Architectural concrete and process to make same

Abstract

A concrete article comprised of concrete having therein a reinforcing polymer that has a surface comprised of a thermoplastic hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester. The concrete article is made by mixing concrete, water and a reinforcing polymer that has a surface comprised of a thermoplastic hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester and curing said concrete mixture forming the concrete article.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A concrete article comprised of concrete having therein a reinforcing polymer that has a surface comprised of a thermoplastic hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester.  
     
     
         2 . The concrete article of  claim 1  wherein the thermoplastic hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester is prepared by the reaction of a dinucleophilic monomer with a diglycidyl ether, a diglycidyl ester or epihalohydrin.  
     
     
         3 . The concrete article of  claim 1  wherein the hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester is selected from the group consisting of: 
 (1) poly(hydroxy ethers) or poly(hydroxy esters) having repeating units represented by the formula:  
                     
 (2) polyetheramines having repeating units represented by the formula:  
                     
 (3) hydroxy-functionalized polyethers having repeating units represented by the formula:  
                     
 (4) hydroxy-functionalized poly(ether sulfonamides) having repeating units represented by the formula:  
                     
 wherein R 1  is a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; R 2  is independently a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; R 3  is  
                     
 R 5  is hydrogen or alkyl; R 6  is a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; R 7  and R 9  are independently alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl, substituted aryl; R 8  is a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; A is an amine moiety or a combination of different amine moieties; B is a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; m is an integer from 5 to 1000; and n is an integer from 0 to 100.  
 
     
     
         4 . The concrete article of  claim 1  wherein the reinforcing polymer is a fiber comprising a blend of one or more hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester with a polyolefin, polyester, polyamide, polysaccharide, modified polysaccharide or naturally-occurring fiber or particulate filler; thermoplastic polyurethane, thermoplastic elastomer or glycol-modified copolyester (PETG).  
     
     
         5 . The concrete article of  claim 1  wherein the reinforcing polymer is a bicomponent fiber having (1) a first component comprising a thermoplastic hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester or a blend of a hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester and (2) a second component comprising a polyolefin, polyester, polyamide, polysaccharide, modified polysaccharide or naturally-occurring fiber or particulate filler; thermoplastic polyurethane, thermoplastic elastomer or glycol-modified copolyester (PETG).  
     
     
         6 . The concrete article of  claim 5  wherein the hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester is prepared by the reaction of a dinucleophilic monomer with a diglycidyl ether, a diglycidyl ester or epihalohydrin.  
     
     
         7 . The concrete article of  claim 5  wherein the hydroxy-functional polyether is selected from the group consisting of: 
 (1) poly(hydroxy ethers) or poly(hydroxy esters) having repeating units represented by the formula:  
                     
 (2) polyetheramines having repeating units represented by the formula:  
                     
 (3) hydroxy-functionalized polyethers having repeating units represented by the formula:  
                     
 (4) hydroxy-functionalized poly(ether sulfonamides) having repeating units represented by the formula:  
                     
 wherein R 1  is a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; R 2  is independently a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; R 3  is  
                     
 R 5  is hydrogen or alkyl; R 6  is a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; R 7  and R 9 are independently alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl, substituted aryl; R8 is a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; A is an amine moiety or a combination of different amine moieties; B is a divalent organic moiety, which is primarily hydrocarbon; m is an integer from 5 to 1000; and n is an integer from 0 to 100.  
 
     
     
         8 . The concrete article of  claim 7  wherein the fiber is a side-by-side bicomponent fiber, a sheath-core bicomponent fiber, a segmented-pie bicomponent fiber or an islands-in-the-sea bicomponent fiber.  
     
     
         9 . The concrete article of  claim 8  wherein the fiber is comprised of a sheath of the thermoplastic hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester and a sheath of a thermoplastic polymer other than a hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester.  
     
     
         10 . The concrete article of  claim 1  wherein the concrete article is a shotcrete formed article.  
     
     
         11 . The concrete article of  claim 5  wherein the fiber has a cylindrical, cross-shaped, trilobal or ribbon-like cross-section.  
     
     
         12 . The concrete article of  claim 7  wherein the bicomponent fiber has a cylindrical, cross-shaped, trilobal or ribbon-like cross-section.  
     
     
         13 . The concrete article of  claim 5  wherein the fiber is formed by melt-spinning, dry-spinning or wet-spinning of a polymer solution.  
     
     
         14 . The concrete article of  claim 1  wherein the reinforcing polymer is in the form of a fiber, rod, sheet or combinations thereof.  
     
     
         15 . The concrete article of  claim 1  wherein the reinforcing polymer is present in an amount of at least about 0.01 percent to at least about 3 percent by volume of the concrete article.  
     
     
         16 . The concrete article of  claim 15  wherein the reinforcing polymer is present in an amount of at least about 0.025 percent to at least about 1.0 percent by volume of the concrete article.  
     
     
         17 . The concrete article of  claim 7  wherein the polyolefin is polypropylene or a grafted polypropylene.  
     
     
         18 . The concrete article of  claim 17  wherein the polyolefin is polypropylene.  
     
     
         19 . The concrete article of  claim 7  wherein the thermoplastic hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester is poly(hydroxy amino ether) of the reaction of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A and ethanolamine.  
     
     
         20 . A process to make concrete comprised of mixing concrete, water and a reinforcing polymer that has a surface comprised of a thermoplastic hydroxy-functionalized polyether or polyester and curing said concrete mixture to form the concrete article.  
     
     
         21 . A concrete article formed by the process of  claim 20 .  
     
     
         22 . The process of  claim 20  wherein the reinforcing polymer is a fiber.  
     
     
         23 . The process of  claim 20  wherein a polymeric emulsion of styrene-butadiene, epoxy, polyurethane, and ethylene-styrene is added to the concrete.