Enhancement of Cement Properties by Means of In Situ Prepared Nanoparticles

水泥是现代社会的重要材料。它是人类消耗的唯一比水更多的东西。传统的水泥基材料通常是脆性的，具有低拉伸强度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将纳米颗粒添加到水泥混合物中以提高其和易性和机械性能。事实上，发现纳米颗粒增加了水泥的抗压和抗拉强度，降低了水泥的孔隙率和渗透性。然而，除了市售纳米颗粒的高成本之外，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利用廉价的材料来配制纳米颗粒，在水泥浆中制造纳米颗粒。该研究侧重于石油和天然气行业的固井应用，但该方法也可应用于建筑行业。这项工作的潜在影响是巨大的，通过提供更好的环境保护和减少各种应用中的水泥需求。因此，水泥生产的二氧化碳排放量更低，建筑成本更低。

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.