Oxysulphate cements

The Arrhenius definition is not suitable for AB cements for several reasons. It cannot be applied to zinc oxide eugenol cements, for these are non-aqueous, nor to the metal oxychloride and oxysulphate cements, where the acid component is not a protonic acid. Indeed, the theory is, strictly speaking, not applicable at all to AB cements where the base is not a water-soluble hydroxide but either an insoluble oxide or a silicate. 

The three major types of oxysalt bonded AB cement are the zinc oxychloride, the magnesium chloride and the magnesium oxysulphate cements. The bases employed, therefore, are either zinc oxide or magnesium oxide, both of which readily undergo hydration in aqueous solution, behaving as M(OH)2 species and acting as a source of hydroxyl ions. They are thus both clearly bases in the Bronsted-Lowry sense. 

A detailed study of the phase relationships in the magnesium oxysulphate cement was carried out by Urwongse Sorrell (1980b). They used X-ray analysis to examine the phases present in the cement, and established the composition of the invariant liquids after equilibration by measuring specific gravity with the aid of a pycnometer. Specific gravities were related to concentration by means of a calibration exercise in which 30 stock solutions of sulphuric acid at concentrations between 0 and 79-5 wt % were prepared with distilled water. 

Beaudoin, J. J. Ramachandran, V. S. (1978). Strength development in magnesium oxysulphate cement. Cement and Concrete, 8 (1), 103-12. 

A current area of interest is the use of AB cements as devices for the controlled release of biologically active species (Allen et al, 1984). AB cements can be formulated to be degradable and to release bioactive elements when placed in appropriate environments. These elements can be incorporated into the cement matrix as either the cation or the anion cement former. Special copper/cobalt phosphates/selenates have been prepared which, when placed as boluses in the rumens of cattle and sheep, have the ability to decompose and release the essential trace elements copper, cobalt and selenium in a sustained fashion over many months (Chapter 6). Although practical examples are confined to phosphate cements, others are known which are based on a variety of anions polyacrylate (Chapter 5), oxychlorides and oxysulphates (Chapter 7) and a variety of organic chelating anions (Chapter 9). The number of cements available for this purpose is very great. 

Ellis, H. Fire barrier coating composition containing magnesium oxychlorides and high alumina calcium aluminate cements or magnesium oxysulphate, US Patent 4,572,862. 

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