Properties of electroless Cu coated fly-ash cenosphere particles for smart cement-based composites
Waldemar Pichór
Quarterly No. 2, 2009 pages 164-169
DOI:
keywords: cenospheres, cement composites, electroless metallization, Cu deposition, metal layers
abstract The result of investigation the physical properties of Cu coated cenospheres from coal fly-ash by electroless method were presented. Such lightweight filler with conductive metal layer is an interesting material which may improve the range of potentially application of composites with different matrixes, especially cement based composites. Cement mortars or concretes with conductive filler may be use to monitoring of wall temperatures in building and measuring of load or stresses into build-ing walls. Also the cement-based composites with conductive filler may be use to electromagnetic interference shielding. Graphite or carbon fibers most common were use as conductive materials but in case of insulating materials is possible to modify by metallization the lightweight aggregates (e.g. cenospheres from coal ash) to obtain electro conductive filler. The Cu layer on the cenospheres surface were obtained by electroless method from CuSO4•5H2O using two kinds of activators: PdCl2 i AgNO3. SEM observation and XRD analysis were made. In both cases the Cu layer were compact but in case of AgNO3 activator the layer were more porous. The basic physical properties: bulk density, thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity were shown. The abrasive resistance were also obtained by abrasion test which is simulation of cenospheres behavior during mor-tar mixing. The obtained results shows that the electroless method of Cu coating of cenospheres are useful and the modified cenospheres with metal layer may be use as conductive filler of cement-based multifunctional composites.