• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2022.11a
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• pp.249-250
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• 2022

In this study, two types of chitosan-catechol polymers (a-CP and b-CP) were synthesized and mixed with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium tetraborate decahydrate (Na₂B4O₇·10H₂O) to form hydrogels. The characteristics of these polymers were tuned by varying the pH during their syntheses, and their structures were characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Rheological and self-healing properties of hydrogels were evaluated. As a result, the viscoelastic modulus was improved due to the increased functional group content, and the self-healing property was excellent regardless of the functional group content.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2022.04a
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• pp.255-256
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• 2022

We synthesized catechol-conjugated chitosan (CCC) to study its usefulness as a construction material additive in cement mortar. The degree of catechol conju-gation (DOC_cat) of the synthesized CCC was determined to be approximately14% by UV-vis and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. Furthermore, the hydroxyl and amine groups in CCC could play a crucial role in hydrogen bonding, metal coordination, and cross-linking processes via interaction with adducts from cement mortar. In this study, we observedanimprovement in the compressive strength and absorption rate, suggesting that CCC is a promising candidateforhigh-performance cement mortar.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2022.04a
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• pp.253-254
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• 2022

In this study, catechol-functionalized chitosan (Cat-Chit), a well-known bioinspired polymer that imitates the basic structures and functions of living organisms and biological materials in nature, was synthesized and combined with cement mortar in various proportions. The compressive strength, tensile strength, drying shrinkage, accelerated carbonation depth, and chloride-ion penetrability of these mixes were then evaluated. In the ultraviolet-visible spectra, a maximum absorption peak appeared at 280 nm, corresponding to catechol conjugation. The sample containing 7.5% Cat-Chit polymer in water (CPW) exhibited the highest compressive strength, and its 28-day compressive strength was ~20.2% higher than that of a control sample with no added polymer. The tensile strength of the samples containing 5% or more CPW was ~2.3-11.5% higher than that of the control sample. Additionally, all the Cat-Chit polymer mixtures exhibited lower carbonation depths than compared to the control sample. The total charge passing through the samples decreased as the amount of CPW increased. Thus, incorporating this polymer effectively improved the mechanical properties, carbonation resistance, and chloride-ion penetration resistance of cement mortar.