Synchronized hardening and enriching of sustainable epoxy-silicate composite

In this research, epoxy polymer (E) was incorporated into low-carbon silicate cement material (S) with different concentrations for preparing novel epoxy-silicate composites. A modification process was performed by triethanolamine (TEA) to promote the hardening reaction. Furthermore, the influence of different concentrations of E polymer on the composites was studied. The treatment of silicate by amine was found to increase the flowability length, in contrast to the E-S-TEA composites that resist flow. Similarly, the S-TEA recorded higher total porosity compared with epoxy-based composites because of the filling of pores by cured polymer. The proposed composites stored gas with more carbon fixation compared with neat cured silicate. The polymer molecules reduced the drying shrinkage and mass loss by means of a filling effect that stabilized the physical characteristics; the 9% E-S-TEA composite has the least percentage. The results of drying shrinkage and mass loss show that both are proportional to each other; the high drying shrinkage specimen has high mass loss, and vice versa. Mechanically, the 5% E-S-TEA composite increased the flexural and compressive strength by 30 and 30.7%, respectively; the presence of epoxy polymer promoted the hardness and impact as well. Contrary to the higher concentration, the enhanced 5% E-S-TEA composite is characterized by a denser and more stable interface by creating polymeric bridges among silicates, as confirmed by the scanning electron microscope. The proposed epoxy-silicate composite is cured by means of a synchronized mechanism based on ring-opening and carbonation in the presence of triethanolamine, which promotes the formation of carbonate. The characterization sentence underscores the potential of amine in the epoxy-silicate composite in applications, offering a reliable means to assess the dual curing process, showing the anticipated characteristics upon mineralization.