Enhancement of Cement Properties by Means of In Situ Prepared Nanoparticles

水泥是我们现代社会的重要材料。按体积计算，它是人类唯一比水消耗更多的东西。传统的水泥基材料通常是脆性的，抗拉强度低，并且表现出体积收缩。由于纳米技术的最新进展，许多研究人员研究了在水泥混合料中添加纳米颗粒以提高其工作性和力学性能。事实上，研究发现，纳米颗粒可以增加水泥的抗压强度和抗拉强度，降低孔隙率和渗透率。然而，除了商业上可获得的纳米颗粒的高昂成本之外，纳米颗粒在水泥浆中的适当分散是一个挑战。这项工作的目的是通过使用廉价的材料来配制纳米颗粒，从而在水泥浆中制备纳米颗粒。这项研究的重点是固井在石油和天然气行业的应用，但该方法也可以应用于建筑行业。这项工作的潜在影响是巨大的，因为它可以更好地保护环境，减少各种应用中的水泥需求。因此，水泥制造产生的二氧化碳排放量更低，建筑成本也更低。

Cement is a vital material in our modern society. It is the only thing that humans consume more of, by volume, than water. Conventional cement-based materials are usually brittle, have low tensile strength and exhibit bulk shrinkage. Due to the recent advancements in nanotechnology, many researchers investigated the addition of nanoparticles to the cement mix to enhance its workability and mechanical properties. In fact, nanoparticles were found to increase compressive and tensile strengths and decrease porosity and permeability of the cement. However, on top of the high cost of the commercially available nanoparticles, proper dispersion of the nanoparticles within the cement slurry was a challenge. This work aims to fabricate the nanoparticles within the cement slurry by utilizing inexpensive materials to formulate the nanoparticles. The study focuses on cementing applications in the oil and gas industry, but the methodology can also be applied to the construction industry. The potential impact of this work is huge through providing better protection for the environment and reducing cement requirements in various applications. Hence, lower CO2 emissions from cement manufacturing and lower construction cost.