Product Stories

Cross-border combination: WHEN EPOXY RESIN MEETS CEMENT CONCRETE

Anquamine® 287 and Ancarez® AR-468 improve material performance in the civil engineering sector. 

“Cross-border” is a buzzword nowadays. The combination of tradition with modernity, the East with the West as well as the inter-infiltration and integration of completely different elements can bring out brand-new effects.

Cross-border also works in the chemical world. Break the boundaries between inorganic and organic worlds, it opens up an entirely new field. One example of this is ECC – Epoxy Cement Concrete. Cement concrete and mortar are among the most traditional inorganic materials. Since invented over 200 years ago, they have quickly been among the most widely used civil engineering materials. However, they also have obvious disadvantages such as slow curing, low tensile strength, high drying shrinkage and poor chemical resistance, resulting in high tendency to crack and limited service life. Epoxy based plastic, on the contrary, is a widely used organic compound with characteristics such as high strengths, high chemical and corrosion resistance and excellent dimensional stability. When epoxy resin ‘meets’ cement concrete to form Epoxy Cement Concrete (ECC), the compressive, tensile and flexural strength of the concrete increases by 36 percent, 86 percent and 94 percent respectively compared to unmodified concrete. The drying shrinkage is reduced, and properties such as salt, acid, abrasion and freeze-thawing resistance are significantly improved.

Can an excellent ECC system be produced simply by mixing the key materials together? Obviously not. Excellent performance comes from scientific formulation design and the synergy of the key materials: epoxy resin and curing agent. This is where Evonik’s business line crosslinkers comes in with its waterbased epoxy curing agent Anquamine® 287 and waterbased epoxy resin emulsion Ancarez® AR-468. Both products are characterized by excellent compatibility with cement, resulting in outstanding synergistic curing effects, low viscosity, and easy workability in ECC. ECC formulation using the combination of Anquamine® 287 with Ancarez® AR-468 has been successfully used in applications such as self-leveling floors, high-strength repair mortars and grouting. By the way: ECC based self-leveling floor can also be topped by Evonik’s Anquawhite® 100 coating to further improve wear, scratch and stain resistance.

 

Crosslinkers - Creating Marketable and Intelligent Solutions

Mechanical strength, durability, chemical resistance and excellent solubility and adhesion properties – Evonik´s business line Crosslinkers offers tailor-made solutions for customers all over the world. As a raw material supplier, we have a profound understanding of the needs of our customers and their markets. Our range of products and expertise generates added value in a number of areas: from coatings and adhesives to civil engineering, high-performance elastomers and composites.

 

Anquamine® 287 and Ancarez® AR-468 improve material performance in the civil engineering sector. 

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