Combinatory approach of methacrylated alginate and acid monomers for concrete applications

Arn Mignon; Dries Devisscher; Geert-Jan Graulus; Birgit Stubbe; José Martins; Peter Dubruel; Nele De Belie; Sandra Van Vlierberghe

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.08.102

Combinatory approach of methacrylated alginate and acid monomers for concrete applications

Carbohydr Polym. 2017 Jan 2:155:448-455. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.08.102. Epub 2016 Sep 2.

Authors

Arn Mignon¹, Dries Devisscher², Geert-Jan Graulus³, Birgit Stubbe⁴, José Martins⁵, Peter Dubruel⁶, Nele De Belie⁷, Sandra Van Vlierberghe⁸

Affiliations

¹ Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, Department of Structural Engineering, Ghent University, Technologiepark Zwijnaarde 904, B-9052 Ghent, Belgium; Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4-Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Arn.Mignon@ugent.be.
² Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4-Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; Design & Synthesis of Organic Semiconductors, Institute for Materials Research, Hasselt University, Agoralaan 1-Building D, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium. Electronic address: Dries.Devisscher@uhasselt.be.
³ Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4-Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Geertjan.Graulus@ugent.be.
⁴ Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4-Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Birgit.Stubbe@ugent.be.
⁵ NMR and Structure Analysis Unit, Department of Organic Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4 Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Jose.Martins@UGent.be.
⁶ Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4-Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Peter.Dubruel@ugent.be.
⁷ Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, Department of Structural Engineering, Ghent University, Technologiepark Zwijnaarde 904, B-9052 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Nele.DeBelie@ugent.be.
⁸ Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4-Bis, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Sandra.VanVlierberghe@ugent.be.

PMID: 27702534
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.08.102

Abstract

Polysaccharides, and especially alginate, can be useful for self-healing of cracks in concrete. Instead of weak electrostatic bonds present within calcium alginate, covalent bonds, by methacrylation of the polysaccharides, will result in mechanically stronger superabsorbent polymers (SAPs). These methacrylated alginate chains as backbone are combined with two acrylic monomers in a varying molar fraction. These SAPs show a moisture uptake capacity up to 110% their own weight at a relative humidity of 95%, with a negligible hysteresis. The swelling capacity increased (up to 246 times its own weight) with a decreasing acrylic acid/2 acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid ratio. The SAPs also showed a thermal stability up to 200°C. Interestingly, the SAP composed of alginate and acrylic acid exerted a very limited decrease in compressive strength (up to 7% with addition of 1wt% SAP) rendering this material interesting for the envisaged self-healing application.

Keywords: Alginate; Compressive strength; Concrete; Polysaccharide; Self-healing; Swelling potential.