This thesis focuses on investigating the development of new calcium sulfoaluminate cement composite incorporating microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs).Calcium sulfoaluminate cements are a type of more sustainable cements than traditional Portland cement.
In addition to using a material that presents fewer emissions during its production, it has also been intended to obtain a final product that reduces energy consumption in buildings and homes, thus reducing CO2 emissions due to the consumption generated in buildings. In this sense, phase change materials (PCMs) can reduce the temperature peaks that occur in a building in a passive way if they are embedded in the materials used for the building construction.
The first part of the thesis focus on investigating the interaction of cement with MPCMs. Especially in terms of properties in the fresh state in pastes.
Once the dosage of the pastes had been decided by incorporating MPCM (45 wt.% referred to cement content), the study of the hydration reaction of the pastes was studied. The objective of this part has been to establish the influence of the addition of MPCM on the hydration mechanisms of cements.
Once it was verified that the introduction of MPCM in cement pastes does not compromise the normal development of cement hydration, and that the mechanical resistance is good enough for a non-structural coating, the second part of the thesis studied the thermal properties of both paste and mortar composites in order to evaluate the main effect of MPCMs, which aims to improve thermal comfort within a living or building.
The final part of this thesis has focused on the application of mortars in the intended use with MPCM. This is the reduction of energy consumption in buildings, as well as improving the thermal comfort of the occupants and of course, with lower CO2 emissions both due to the materials used to manufacture the product and during its useful life.