Thermal response gelatin-cement-composite for 3D concrete printing

Abstract

Active control of the thixotropy and hardening of cement paste is key to 3D concrete printing which prefers a very flowable mixture during the pumping meanwhile a quick structure build-up after the extruded from the nozzle. In this work, gelatin is added into cement paste to functionalize it into thermal response material. It has a particular advantage for extruding-print in cold environment where the normal paste hardens very slowly. After curing at 5 °C for 2 min, the yield stress of the thermal response cement paste is 5 times of that of reference samples. Meanwhile, the loading capacity is largely enhanced.