Improvement in Water Resistance of Desulfurized Gypsum by Novel Modification of Silicone Oil Paraffin Composite Emulsion-based Waterproofing Agent

In this study, dimethyl silicone oil and liquid paraffin were combined and subsequently emulsified; the resulting mixture was innovatively incorporated into desulfurized gypsum to resolve its drawback of a poor water resistance . The waterproof mechanism of the composite emulsion and liquid paraffin emulsion with mass fractions of 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% were investigated. The effect of the desulfurized gypsum on the waterproof performance and basic mechanical properties were also investigated. The configuration of the composite waterproofing agent was characterized by FTIR and H-1-INMR. The results showed that, compared with the traditional liquid paraffin emulsion-based waterproofing agent, the softening coefficient of the silicone oil paraffin composite emulsion-based water-repellent agent was increased by 60% and attained a value of 0.89. Combined with the waterproof mechanism and microscope morphology analysis of gypsum hydration products, the improvement in the water resistance of water resistance was primarily attributed to the formation of a silicone hydrophobic membrane between the crystals of the gypsum block; this ensured that water could not penetrate the crystal.