Rheological Improvement of Nano-phase Silicon Cement Slurry with Polyglycol

To resolve the very high thixotropy problem encountered in using nanometer silicon cement slurry, three cement slurries were treated with 1%, 2% and 3% of PEG200, PEG400 and PEG600, respectively, and their rheological properties were tested and measured. The optimum concentration of PEG was determined by comparison of gel strength, plastic viscosity and yield point of the three cement slurries. The properties of the set nanometer silicon cement slurries before and after treatment with the optimized concentration of PEG were compared, and the IR spectrogram of the nanometer silicon emulsion before and after treatment with PEG were analyzed from the point of view of reaction mechanism. It was found that the properties of the set nanometer silicon cement slurry remained unchanged before and after being treated with 2% PEG200, indicating that addition of 2% PEG200 is best for improving the thixotropy of nanometer silicon cement slurry, the efficiency of thixotropy improvement was increased by more than 5 times. It was also found that the mechanisms of the PEG-nanometer SiO₂ reaction include not only hydrogen bonding, but also ether bonding, both of which improve the thixotropy of the anti-channeling nanometer SiO₂ cement slurry. Treatment of nanometer silicon cement slurry with 2% PEG200 resolved the very high thixotropy problem associated with nanometer silicon cement slurry, and the original properties of the cement slurry can also be maintained.