This kind of content is why i am subbed. as a kid i hated science, as an adult i love science.. i realize the teacher who bored me... was the problem. You have a way to keep my attention and im learning a ton. Keep going.
@Barskor1, while there is something to what you are saying, which also is related to American not having any maternity or paternity leave. I don't babysit anyone. I am a high school science teacher. I teach Earth and Space Science. This year, I am going to teach Environmental Science as well. My pull-out Special Education class is going to learn this content as part of studying Man's impact on the environment. This is fairly technical information and will part of studying the chemistry involved in Environmental Science. I don't babysit anyone, not even the Special Education students. If you walk into my classroom you have to work to earn a passing grade.
I'm signing up for the paid for videos I've self taught myself more in the last 5 years on researching and experimenting myself. Than I ever learned at schools and just recently found your channel around 6 months ago. I have to say you dumb down the process to an understandable level that is such a pleasure to listen to on top on actually preforming these explanations and experiments. I wish I had a science/chemistry teacher such as yourself in school I might have been more attentive instead of so bored about it all. Credit to Dr Young my chemistry tho he was far ahead on most other at the school.
Very cool, ive been working with Aluminum oxide (do to extreme hardness) and sodium silica, makes really hard cement stone like material but takes weeks to fully set.
to be honest mate so does Portland cement - we are used to it turning quickly but to really set you have to keep it damp for about 2 weeks to properly cure
RMS I have been following your channel now since at least 2014 and I am fascinated by the range of materials and ideas your explore, thanks for all that you share!
Awesome stuff. Never heard about this before. But I have followed Dr Joseph Davidowitz work and also watches his yearly videos regarding Geopolymer. I don't understand fully what he is talking about since I am a layman, but I find it so interesting so that I still listen to it. I think there is some parts here that are same and others not. Geopolymer is "stone" and resist water really good, hardens without a lot of heat (no need to water it when drying). Robert, this video was super interesting.
@@technosaurus3805 I was wondering it that would work - no you know if those mixtures stand up the elements (rain etc) or do they require a special extra coating to weather proof them ?
@@jonnyde I've only seen it used encapsulated in walls or with stucco on the outside and plaster on the inside. It has good R-value and sound attenuation characteristics though. Honey-Do-Carpenter's channel does a DIY version using Portland cement and a foaming agent.
"Magnesium Oxy-Chloride" as they call is has been used as a lapidary cement for as long as I can remember. My 1970s era 'rock tumbler' came with a small quantity.
This makes sense - Magnesium Oxide gives me a concrete stomach (as an antacid) so why not use it to make concrete? 😋 Aside from aiding in the ease of mixing, I imagine adding water to the fumed silica makes it easier to weigh? It's so light it virtually "floats on air", but I imagine adding water would help "weigh it down", and then you just need to subtract the weight of the water you added.
@@ThinkingandTinkering Thanks Robert , we make Mgo boards and find it very difficult to work with Mgcl2.. Will try the silica formulations but its going to cost more... Can you suggest whats best to make a Mgo board
I absolutely love all your videos, and this is no exception. Now I feel I need to go and find out all the properties of these cements. Lots to learn! If there are formulas which can cast well that would be interesting. I wonder if super plasticiser will work, what accelerants can be used, etc. Just today I received my shipments of super placticiser and calcum chloride, and was casting white portland with the kids, and it's a fabulous medium. The surface detail is insane when casting, and the set time is about an hour with a bit of the calcium chloride, plus it's a lovely white. I'm now thinking that some of these recipes must yield a harder cement though, and the billiard ball thing leads the mind to casting busts with a good fake stone appearance. You are a treasure trove.
The big advantage of using these cements, is that you can mix them with organic dirty soil. So you can use the soil on site, so you use material that's already there! Just mix it in in the wet ground, that makes it cheaper and easier. With portland cement you must use very pure washed sand so you can not use what's there already. With portland cement everything has to be bought / transported / removed / supplied.
@@nr7000000001 I see it being used as airkrete and someone answered below huge advantage that you can use it with dirty soil.. "The big advantage of using these cements, is that you can mix them with organic dirty soil. So you can use the soil on site, so you use material that's already there! Just mix it in in the wet ground, that makes it cheaper and easier. With portland cement you must use very pure washed sand so you can not use what's there already. With portland cement everything has to be bought / transported / removed / supplied."
Just to get ahead of anyone thinking the phosphate cement is a good idea for large scale use, it isn't unless we find A LOT more deposits of phosphates/phosphorus. P is the main component of residential waste streams that is actually worth recovering due to the cost & availability of global deposits, and we also usually get the benefit of recovering potassium at the same time.
......even been concerns for continued availability of sand. China for example produced and used more concrete in a decade than USA did in over a hundred years .
Excellent work mr. smith!!! I have been doing cement experiments myself!! It’s amazing; people like bill gates with endless cash, time and resources- is tackling sci-fi like solutions in low carbon emitting industries. Why aren’t more people putting an effort in on cements??? With cement being the #1 carbon emitter in the world.
Now there is a magnesium/aluminum/silicon glass/vitreous compound being used for both high intensity lasers and ballistic glass type applications [transparent vehicle armor].
wonderful video! I came here after watching kiwami japan's seawater knife video, where they extracted different salts and reacted them to make a sorrel cement. I wanted more information on the process and this video is perfect!
This is absolute gold! I love how your videos mix (pun intended) just a TINY bit of numbers as an aside to the IDEAS. Ideas are where creativity sets (pun intended) and you end up with a concrete (... yep) understanding of the principle of the matter. I came here as referred by your Sorel Cement Battery video, but I don't know how/why I missed this one since I'm subscribed and all. Anyway, keep up the good work, and keep your foundation (you thought I was done with puns lol) of enjoyment and exploration of scientific principles.
I believe you may have just blown the lid right off of the secret that has eluded me on the method of manufacturing of japanese synthetic whetstones or ceramic sharpening stones. I believe it would only require the addition of some ultra finely screened aluminum oxide. Although I believe the stones in referring to are actually fired to harden them. But thank you and if you know how these stones are actually made plz do share thank you and keep up the great work.
awesome job yet again. from what I understand, the great wall of China used a cement that was pure white and extremely durable. Was it one of these cements? Thank you very much, God bless you and your family.
Construction varies based on the years it was built, but it looks like during the Ming Dynasty they used a mortar made of glutinous rice flour and slaked lime. It was an exceptionally strong mortar, even surviving earthquakes. (Edit:) Looks like the "secret ingredient" to the strength was the amylopectin from the rice flour. It allowed the mix to compact exceptionally well.
Quite interesting to note that Fumed silica and Mgo mix. Mgcl2 sure does have advantages and disadvantages ... Price as comparing to fumed silica is very cheap but Mgcl2 does absorb much humidity and also can cause rusting of non galvanized screws etc.
Great video, as usual, thank you sir :). May I ask you also mention some more mixtures, especially ones that are heat and shock resistant, i. e. would be suitable for repair of the inside fire-resistant layer in old ovens or fireplaces? Thank you and keep up the great work!
@@ThinkingandTinkering could you name some sources to procure some of these oxides? That would be very helpful. I've been trying to figure out how synthetic Japanese whetstones are manufactured and I think you may have just given me my answer. And interestly enough I just broke my 12000 Grit synthetic Whetstone so I'm thinking since it's already broken I could take the pieces put them into a blender grind them up really really good and then add a bit of magnesium oxide and a bit of magnesium chloride and possibly recast the Whetstone. Thank you
fascinating stuff! Would like to see you explore roman concrete now that we know the recipe(weirdly easy to make given that we lost the recipe thousands of years ago). Also curious what the properties of these cements are and what would happen if you doped one kind of cement/geopolymer with another(its done with metals to give them different properties and I'm curious if it extends to concretes) or if cement lamination(layering different types of cement) would have any benefit.
Just now watched this presentation. I have been considering different mediums for sculpting, or putting into a rough mold and then finishing by hand, and I have a serious interest in these compounds as they are very much in the category of characteristics of material simply perfect for my little ideas. Little ideas often are the thought-child of future vast industry. Or perhaps I should say 'thought parent'.
AWESOME VIDEO!! Very helpful and love that you mix them live. QUESTION : Which version is has the highest Water Resistance? Would that be the Silica Water Gel ? Also, which do you think has the best impact resistance? Working on a project. Would love some insight. Also, any other better ones for these 2 things you have found? Water proofing and impact ?
If using magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride; I wonder if these can be made from the brine left over from desalination. I've been thinking about how to build OTEC plants to make the desert areas of the oceans bloom by pumping up deep nutrient rich water to soak up CO2.
I can see maybe using this as Calking. Shrinking would be very Minimum. Maybe a Glazing Compound for Glass and or Stain Glass Work. Also, Isn't most of this Photo Sensitive? Thanks for the upload.
What if we do some Urea and heat it while dissolving it into the water that you mix into the magnesium oxide. Then take and add a little baking soda to make it a fire brick. hmmm, lol now I want to make a ultra small kiln the size of a 6" bowl out of this to see if it will work, First I need to try a brick and heat it to see if it will hold up, I could even mix some graphene and graphite to it to make it even better. Awesome stuff mate, great chemistry lesson.
@@jasonwitt8619 Aren't talc based baby powders becoming increasingly hard to find? I think the companies are switching over more and more to cornstarch based, because there were trace levels of asbestos found in some talc. I may be off about this.
go for it mate -mostly I like the spirit here - do a video too if you would - you have asked some awesome questions that can only really be answered by experimenting and I would've to see the answer
Foaming agent for MO cement? There is a company building foamed magnesium cement houses. This makes the cement insulating. What might they be using to foam the cement? They mentioned that the first try blew the mix out the mold like a volcano.
......In some cases something as simple as polystyrene beads have been incorporated. I understand a suitable protein covering treatment of the beads was done first.
@@philipvernejules9926 Polystyrene isn't particularly environmentally friendly. I wonder if one could use kapok fiber? Stuffs almost as insulating as lower quality duck down and only slightly heavier.
My daughter at Veterinary uni confirmed its used for horses because some pastures might be low in magnesium so they get supplemented with magnesium oxide, it’s easily absorbed and helps neutralise their stomach 👍
I love all your videos Mr M-S, so interesting and practical. But you can never see what your working on. You need a close-up, cutaway camera. All we ever see is the mid shot of you, which is great when talking to the viewers but rubbish when we want to see the mixtures, chemical reactions etc. It is such a shame that we do not see anything your working on in detail, it would add so much more value to the videos. Also some quick graphics of formulas, compounds, processes, recipes etc would also be really helpful. And of course shooting in 4k would give the videos a beautiful clarity. Obviously cameras, lights, editing/graphics, audio gear etc etc cost money, so maybe consider doing a few fundraiser live stream, ask-me anything sessions. This sort of thing has worked for other You-Tubers to raise finance for gear and I for one would be willing to donate if it helps you to improve the quality of your output. All easy for me to say of course! but I really love your content and presentation style and I believe with a little higher production value the channel could really benefit.
Extremely interesting stuff thanks Dr Rob, I work with lime putty so your film has led me down some intriguing rabbit holes this morning at 3am. I also read about Coade stone, a ceramic stonewear 'stone fired twice' as used in many stately homes and Buckingham palace whose original mix was patented in 1722 by Richard Holt but later the clay recipe was perfected and the firing tweaked by Eleanor Coade in about 1760 where her company ended up being the sole artificial stone manufacturer. I also read that when Sorel cement is mixed with the magnesium it's the best kind of barrier for radioactive materials. Globally we make about 4 billion tons of concrete every year. 1 ton of cement produces about 3/4 ton of co2. Lime mortar produces 80% less co2. Geopolymer concrete uses about 95% fuel ash, sets at room temperature and takes about 24 hours to fully set and gives off 75% less co2 than cement.
.....is it cos they factor for lime absorbing co2 during it's decades long setting process .locally here the lime mortar appears to have been a failure in construction back to the war years , chimneys and walls crumbling . I reckon the mortar requires a dry climate to work .
Your channel is clearly underrated, keep it up pal! Cheers. How high of a temperature can handle all those types of cement? Could I build a refractory furnace out of it? Could I also foam it with co2?
tell me something Robert is there a stage of setting up where you could make designs in it without crumbling it or does it get more brittle and crumbly is it sets up because this might be a perfect answer for me making stamps for pottery work
Robert I can't help but be reminded of the aquion battery which used magnesium oxide and salt water as two of the materials. It just makes me wonder if you can make a sold state battery out of these cements.
@@ThinkingandTinkering I am willing to bet most wouldn't know or care the difference. If the battery would not leak something toxic in an impact failure and not burst into flames there should be applications that make since. We just need to get to a point as a society where we don't demand a single solution to all peoblems.
Hi Robert, many thanks for your effort to make this video. Your demonstrations were very useful but i have a question, do you know how much temperature can silica-magnesium oxide mixture can withstand? Thanks.
Hi Robert. I've been experimenting (like you recommend, actually doing it) with calcium hydroxide and diatomaceous earth (amorphous silicon dioxide). I believe the reaction is generating calcium metasilicate and water (might be "old" terminology). By adding sodium chloride I noticed it seems to improve it's strength. Is this considered a Sorel cement? Also, the zinc oxide and zinc chloride cement. Would it maintain strength under sea water since chloride ions are available so less leaching would occur?
what you're doing with the silicates is more geopolymer work - not so much cements. i know this can be a confusing definition to get hold of but basically one is a chemical reaction and the other is a physical interaction. it's unlikely to work well under sea water as the chloride ion ppm is really low so diffusion would still be likely to occur.
Have you tried Calcium hydroxide with Silicic acid? I'm not sure of availability of this type of Silicic acid (orthosilicic acid?), but I think it's the type which precipitates when adding an acid to Sodium/Potassium silicate. So you could potentially make it yourself. Another one worth giving a go, if you haven't already, is slaking Calcium oxide and adding a fat, or oil during the process. Once dried this mix yields a "hydrophobic lime". You may also want to try heating slaked lime or even just a slurry of builders lime with some oil on the stove, as the oil/fat may combine with the lime in a similar way. I have made "hydrophobic lime" myself but am not 100% sure how it works. One might think the oil/fat would just saponify (With Calcium hydroxide being a strong base) and not add any water resistance at all and just constantly wash and leech out of the dried cement, concrete, mortar or whatever. But I don't think that's the case, considering the hydrophobic properties of the final material. Water just rolls off it. Maybe have a look into how much oil can be used before it compromises strength, I remember reading about it somewhere online.
@@ThinkingandTinkering, Vetruvius found that after immersion in sea water for 10 years Roman cement produces plate like objects called phillipsite that bend rather than shatter under stress which is why the Roman sea harbour walls are so strong and long lasting.
A forum about making your own sharpening stones brought me here. Magnesoum oxide cement is the material of 'ceramic' 'japanese' 'synthetic' water stones. Turns out the raw materials are super cheap
Rob, is the material conductive or can it be made conductive by mixing in carbon or wood ash something to do that and applied to a current collector foil type plates to use in a battery.
Cast the cogs for your gears using this method and you will have stronger gears for your projects. Timing belt gear molds using this method would make for stronger materials.
Fun stuff Rob... You didn't mention the shrinkage rate, would be good to know should you want to mold this material. I have added milled carbon fiber to many different projects with great results. Adding milled carbon fiber should make these cement mixes mush stronger as well as becoming a conductive solid. What are your thoughts?
experimenting with composities like mcf additions is always a good idea. these kinds of sorel cements bond very well to organics and carbon structures. the combinations are vast so experimentation is certanly needed and to my mind a good idea. re shrinkage - again individuals will change this so shrinkage should be measured. easy exercise would be to make a bar of it and measure wet and dry - that will give you shrinkage.
@@ThinkingandTinkering - Thanks Rob... If you are interested I'll keep you informed. Currently working with nano colloidal silver. Plan to fill with 60 micron mfc and a new mined material (forgot the name) which will boil in nitric acid to see if we can change properties also to be added to the above components...maybe a new capacitor.
@@lunacyworks Lunacyworks...The material was only slightly conductive. Currently working on adding 30 micron milled carbon fiber to UV cured resin. Results are promising.
...........Thanks and I'll try some of the things you've outlined. Some version of the zinc oxide cement was or is used as a temporary filling in dentistry .locally I haven't seen lasting results where lime sand mortar was used in building work. The work being good work but the mortar being a letdown . Perhaps some critical factor was lacking in the formula. Portland cement for mortar was rationed during ww2 and I've seen many structures in recent years that needed to be pulled down. The theory was lime mortar strengthened with time due calcium carbonate crystals formation cos of co2 in atmosphere ..I think co2 conc in atmosphere has to be just right and we've upset the Goldilocks already .
I wonder if it's actually silica fume you're using rather than fumed silica since there are several articles out there describing the use of silica fume for cement but almost nothing on cements made with fumed silica.
Non Portland cement, what about extreme temperature cement? Something that would see peaks of around 1500° American, (°F ) and could see a bit of water! Anything to handle that environment? I have a boiler project I have been putting off, well not really putting off, it hasn't even got that far yet, haha!
Hello Robert. How would the mix of magnesium oxide with fumed silica work if you used sodium silicate instead of water? It might create an even harder cement.
Hi Robert, would any of these cements be durable enough as moulds for molten Aluminium? Regarding your query in the last video Magnesium Oxide is used to treat horses who suffer from anxiety and nervousness.
85% sand, 10% portland cement, 5% water makes an OK reusable mold for metal casting. I'd think you might get similar results replacing the portland cement in that recipe.
Ive experimented with this with some success. Try to avoid material comibinations that form hydrates; the water tends to get out of the crystal at fairly low temperatures. Same for carbonates; depends on the particular carbonate but they might also offgas at molten alu temps.
I have seen some videos that describe how to use an expanding cement product to break rocks. You drill holes into the rock, pour in the cement and after a day or so the cement expands and breaks up the rock. Do you have any idea of the composition of this type of cement?
Cool, now I am wondering how these perform as aircrete. Because they are white, you could add colorants and in small batches with different colours you could make an interesting effect.
Wonderful video! What would happen if you combined the zinc oxide with the fumed silica? Could that be a strong, stable, economical cement that could withstand water?
Very informative video, thanks. I am a restorer I Denmark and read about a danish artist who went to Paris in 1930 when he returned back he started to make cast in something he called "metal cement" do you have any clue of what that could be ? Many regards Tobias
great thing about Mg is that it can be obtained from the sea as MgCl at insane quantities , now it would be great to use it to make cement in that state ( MgCl ) without processing it into other forms of Mg.
Hearing the word, magnesium, reminds me of the time I saw someone throw a magnesium block into a campfire. It lit up the night like it was day time! Wow did it ever burn really really bright! So I wonder if these magnesium cements have good fire ratings like portland cements do? From what I have seen here, it looks like portland cement is the best all around material, it is very plentiful and cheap, it is workable, sets in a reasnoable rate of time, has fantastic strength and water resistance, fire proof and can be mixed with room temperature water to make a reaction. Portland is an all around better product for sidewalks and foundations. Just add in some tensile reinforcement and you have a really useful product!
I like to look at the chemistry of production processes right back to the original source for different materials however with few exceptions doing this has made me conclude that there really are no "green" materials that are not sourced locally, only different ways to screw up the environment if you don't account for all of the energy to make and transport the material, plus all of the waste products that are not useable in other products at suitable volumes to match the production of the primary material. The hideous mess in China that resulted from the wastes from silicon wafer production for solar panels is a very good example of how these problems can be hidden from the end consumer.
I wonder why the manufacturers of MgO boards chose to go with magnesium chloride over a phosphate. Surely they must have known that the chloride would leach due to moisture. I read that Denmark is spending 300 million US dollars to replace Mgo board used in construction. The new MgO boards are using magnesium sulphate, which you have also said is susceptible to moisture. Any idea how they might be overcoming the moisture challenge?
@@SashaInTheCloud Don't know for sure, just going by what the video reveals. Good luck with your research. I have come to discover it is a fascinating area of material science with many unusual characters doing home experiments.
Great Video Robert! I wonder if the leaching problem could be mitigated by coating the cement with a waterproof material? I know that the Dutch use an 18kg mix of a polymer (recycled plastic bottles! )to a ton of crushed rock to make weather proofing for sea defences such as the final layer on sea walls. I think it was the Romans who discovered cement that we use today. I believe they used weathered lava or pumice stone. Thanks I learned a lot. I wonder if the coating I am suggesting would use adsorbtion or absorbtion to stick to the surface? I suspect you would know.
As an architect I am always looking for improving technology and materials. I came across your channel via an interest in hempcrete... the downside is the lime which is very co2 intensive. Could this new cement work as an improved hempcrete?
......it's all energy intensive .The romans had to collect n strip timber from all over the Mediterranean shores n hinterlands to fire up their cement production.
there are even older recipies like roman concrete. maybe we could be using that as a substitute as well? btw, have you ever heard of crystal batteries or is that some fringe nonsense?
Just what I’ve been looking for, thank you! Are you able to tell me would the silica mix be suitable to use to render garden beds (inside and out), or should I stick with the Ammonium Phosphate mix?
I am from Bangladesh. Recently I'm working on Magnesium Oxychloride cement as part of my MSc thesis. Unfortunately, I'm facing some problems while using MgO powder, MgCl2 and water. As first step, I made a solution of Magnesium chloride hexahydrate by distilled water where molar ratio was 1:13. Then I mix it with MgO powder of molar ratio 7. But, by mixing this way, I could not make any paste of cement. It remained at powder level. I further increased water upto 18 mole. But no change in the condition. That's why it was not possible for me to give shape by mold. Now, I didn't understand what fault is going on actually. I am mixing as per instruction of paper, but not finding the expected result. (Mass contect was =MgO: MgCl2.6H20: H2O= 50g: 36.23g: 41.78g = 7: 1: 13). If you help me telling what is wrong here, and tell the actual mixing ratio. Then it will be very helpful for me. Thank you
Then wouldn't that work well in space on the moon as making moon walls out of it, could the materials there be used and that water is an issue in the moon has very little
