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Sorel cement
Sorel cement (also known as magnesia cement or magnesium oxychloride) is a non-hydraulic cement first produced by the French chemist Stanislas Sorel in 1867.
In fact, in 1855, before working with magnesium compounds, Stanislas Sorel first developed a two-component cement by mixing zinc oxide powder with a solution of zinc chloride. In a few minutes he obtained a dense material harder than limestone.
Only a decade later, Sorel replaced zinc with magnesium in his formula and also obtained a cement with similar favorable properties. This new type of cement was stronger and more elastic than Portland cement, and therefore exhibited a more resilient behavior when submitted to shocks. The material could be easily molded like plaster when freshly prepared, or machined on a lathe after setting and hardening. It was very hard, could be easily bound to many different types of materials (good adhesive properties), and colored with pigments. Therefore, it was used to make mosaics and to mimic marble. After mixing with cotton crushed in powder, it was also used as a surrogate material for ivory to fabricate billiard balls resistant to shock.
Sorel cement is a mixture of magnesium oxide (burnt magnesia) with magnesium chloride with the approximate chemical formula Mg4Cl2(OH)6(H2O)8, or MgCl2·3Mg(OH)2·8H2O, corresponding to a weight ratio of 2.5–3.5 parts MgO to one part MgCl2.
Charles A. Sorrell also studied the topic and published works on the same family of oxychloride compounds based on zinc and magnesium in 1977 and 1980. The zinc oxychloride cement is prepared from zinc oxide and zinc chloride instead of magnesium compounds.
The set cement consists chiefly of a mixture of magnesium oxychlorides and magnesium hydroxide in varying proportions, depending on the initial cement formulation, setting time, and other variables. The main stable oxychlorides at ambient temperature are the so-called "phase 3" and "phase 5", whose formulas can be written as 3Mg(OH)
2·MgCl
2·8H
2O and 5Mg(OH)
2·MgCl
2·8H
2O, respectively; or, equivalently, Mg
2(OH)
3Cl·4H
2O and Mg
3(OH)
5Cl·4H
2O.
Phase 5 crystallizes mainly as long needles which are actually rolled-up sheets. These interlocking needles give the cement its strength.
In the long term the oxychlorides absorb and react with carbon dioxide CO
2 from the air to form magnesium chlorocarbonates.
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Sorel cement
Sorel cement (also known as magnesia cement or magnesium oxychloride) is a non-hydraulic cement first produced by the French chemist Stanislas Sorel in 1867.
In fact, in 1855, before working with magnesium compounds, Stanislas Sorel first developed a two-component cement by mixing zinc oxide powder with a solution of zinc chloride. In a few minutes he obtained a dense material harder than limestone.
Only a decade later, Sorel replaced zinc with magnesium in his formula and also obtained a cement with similar favorable properties. This new type of cement was stronger and more elastic than Portland cement, and therefore exhibited a more resilient behavior when submitted to shocks. The material could be easily molded like plaster when freshly prepared, or machined on a lathe after setting and hardening. It was very hard, could be easily bound to many different types of materials (good adhesive properties), and colored with pigments. Therefore, it was used to make mosaics and to mimic marble. After mixing with cotton crushed in powder, it was also used as a surrogate material for ivory to fabricate billiard balls resistant to shock.
Sorel cement is a mixture of magnesium oxide (burnt magnesia) with magnesium chloride with the approximate chemical formula Mg4Cl2(OH)6(H2O)8, or MgCl2·3Mg(OH)2·8H2O, corresponding to a weight ratio of 2.5–3.5 parts MgO to one part MgCl2.
Charles A. Sorrell also studied the topic and published works on the same family of oxychloride compounds based on zinc and magnesium in 1977 and 1980. The zinc oxychloride cement is prepared from zinc oxide and zinc chloride instead of magnesium compounds.
The set cement consists chiefly of a mixture of magnesium oxychlorides and magnesium hydroxide in varying proportions, depending on the initial cement formulation, setting time, and other variables. The main stable oxychlorides at ambient temperature are the so-called "phase 3" and "phase 5", whose formulas can be written as 3Mg(OH)
2·MgCl
2·8H
2O and 5Mg(OH)
2·MgCl
2·8H
2O, respectively; or, equivalently, Mg
2(OH)
3Cl·4H
2O and Mg
3(OH)
5Cl·4H
2O.
Phase 5 crystallizes mainly as long needles which are actually rolled-up sheets. These interlocking needles give the cement its strength.
In the long term the oxychlorides absorb and react with carbon dioxide CO
2 from the air to form magnesium chlorocarbonates.