Creating in-situ polymeric layer based on photocuring for various construction applications

Abstract

Polymeric materials in different forms have been widely used as a construction material for many decades. These polymers are primarily made of polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl alcohol, or polyester with inclusion of antioxidants, plasticizers, fillers, carbon blacks, and lubricants to improve their performance. Nowadays, various polymers have been installed in the field serving as reinforcement, separation, drainage, filtration, barrier, dust control, erosion control, or even landscaping. This study seeks to create an in-situ polymeric layer based on the photocuring principle, which can be used as a temporary barrier for many applications, such as temporary water detention liner, material separation, contaminant coverage and dust control. In the study, the liquid acrylic monomers were polymerized/crosslinked by photocuring with the participation of photoinitiator that released radicals to trigger polymerization and crosslinking. The study showed that with 1–3% carbon black and 1–5% photoinitiator the cured polymer had a suitable tensile strength and permeability to act as polymeric barriers in construction sites for most of temporary usage. Both carbon black and photoinitiator had a noticeable influence on photocuring time, i.e., lower carbon content and/or higher photoinitiator content led to faster polymerization. The test data also showed that carbon black content had much less impact on tensile strength and permeability, compared with photoinitiator content. It appeared 2% photoinitiator was optimal, which resulted in the highest strength and least permeability. This study proved that the photocuring-based polymerization would be a viable method to create in-site polymeric layer at construction sites.