly used to lay seamless ground. It is also often used to repair concrete pavement, airport runway surface, waterproof layer, etc.

Resin concrete has the advantages of fast hardening, high strength, wear resistance and corrosion resistance, but the cost is higher. Mainly used for engineering repair materials or making acid-resistant storage tanks, railway sleepers, nuclear waste containers and artificial marble.

Polymer impregnated concrete has the characteristics of high strength (compressive strength can reach more than 200MPa), high water resistance, and high frost resistance, high impact resistance, high corrosion resistance, high wear resistance and so on. ^[1]

In terms of economic benefits, the price of polymer concrete is higher than that of ordinary cement concrete when compared with materials per unit volume, but the price of the former is often lower than the price of the latter when compared by unit strength and service life.

Polymer-impregnated concrete (PIC) A concrete-polymer composite material based on hardened cement concrete as the base material and filled with pores. The polymer content is 5-15% of the weight of the composite. The process is to first dry the substrate to varying degrees, and then immerse it in an impregnation solution mainly composed of organic monomers such as styrene or methyl methacrylate to make it penetrate into the pores of the substrate, and finally use Heating, radiation or chemical methods make the impregnating solution polymerize and solidify. During the impregnation process, the impregnation solution penetrates into the inside of the substrate and spreads throughout the whole body, which is called a complete impregnation process. Generally used in factory prefabricated components, each process is performed in special equipment. The impregnating solution which only penetrates into the surface layer of the substrate is called a surface impregnation process, which is generally applied to the on-site construction of pavement and bridge deck.

Because the polymer fills the pores and micro-cracks in the cement concrete, it can improve its compactness, enhance the bonding force between the cement stone and the aggregate, and relax the stress concentration at the crack tip, and change the original performance of the ordinary cement concrete. It has significant advantages such as high strength, impermeability, freeze resistance, impact resistance, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, and radiation resistance. It can be used as a high-performance structural material in special projects, such as pipes, piles, columns, floor tiles, marine structures and pavements, bridge decks in corrosive media, and parts with high requirements for impact resistance, wear resistance and frost resistance in hydraulic engineering. It can also be used to repair the surface and defects of structures to improve their performance.

The technology for preparing polymer-impregnated concrete can also be extended to materials that do not use cement concrete as a substrate and organic monomers as an impregnating solution, such as polymer-impregnated gypsum and sulfur-impregnated concrete.

Polymer cement concrete (PCC) Polymer concrete that uses polymers (or monomers) and cement as a cementing material. Its manufacturing process is similar to ordinary concrete. A certain amount of organic matter and its auxiliary agent are added when mixing with water. After molding and curing, the cement and polymer in it are cured at the same time.

The amount of polymer added is generally 5-20% by weight of the cement. The polymers used are generally synthetic rubber emulsions such as neoprene latex (CR), styrene-butadiene latex (SBR), nitrile latex (NBR); or thermoplastic resin emulsions such as polyacrylate emulsion (PAE), polyvinyl acetate Emulsion (PVAC) and so on. In addition, epoxy resins and unsaturated polyester resins can also be used.

Due to the introduction of polymers, polymer cement concrete improves the tensile strength, abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, impermeability, and impact resistance of ordinary concrete, and improves the workability of concrete. And bridge deck repairs, corrosion-resistant coatings for concrete storage tanks, bonding of new and old concrete, and other special-purpose preforms.