a strange thing about papercrete- as it uses Portland Cement which is said to repel fibre, why does it work at all?
as i understand Magnesium cement, by contast, readily bonds with fibre-
so, what i'm thinking is : would Magnesia added to the mix make for stronger papercrete (with or without the addition of other reinforcement fibres)?
I have acquired a bag of Magnesium Oxide but have not had much chance to experiment with it yet- holidays intervened- but Michael Collins in Mexico has been making some pretty amazing stuff with magnesium Concrete- which is Magnesium and soluble Phosphorus ( altho i have yet to find out where to get the phosphorus and what proportion to use) so far i think the phosphorus should be a mix of Mono Potassium Phosphate and Mono Ammonium Phosphate but the latter gives off a noxious gas according to what i have read- fly ash is also a commonly used ingredient...)
ceramicrete was initially developed to sequestre radioactive waste- entirely non porous- i wonder if papercretes fallibility , that it absorbs water like a sponge, be adressed by using mag Concrete in place of Portland?
there is a Whole World of Cement Science and Chemistry out there...
The fellow i bought the magnesia from suggests using a 1-2-8 or 9 mix of portland cement, magnesia and sand for sculptural purposes- seemingly the PC adds something that the magnesia needs to set quickly. which is part of the advantage to using it (in addition to it absorbing CO2 as it cures)
cheers, eo
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