Investigation of the properties of high-porosity cement foams containing epoxy resin

- Epoxy resin can enhance the compressive strength of high-porosity cement foam.
- The workability was improved by the addition of epoxy resin.
- Epoxy resin increased the air-void size and changed thermal conductivity slightly.
- The water absorption of cement foam decreased with the introduction of epoxy resin.

Different dosages of waterborne epoxy resin were added to cement slurries, which were used to prepare high-porosity cement foam via the pre-foaming method. The effect of resin on the properties of high-porosity cement foam was investigated. The results revealed that the resin resulted in improved workability and reduced yield stress and plastic viscosity of the cement foam slurries. Although the resin yielded increased air-void sizes, the mechanical properties of the cement foam improved. A compressive strength and thermal conductivity of 0.77 MPa and 0.069 W/m·K, respectively, at a porosity of 89.4%, were obtained for the resin-modified cement foam. Moreover, resin addition also resulted in a decrease in the water absorption and a slight increase in the thermal conductivity of the cement foam.