New chemical admixtures for ultra lightweight concrete materials

Fagerdala World Foams AB (a global manufacturer of foam plastics) recently invested in EPSCement Svenska AB, an innovative and fast-growing supplier of ultra lightweight cast-in-place concrete based on cement and expanded polystyrene (EPS) plastic foam.

Concrete materials with plastic foam particles have been around for some decades and received recognition in the construction industry for e.g. lightweight and insulation properties. Such materials comprise the largest use of recycled foam plastics, mainly EPS, and consume even greater amounts of virgin EPS. Throughout most of Europe the sector is now growing rapidly.

To produce a high-quality EPS concrete product requires addition of a mix of chemicals that preferably will serve multiple purposes, e.g. easing the mixing of EPS and cement, enhancing workability and reducing drying-shrinkage. Examples of chemicals used are glycols, glycol ethers hydrophilic polymers and latexes. Conventional formulations of concrete admixtures are not directly applicable for several reasons, e.g. that the different thermal characteristics of ultra lightweight concrete gives a completely different drying mechanism and that the method of introducing the chemicals into the concrete mix differs from what is used in ordinary concrete.

The scope of the diploma work is to design new admixture formulations tailored for ultra lightweight concrete applications.

The diploma worker should be appealed by the prospect of turning knowledge of inorganic and organic chemistry, thermodynamics, surface chemistry, materials science, etc. into a practical business application.