Ultrafast stiffening of concentrated thermoresponsive mineral suspensions

Sharu Bhagavathi Kandy; Iman Mehdipour; Narayanan Neithalath; Aditya Kumar; Mathieu Bauchy; Edward Garboczi; Samanvaya Srivastava; Torben Gaedt; Gaurav Sant

Materials & Design (Sep 2022)

Ultrafast stiffening of concentrated thermoresponsive mineral suspensions

Sharu Bhagavathi Kandy,
Iman Mehdipour,
Narayanan Neithalath,
Aditya Kumar,
Mathieu Bauchy,
Edward Garboczi,
Samanvaya Srivastava,
Torben Gaedt,
Gaurav Sant

Affiliations

Sharu Bhagavathi Kandy: Laboratory for the Chemistry of Construction Materials (LC2), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Institute for Carbon Management (ICM), University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Iman Mehdipour: Laboratory for the Chemistry of Construction Materials (LC2), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Institute for Carbon Management (ICM), University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Narayanan Neithalath: School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 86587, USA
Aditya Kumar: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USA
Mathieu Bauchy: Institute for Carbon Management (ICM), University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Laboratory for the Physics of AmoRphous and Inorganic Solids (PARISlab), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Edward Garboczi: Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Samanvaya Srivastava: Institute for Carbon Management (ICM), University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; UCLA Center for Biological Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Torben Gaedt: Department of Chemistry, Technische Universität München, Lehrstuhl für Bauchemie, Lichtenbergstrasse 4, D-85747 Garching bei München, Germany; Corresponding authors.
Gaurav Sant: Laboratory for the Chemistry of Construction Materials (LC2), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Institute for Carbon Management (ICM), University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Corresponding authors.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 221
p. 110905

Abstract

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Extrusion-based 3D printing with rapidly hardening polymeric materials is capable of building almost any conceivable structure. However, concrete, one of the most widely used materials for large-scale structural components, is generally based on inorganic binder materials like Portland cement. Unlike polymeric materials, a lack of precise control of the extent and rate of solidification of cement-based suspensions is a major issue that affects the ability to 3D-print geometrically complex structures. Here, we demonstrate a novel method for controllable-rapid solidification of concentrated mineral suspensions that contain a polymer binder system based on epoxy and thiol precursors as well as one or more mineral fillers like quartz and calcite. The thermally triggered epoxy-thiol condensation polymerization induces rapid stiffening of the hybrid suspensions (0.30 ≤ ϕ ≤ 0.60), at trigger temperatures ranging between 50 °C and 90 °C achieving average stiffening rates up to 400 Pa/s. The use of nucleophilic initiators such as 1-methylimidazole provides control over the activation temperature and curing rate, thereby helping to achieve an adjustable induction period and excellent thermal latency. By using multiple techniques, we provide guidelines to create designer compositions of mineral suspensions that utilize thermal triggers to achieve thermal latency and ultrafast stiffening – prerequisite attributes for 3D-manufacturing of topologically-optimized structural components.

Published in Materials & Design

ISSN: 0264-1275 (Print); 1873-4197 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/materials-and-design

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