3D printing concrete containing thermal responsive gelatin: Towards cold environment applications

Construction with cementitious materials via 3D printing requires a highly thixotropic behavior, which is a challenge for construction industry. In this work a facile and low-cost gelatin-modified thermal responsive smart cement paste formulation was developed for extrusion-based 3D printing in cold environments The paste's temperature-dependent rheological properties were characterised, and the underlying mechanism was explored. At room temperature, the modified paste presents similar rheological properties as the reference cement paste. After resting for 10 min at 5 degrees C, the modified cement paste has a yield stress of 1900 Pa which is 10 times that of the reference paste. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the modified paste are comparable to or higher than that of the reference paste at later age. Our approach may inspire a facile manipulation of paste rheology through temperature, which facilitates smartly controlled 3D concrete printings.

Automated summary

A gelatin-modified thermal responsive smart cement paste was developed for 3D printing in cold environments, which exhibited high thixotropic behavior and improved mechanical properties.