Inorganic Polymer Concrete-A Review
Kailiang Shi
1,*,a
1
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture,WuHan Universityof Technology, LuoShi Road 122, WuHan, China
*Corresponding author
： TEL [phone]
Keywords: Inorganic polymers; concrete; alkali-activated; physical and mechanical properties.
Abstract: The physical and mechanical properties of IPC (inorganic polymer concrete) and its influencing factors are
introduced on the basis of references to domestic and foreign papers. Moreover, the paper made a forecast
of IPC’s application prospects. Integrated with the various physical and mechanical properties and
environmental performance of IPC, it is found that inorganic polymer concrete has very important
application value, which is of great significance for developing countries with energy shortage.
1 INTRODUCTION
The IPCis high performance concrete. Its
Cementitious materials are aluminum silicate
minerals or industrial waste (such as fly ash, slag,
etc.), which are mixed into the sodium silicateand
sodium hydroxide composite alkali activator. IPC
has many advantages such as corrosion resistance[7],
high strength, good impermeability and frost
resistance. The use of industrial waste such as fly
ash can not only reduce cement consumption and
carbon dioxide emissions, but also save energy and
reduce costs. [1]
Data shows that the transport industry and
Portland cement are the two largest producers of
carbon dioxide, which contribute to 7% of the global
carbon dioxide emissions [2]. In addition, the whole
world produces a large number of industrial waste
every year. So it’s a good example of industrial
ecology to substitute Portland cement with fly ash
produced from coal-fired power plants and abrasive
slag produced from iron smelters. Therefore, IPC
becomes new structural material with good
development prospects internationally. At present,
the international research on IPC has been for many
years, [3] mainly covering its performance and
application domain.
2 PHYSICAL MECHANICAL
PROPERTIES
2.1 Durability
The durability of Portland cement concrete is poor
due to the low stability of calcium hydroxide and
other substances produced by Portland cement
hydration.[4]Under the influence of chemical
activator, the depolymerization of -O-Si-O-Al-O-
chains in the vitreous structure of inorganic polymer
cementitious materials produces [Si04]4- and
[Al04]4-, which in turn form new -O-Si-O-Al-O-
grid structure. It’s more stable than the Portland
cement’s hardened body composed of inorganic
small molecule structures such as C-S-H, CH, etc. In
addition to the C-S-H gel, the hydrated product of
IPC also contains a large amount of hardly soluble
zeolite-type minerals. As a result, IPC has excellent
durability.
2.1.1Frost Resistance
Paper [5] studied the frost resistance of slag-based
IPC. The study found that IPC has a frost resistance
rating of F300 or higher and a frost resistance
durability coefficient of 0.9-0.95. It fully meets the
freezing requirements of concrete in cold regions.
The reason for good frost resistance is that there are
relatively few large pores in the IPC structure, it

contributes largely to IPC’s dense structures. At the
same time, IPC has high strength and good
impermeability, it’s not easy for external moisture to
enter and cause damages to the inner structure.
2.1.2 High Temperature Resistance
Wang Qing [6] et al. studied the high temperature
resistance of slag-based IPC at different
temperatures. The study found that the high
temperature performance of IPC is much better than
ordinary Portland cement concrete. Under high
temperature, the IPC has excellent surface
characteristics compared to ordinary silicate
concrete.
At 800 °C, the strength loss of IPC is only 40%,
which is much less than 60% of ordinary Portland
cement concrete.
2.1.3 Anti-penetration
D. Cao [5] et al. studied the impermeability of slag
based IPC. The study found that IPC has
impermeability rating of S40 or more and excellent
resistance to chloride ion penetration which can
effectively prevent the invasion of water, chloride
ions and other erosion media.
Kaituo S[8] et al. studied the resistance of IPC to
chloride penetration when the calcium oxide content
was 10%, 15% and 20% respectively. The study
found that when the chlorine ion content is 20%, the
chloride ion permeability is minimal. The main
reason is that as the content of calcium oxide
increases, the internal polymerization degree of IPC
increases, the internal pores shrink, the concrete
structure becomes denser and the resistance to
chloride ion becomes better.
2.2 Compressive Strength
Abundant researches have demonstrated that IPC
has excellent early strength.
Gang Wang et al. measured that the 3d
compressive strength of the inorganic polymer
reached 39.27 MPa. Mingyu Hu et al. obtained fly
ash IPC with compressive strength of not less than
26 MPa for 28 days. Yuzhu Su et al. made fly ash-
silica fume IPC, its 7d and 28d compressive strength
were measured to be 78.5 MPa and 89.0 MPa,
respectively.
Factors such as concrete mix ratio, raw material
types and curing temperature will also affect the
strength of IPC.
J. Wongpa [9] et al. analyzed the relationship
between compressive strength of IPC specimens
with fly ash/mineral powder = 4, sodium
silicate/sodium hydroxide = 2.5 and S/A
(solution/ash) and P/Agg(paste/aggregate). Elie
Kamseu [10] et al. studied the effect of fine
aggregate types on the compressive strength of IPC.
It can be seen that when the amount of aluminum in
the aggregate is higher, the concrete structure is
denser.AS 3600 [11] proposed that different types of
fly ash and activator composition can also affect the
strength of the IPC. Y. Fu et al. proposed that curing
temperature will affect the compressive strength of
slag IPC.
2.3 Deformation Performance
2.3.1 Modulus of Elasticity
According to the specification [12], the modulus of
elasticity of ordinary Portland cement concrete is
proportional to the square root of the compressive
strength. Research shows that the elastic modulus
and compressive strength of IPC are also closely
related, different scholars have given different
empirical formulas. The specific formulas are shown
in Table 1.
Table 1: IPC relationship formulas between elastic modulus and compressive strength.
paper formula serial number
paper[9] E  1687

𝑓

,
 16078 (1)
paper [11] E  0.043𝜌
.

𝑓

 20% (2)
paper [13] E  0.024

𝑓

 0.12𝜌
.
(3)
paper [14] E  3320

𝑓


 6900
𝜌
2320

.
(4)
paper [15] E  3.38𝜌
.


𝑓



.
10

(5)
paper [16] E  0.043𝜌
.
𝜂

𝑓

(6)

Notes:
f

,
: compressive strength of concrete, in MPa;
f

: average compressive strength of the cylinder,
in MPa;
ρ: density of IPC, in kg/m3；
η: correction coefficient, η  1.1  0.002f



1.0.
Formula (2) only applies to concrete with
strength less than 40 MPa, and the values obtained
by the formula are the upper and lower limits of the
elastic modulus. Formula (3) is suitable for concrete
with strength greater than 40 MPa. Formula (5) is
closer to AS 3600. Formula (4) is closer to the lower
limit of elastic modulus in formula (2). For high-
strength concrete, the modulus of elasticity obtained
with formula (3) is higher, and formula (6)
introduces parameter η on the basis of AS 3600,
which is an improvement over the normative
formula.
X. Fan [17] measured the elastic modulus of IPC
and OPC (ordinary Portland concrete) with the
strength of 60 MPa. According to the test, the elastic
modulus of IPC is 3.16  10

MPa, which is 11.8%
smaller than that of 3.6  10

MPa of OPC.
2.3.2 Poisson's Ratio
M. Sofi[18] et al. made six IPC specimens with the
strength of 50 MPa and tested their Poisson’s ratios.
Tests have shown that IPC’s Poisson's ratio is
between 0.23-0.26, which is larger than that of
OPC’s 0.11-0.21 [19]. X. Fan [17] measured the
Poisson's ratio of IPC and OPC with a strength class
of 60 MPa. The test found that the Poisson's ratio of
IPC was 0.26, which was 22.2% greater than that of
OPC.
The researches show that the IPC’s elastic
modulus is smaller than that of OPC, while IPC’s
Poisson's ratio is relatively larger, which indicate
that IPC has better deformation performance than
OPC.
2.4 High Temperature Resistance
Due to the unique grid structure of IPC gels, it has
similar properties to ceramic materials and better fire
resistance than ordinary Portland concrete.
Zuda [20] et al.used vermiculite and calcium
carbide as IPC aggregates, resulting in excellent fire
resistance. Vermiculite can increase the internal void
of IPC and tightly bind the cementitious materials
and aggregates through internal voids. Calcium
carbide has very small deformation under high
temperature.Junaid [21] studied the deformation
properties of fly ash-based IPC at high temperatures.
IPC will undergo constant temperature creep and
transient thermal creep in the high temperature
environment.Pan [22] et al. studied the transient
thermal creep of inorganic polymer gels at high
temperatures and compared them with ordinary
concrete. Studies have shown that the transient
thermal creep of inorganic polymer cementitious
materials can contribute to the accommodation of
the uneven deformation caused by inconsistent
deformation of various components, and it’s
beneficial to the high temperature performance of
IPC.
3 HPC APPLICATION AND
OUTLOOK
IPC has high strength and short setting period, so it
has been used in many projects such as rapid road
repairs and dam repairs. Y. Fu et al. used slag and
activator as cementitious materials to deploy rapid
repair IPC that was used in airport pavement repair.
Its slump is over 160mm, its flexural strength and
compressive strength at 4h is 3.03 MPa and 26.19
MPa respectively, which can meet the technical
requirements for road surface repairs of the airport.
Due to the high temperature resistance of IPC,
some scholars have studied the incorporation of
lightweight aggregates into inorganic polymer gels
for rocket diversion tanks and kiln liners.
IPC is resistant to chloride ion permeability and
sulfate corrosion, it can be applied to marine
engineering, such as bridge piers for offshore
bridges, offshore drilling platforms and subsea
tunnels, etc. These considerations have not yet been
formally implemented and the feasibility remains to
be further studied.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Inorganic polymer concrete has very excellent
physical and mechanical properties, and its
outstanding advantages such as fire resistance,
corrosion resistance, frost resistance, high strength
and quick setting make it easy to put into
engineering. Because of its green energy saving
property, IPC has received extensive attention in the
field of concrete research. The cement that will
generate a lot of carbon dioxide in the production
process is replaced with industrial waste such as fly
ash and slag, which meets the concept of sustainable

development. IPC has important research
significance for countries such as China and India,
which are relatively short of energy and need to
build a large number of infrastructure.
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