Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709

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Construction and Building Materials

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Review

Unsaturated polyester resin concrete: A review

Yang Gao a,b,⇑, Pedro romero b, Hongliang Zhang a, Man Huang a, Feng Lai a
a
Key Laboratory for Special Area Highway Engineering of Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
b
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA

h i g h l i g h t s

Abandoned buildings and fillers can synthesize UPC with excellent performance.

Acid, alkali and strong oxidizing environment lead to UPC degradation.

Humidity, high temperature will reduce the heart attack of UPC.

Fiber and MMA will improve the mechanical properties of UPC.

PET synthesis UP further forms UPC.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The scope of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the main influencing factors of unsaturated
Received 12 March 2019 polyester resin concrete (UPC), including the unsaturated polyester resins (UP), aggregates (recycled
Received in revised form 1 July 2019 aggregates), fillers, fiber, methyl methacrylate (MMA), the curing temperature, and humidity, curing
Accepted 12 August 2019
age. The corrosion resistance and related mechanical properties of UPC are better than OPC. But the
Available online 22 August 2019
shrinkage of UP during curing may cause internal stress and shrinkage problems in UPC. With the empha-
sis on the environment, the feasibility of recycled polyethylene terephthalate plastic (PET) in the prepa-
Keywords:
ration of regenerated unsaturated polyester resin concrete was discussed. Researches on green vegetation
Unsaturated polyester resin
Concrete
and permeable pavement using the UPC has also shown that UPC has unparalleled advantages compared
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to ordinary Portland concrete (OPC) and asphalt concrete.
Shrinkage Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Aggregates
Fillers
Curing

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Unsaturated polyester resin concrete (UPC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1. Unsaturated polyester resin (UP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2. Aggregate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.3. Filler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. Durability of UPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1. Effect of humidity on UPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2. Effect of temperature on UPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3. Effect of curing age on UPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4. Chemical resistance of UPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Shrinkage performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6. Effect of external admixture on UPC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.1. Fiber reinforced UPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.2. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7. PET recycled UPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8. Green concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gysoledad@163.com (Y. Gao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.116709
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709

9. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Conflicts of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

1. Introduction 2.1. Unsaturated polyester resin (UP)

Ordinary Portland concrete (OPC) and asphalt concrete are Unsaturated polyester resin (UP) is a linear polymer having an
widely used in the civil engineering and transportation industry. ester bond and an unsaturated double bond formed by polycon-
However, over time, both materials have certain problems in engi- densation of unsaturated dibasic acids with diols or by saturated
neering applications due to their physical and chemical properties. dibasic acids and unsaturated diols [25–27]. The C@C bond of the
The main binder of OPC is cement, which results in lower tensile resin molecular chain and styrene (ST)-unsaturated polyester
strength and large dry shrinkage deformation during the curing of (PES) can crosslink copolymerization reaction to form four possible
OPC [1,2]. What’s more, the low temperature and curing time structures: (I) intermolecular crosslinking with or without linking
may limit the workability and application requirements of OPC through styrene monomers; (II) intramolecular crosslinking with
[3–5]. At the same time, the chemical corrosion resistance of OPC or without linking through styrene monomers; (III) branching on
is poor [6]. OPC often fails to meet in some special environment the polyester molecule by styrene; and (IV) free styrene homopoly-
and engineering with high-quality requirements. In view of the merization [28]. The curing process of the unsaturated polyester
above problems, lots of methods are used to change the hydration resin is shown in Fig. 1.
performance of the cement by using an external admixture such The curing mechanism of the unsaturated polyester resin is rad-
as early strength agent [7,8], retarder [9], foaming agent [10] etc. ical curing, including different stages of chain initiation, chain
But most of the additives seem to have a single functional function growth, and chain termination, as well as chain transfer [29–31].
and hardly ensure the multi-faceted performance requirements of Although there are many ways to initiate free radicals, such as
OPC for the engineering. The service life of asphalt mixture was heat, light, electron beam, ultrasonic waves, etc., in the practical
often restricted in pavement engineering due to lots of defects such application, the use of free radical initiators is mostly. According
as high-temperature stability, low-temperature crack resistance, to the temperature of the free radical initiator and the initiation
water stability and aging resistance [11]. At present, most studies conditions, the unsaturated polyester resin initiating system can
on modified asphalt focus on external admixture modification, such be composed of a normal temperature high-temperature initiation
as polymer [12,13], mineral filler [14], rubber [15] and nano- system, a high-temperature initiation system, a photoinitiation
materials [16], but lots of the modifiers can hardly change the ther- system, a radiation initiation system or other initiation systems.
moplastic nature of the asphalt. In order to meet the needs of the For UPC, different initiation methods have different effects on
engineering, polyester materials were used to the civil engineering the mechanical behavior of UPC. The compressive strengths, flexu-
industry in order to improve the performance of cement and ral strengths, shear strength and bond strength of UP concrete and
asphalt or partially replace cement and asphalt products [17,18]. mortar are higher than Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and N, N-diethyl
Polymer concrete (PC) is synthesized by two parts, using the aniline (NNDA) as initiator and promoter when that of using
synthetic resin (organic polymer) or monomer as binder material Methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) and cobalt naphthenate
and using the sand and gravel as aggregate [19]. PC has a certain (CoNp) as initiators and accelerators. MEKP as initiator could pro-
of advantages in strength, insulation, low-temperature curing, duce more linkages inside the UPC, which provide a better position
chemical corrosion resistance, wear resistance and high elastic for the resin composite cross-links, resulting in a more compact
modulus than OPC and asphalt concrete. It is widely used in bond- polyester compound that improves PM and PC Mechanical proper-
ing materials, anti-corrosion materials, base plate material, water- ties (Fig. 2) [32,33]. When UPC is cured by gamma irradiation, its
proof material and prefabricated components [20–24]. compressive strength is improved [34–36,127]. However, the
Unsaturated polyester resin concrete (UPC) is a synthetic com- experimental results show that the radiation intensity is not lin-
pound concrete using unsaturated polyester resin (UP) and a cer- early related to the mechanical properties of UPC. When the radi-
tain proportion of coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, filler. ation intensity reaches a critical point, increasing the radiation
Compared with OPC, UPC uses UP instead of cement to act as a bin- intensity does not necessarily improve the mechanical properties
der in concrete. The curing process of unsaturated resin will of the UPC [37,38,121]. In order to ensure working and mobility,
directly affect the construction performance and mechanical prop- the amount of resin in UPC is mainly concentrated between 10
erties of UPC. However, UPC often shows high viscosity during stir- and 20% by weight (Table 1).
ring for the presence of resins, forced agitation need to perform
during the mixing process compared to OPC, and the stirring
requirements are rapid. The hardening process of UPC is different
2.2. Aggregate
from OPC and asphalt concrete, its mainly change with the liquid
resin and curing agent, initiator, accelerator type and dosage. Based
Two necessary conditions need to meet in the production pro-
on cost and environmental requirements, how to recycle the grow-
cess of UPC: 1) The resin can penetrate the aggregates and can
ing urban construction waste and waste polyethylene terephtha-
wrap the aggregates, which is the basic condition for the formation
late plastic (PET) to prepare recycled unsaturated polyester resin
of the polyester concrete material. Otherwise, it is impossible to
concrete has become a hot research topic.
bond the sand and gravel together [57,58]; 2) The resin can be
cured well [59]. When the resin infiltrates the aggregate, the
2. Unsaturated polyester resin concrete (UPC) wet-out rate will decrease with the increase of the viscosity of
the resin in all directions; but it increases with the increase of
UPC is mainly composed of unsaturated polyester resin, aggre- the surface tension of the resin [60,61]. Obviously, different ratios
gate, and filler. This section focuses on the effects of the three main between aggregates will inevitably affect the wet-out rate and
components on the properties of polyester concrete. encapsulation of the resin. A good grading design of aggregate is
 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709 3

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of curing of unsaturated polyester resin [28].

Table 1
Unsaturated polyester resin and related additives in UPC.

UP/content (wt Initiator Accelerator Additive Curing condition

%)
Vipulanandan C et al. [39] UP/10–20 MEKP CoNp 3MPT 40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C
A. Osburg et al. [40] Orthophthalic MEKP CoNp – Room temperature
UP/10
Hadi, S et al. [41] UP/16.6–33.3 – – – Air
Ricardo Barbosa et al. [42] Unsaturated – – – 50 °C
ortho polyester/
16
Sung, Chan Yong et al. [43] Orthophthalic MEXPO 55% with DMP 45% – – 20 ± 1 °C (60 ± 2%
UP/6.94–8.34 relative humidity)
Jin-Man Kim et al. [44] UP/9–11 MEKP – Poly-stylene –
Nur Hafizah A. Khalid et al. [45] Isophthalic and MEKP CoNp Methyl 30 ± 2 °C
orthophthalic methacrylates
UP /6.57 (MMA)
Kyu-Seok Yeon et al. [46] Orthophthalic 55% DMP with 45% MEKP N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) MMA/ Shrinkage- 110 ± 5 °C
UP/20 reducing agent
(SRA)
Fareed Mahdi et al. [33] UP/10 Benzoyl peroxide/MEKP DMA/ CoNp Styrene monomer Room temperature/
150 °C
Header Haddad et al. [47] UP/17 MEKP DMA MMA
M.J. Hashemi, et al. [48] UP/12,14,60 MEKP CoNp – Room temperature
Carrion, F. et al. [49] Orthophthalic MEKP Dimethyl phthalate (DMP) – –
UP /11–13
Byung-Wan Jo et al. [50] UP/9 MEKP CoNp – Room temperature
Nur Hafizah A. Khalid et al. [51] Isophthalic and MEKP CoNp MMA 30 ± 2 °C
Orthophthalic
UP /12
G. Martínez-Barrera et al. [52,53] UP/10–20 MEKP CoNp – Controlled
temperature/
Gamma radiation
K. S. Rebeiz [54] UP/10 MEKP CoNp – Room temperature
J.P. Gorninski et al. [55] Isophthalic and MEKP CoNp – 30 °C
Orthophthalic
UP /12,13
Chan-Yong Sung [56] UP/6–9 MEKP DMP – 28 ± 1 °C
4 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709

can form a UPC with compressive strength up to 132.55 MPa. The

(a) MEKP as initiator
(b) BPO as initiator
Fig. 2. SEM micrographs of hardened polymer resin [32].
critical to UPC performance. Relevant theoretical research and
experiments in this area still require precise research.
A problem brought about by economic development is how to
deal with industrial waste and construction waste. The production
of mineral waste from construction and demolition in European
Union is more than 300 million tons per year since 2010, and the
economically developed countries have a larger share among the
amount of waste (Table 2) [62]. Reasonable recycling of industrial
waste and construction waste not only reduces the burden on the
natural environment but also creates greater value with lower
costs.
Mohammad T. Hamza et al. [63] used the waste cement/con-
crete debris and waste blocks as coarse aggregates to study the
effect of recycling aggregate to unsaturated polyester resin con-
crete. 30% unsaturated polyester resin and waste cement/concrete
debris can be used to synthesize UPC with compressive strength up
to 80.48 MPa, 25% unsaturated polyester resin and waste blocks
results show that the use of waste construction waste as an aggre-
gate can obtain higher mechanical properties of concrete with UP
(Fig. 3). Francisco Carrión et al. [49] compares the mechanical
properties of UPC with regenerated basalt (RBA) and regenerated
limestone (RLA) as coarse aggregate. When the RBA is used as
coarse aggregate, the mechanical properties of UPC are signifi-
cantly higher than those of RLA. In addition, increasing the resin
content can increase the strength and stiffness of recycled polye-
ster concrete. Overall, natural basalt and limestone corresponding
polyester concrete is stronger than that of recycled aggregate, but
the use of regenerated aggregate as an alternative to natural stone
is still a good choice. Byung-Wan Jo et al. [50] showed that the
resin content plays a decisive role in the mechanical properties
of UPC with recycled aggregates. Increasing the content of the resin
can increase the strength of the UPC. However, when the amount
of UP added exceeds a certain amount, the mechanical properties
of the UPC will not increase any more. UPC with recycled aggregate
has excellent corrosion resistance, but its acid resistance is reduced
compared that of natural aggregates, and the alkali resistance does
not change much. Chan-Yong Sung et al. [43] proved that UPC with
recycled aggregates is an excellent alternative to asphalt mixtures
in the pavement. The standard compressive strength of UPC with
recycled aggregates can get 18 MPa, and the water resistance coef-
ficient is 1.0*102. At the same time, the concrete has good acid
corrosion resistance; after the freeze-thaw cycle, the quality is
hardly attenuated; the water absorption rate is almost zero.
Waste artificial marble as a coarse aggregate under vacuum
pressed for 20 min at 90 °C can get a UPC with a flexural strength
of 25 MPa and water absorption of less than 0.2%. Increasing the
amount of marble waste could reduce the flexural strength of the
UPC and increase the water absorption of the UPC [64]. Spherical
steel slag as an aggregate can reduce the amount of resin from
11% to 9%. In addition, spherical steel slag can improve the com-
pressive strength of UPC [35]. UPC with ceramsite is not easy to
completely damage when pressed and has a long force platform.
When subjected to external impact loads, UPC with ceramsite will
not be brittle but be destroyed layer by layer from the impact side.
It is a good anti-shock energy-absorbing material [65]. Recycled
sand can significantly improve the crack resistance of UPC, and
the crack resistance of UPC with recycled sand was 12.14% higher
than that of ordinary curtain concrete, while the fracture energy
remained unchanged [66].
2.3. Filler
Fillers play a key role in cement concrete and asphalt mixtures
[67–70]. Similarly, fillers are also important in UPC. The acid resis-
tance, fineness, adsorption, and purity of the filler will affect its
performance on UPC. Calcium carbonate powder [71], fly ash
[72], mica powder [73], talcum powder [74] are often used in
polyester mixture fillers.

Table 2
Mineral waste from construction and demolition (tonne) [62].

GEO/TIME 2010 2012 2014 2016

European Union 335,910,000 337,000,000 315,010,000 340,800,000
Belgium 14,403,309 15,732,194 16,647,115 19,222,040
Germany 77,115,014 78,252,747 79,603,592 86,885,550
Spain 11,383,724 27,393,120 7,097,159 13,585,573
France 65,486,426 62,188,047 61,122,538 60,245,692
Italy 35,887,955 33,916,487 34,225,306 35,393,242
Netherlands 21,759,356 20,961,277 20,567,498 20,532,871
Finland 23,540,568 15,837,650 1,104,925 1,428,798
United Kingdom 58,045,344 55,448,596 62,130,145 66,995,006
 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709 5

Fig. 3. Utilization of recycled aggregates in UPC [63].

Fig. 4. Schematic illustration of preparation of the WPCB-UP composite [79].

A reasonable amount of filler can fill the frontal pores in the
polyester concrete, make up for the defects in the polyester con-
crete, and enhance the mechanical properties of the polyester con-
crete. As the filler increases, a ‘‘sea-island” structure may be
formed (‘‘island” of filler dispersed in the ‘‘sea” of the resin), which
could correspond to the microphase separation between the filler
and resin [75,76]. As a result, the mechanical properties of polye-
ster concrete may be affected, Yong’s modulus (E), tensile strength
(rb) and the break elongation (eb) of the polyester mixture may be
increased for the fractured surfaces of the resin/filler become
rougher.
With the deepening of UPC research, some new fillers and
wastes as regenerative fillers have emerged. Chan-Yong Sung
et al. [37,77] studied the effect of waste glass powder and bottom
ash on UPC. The compressive and flexural strengths of UPC with
waste glass powder can get 16.8–19.7 MPa and 4.7–6.1 MPa,
respectively. As the waste glass powder increases, the void ratio
and the permeability coefficient decrease, but the required amount
of resin could be decreased in UPC. The void ratio of UPC can be
reduced by the bottom ash. As the bottom ash content increases,
the compressive strength and the flexural strength increase to
some extent. In addition, the permeability coefficient and strength
of UPC with the bottom ash can meet the requirement of the pave-
ment. Nasim Sarami et al. [78] studied the effect of nano-TiO2 and
nano-ZnO on the properties of polyester compounds. The addition
of nano-TiO2 can convert the polluting gas in the process of resin
concrete into low-harm gas NOx, N2 and O2. Due to the large speci-
fic surface area of nanomaterials, UPC with nanomaterials has a
smoother surface and has an advantage in increasing the water
resistance and stain resistance, compressive strength, the flexural
strength, and the heat resistance and reduce the water absorption
performance. The waste printed circuit board (WPCBs) used in the
UPC can be an ideal candidate for noise barrier and soundproof
wall. Because WPCB can improve the surface density of WPCB-UP
composite, in addition, WPCB can sufficiently affect the sound
insulation properties of UPC [79] (Fig. 4).
With the continuous development of nanomaterials, many
scholars have been conducting the influence of nanomaterials on
the UP mixture. Nasim Sarami et al. [79] studied the effect of
nano-TiO2 and nano-ZnO on the properties of polyester com-
pounds. The addition of nano-TiO2 can convert the polluting gas
in the process of resin concrete into low-harm gas NOx, N2 and
6 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709

Fig. 5. Grafting technology leads to uniform distribution [90].

O2. Due to the large specific surface area of nanomaterials, UPC 3. Durability of UPC
with nanomaterials has a smoother surface and has an advantage
in increasing the water resistance and stain resistance, compres- The environment will directly affect the durability of UP, and at
sive strength, the flexural strength, and the heat resistance and the same time, it will affect the internal structure of UPC and even-
reduce the water absorption performance. Jiang et al. [80] found tually affect the mechanical behavior of UPC. Previous researches
that when TiO2 was added to the unsaturated polyester resin com- have shown that the humidity, high temperature, irradiation, ini-
posite, its impact strength, flexural strength and heat distortion tiator type, the amount of initiator, post-curing treatment can
temperature increased by 890.5%, 77.5% and 23.7%, respectively. affect the curing progress of the UP, and further affecting the
Because TiO2 has higher rigidity, excellent adhesion and compati- mechanical properties of UP [91–94].
bility. The incorporation of modified TiO2 nanoparticles in the
UPR enhances the UV aging resistance of the composite. Byung
3.1. Effect of humidity on UPC
et al. [81,82] found that the mechanical properties and thermal sta-
bility of MMT-UP and nanoclays-UP nanocomposites are better
When the aggregate or the resin itself has moisture, the water
than pure UP. The glass transition temperature and main chain
will evaporate into water vapor during the heat curing process,
decomposition temperature of the MMT-UP nanocomposite
and the water vapor may form bubbles both in the resin and inter-
exceed pure UP. The compressive strength, elastic modulus and
face between aggregate and resin. What’s more, the bubbles can
splitting tensile strength of polymer concrete using MMT-UP
hardly escape as the reaction progresses. Bubbles will become a
nanocomposites exceed the compressive strength, elastic modulus
weak point in the adhesive and interface, ultimately weakening
and splitting tensile strength of polymer concrete using pure UP.
the mechanical properties of the UPC [39]. The resin mixture
Chen et al. [83] found that zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles signifi-
may cause microcracks and voids due to the presence of water,
cantly affected the curing reaction of UP resin and the performance
and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and the damping
of UP composites. Baskaran et al. [84] indicated that nano-
ratio of the resin may also increase as the water content increases
aluminum improved the thermal stability of polyester blends.
[91,95,96]. In addition, the weight, length, and volume of the UPC
Sharma et al. [85] studied that the better dispersion of silica parti-
would increase with the growth of the age in the humid environ-
cles in unsaturated polyester resins enhances the electrical proper-
ment, which may be due to the expansion of the resin [33]. Water
ties of silica-UPR composites. Kanchan et al. [86] pointed out that
molecules will plasticize the resin, which will lead to the expan-
the addition of nanoparticles to an unsaturated polyester resin
sion of the resin, leading to an increase in cracks in the later stage
results in an increase in corrosion resistance relative to the erosion
of the polyester concrete. The crack width is generally maintained
path lenglth and the average roughness of the erosion. Vigueras
between 0.01 and 0.05 mm, affecting the contact area between the
et al. [87] studied the friction, scratch resistance and electrical
resin and the aggregate, and causing the strength to decrease
resistivity associated with the resistivity percolation threshold in
[94,97]. After drying, the wet polyester concrete will partially
high density polyethylene (HDPE) + carbon black (CB) composites.
reversibly shrink its length and volume, but there are still gaps
The dispersion of nanoparticles plays a key role in the prepara-
and cracks in the sample after drying.
tion of high performance nano-composites. Studies have shown
that steric stabilization mechanisms can be applied to improve
the dispersion and stability of nanoparticles [88]. It has been found 3.2. Effect of temperature on UPC
that the addition of a silane coupling agent can further improve the
properties of the resulting composite, however, an excessive Curing of the resin is an exothermic process, and temperature
amount of coupling agent causes a decrease in the crosslinking also has an important effect on the curing of the resin. Since differ-
density of the composite to deteriorate its performance [89]. At ent initiators have different thermal decomposition properties,
the same time, some functional groups can graft with the nanoma- changes in temperature affect the activity of the initiator, which
terial and effectively improve the surface activity of the nanomate- in turn affects the curing process [98]. Sang-Hoon Hyun et al.
rial, thereby increasing the heavy dispersibility of the nanomaterial [99] studied the effect of temperature on the curing and mechani-
in the polyester mixture [90] (Fig. 5). cal properties of methyl methacrylate (MMA) modified UPC.
 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709
Fig. 6. Typical fracture surfaces observed for the SENB specimens tested at different thermal cycles [100].
Reducing the curing temperature will reduce the mechanical prop-
erties of the UPC. When the curing temperature is lowered from
20 °C to 20 °C, the compressive strength, splitting strength and
flexural strength of MMA modified UPC are reduced by 31.7%,
42.4%, and 24.3%. M. Heidari-Rarani et al. [100] studied the
mechanical properties of UPC under the action of freezing and
thawing cycles by the diametrally compressed un-cracked Brazil-
ian disc (BD) and the single edge notch bending (SENB) test. The
failure mode of polyester concrete under freeze-thaw cycles is
the tensile brittle failure, and the different freeze-thaw cycles
hardly change the failure type of the UPC (Fig. 6). The tensile
strength (rt) and fracture toughness (K1c) of polyester concrete
are greatly affected by temperature and the mode of the thermal
cycle. The tensile strength of polyester concrete is affected by the
cold-heat cycle more than the heat-cooling cycle, which increases
the risk of tensile type failure of un-cracked PC materials in winter.
The fracture toughness value of UPC is more pronounced with the
higher mean temperature ranges, which indicates the risk of the
unstable fracture growth of pre-existing cracks is growing in sum-
mer. When the external environment changes, it will affect the
adhesion between the resin and the resin. At the same time, the
stable change will cause the water molecules in the environment
to enter the interior of the polyester concrete. The water molecules
will enter between the binder and the filler. The stratification of
the transition zone into the microstructure reduces the bond
between the two, which in turn affects the mechanical properties
of polyester concrete [31,101]. Su Xue-gui et al. [102] found that
polyester concrete will undergo thermal decomposition at high
temperatures, and its internal microstructure will change. When
the temperature reaches 350 °C–500 °C, the average gray level of
polyester concrete will be reduced by 20.7%, the number of pore
groups will increase by 47.5%, and the pore size will increase by
201.5%. After the organic resin is pyrolyzed under high-
temperature conditions, the pores in the matrix concrete will
increase significantly, and interconnected to form a larger pore
group. The thermal decomposition critical temperature of the
organic resin may be 350 °C, when the temperature reaches
400 °C, the mechanical properties of the polyester concrete are sig-
nificantly reduced, the compressive strength and the tensile
strength will decrease 95% and 68.3% respectively.
3.3. Effect of curing age on UPC
J.M.L. Reis et al. [103] pointed out that the brittleness of UPC
increased and the crack resistance of that decreased with the time
going. With the gradual progress of polyester concrete polymeriza-
tion curing, the brittleness of polyester concrete increases, and the
interface between resin and cement stone tends to strengthen.
Ultimately, the toughening or crack-shielding of the mixture may
be determined by the anti-crack resistance of the aggregate-
matrix interface. Gettu [104] concluded that the strength of resin
7
and cement stone and its interface would increase with the curing
time going, which will lead to the decrease of strength of aggregate
in the system. The decline of crack resistance of polyester concrete
was mainly due to the aggregation, for more aggregate rupture and
less crack tortuosity. However, Kim [105] studied the fracture
toughness decreases with the increase of age, which may be caused
by the inconsistency between the hydration products of early
hydration of cement and the coarse aggregate (limestone, river
gravel). The brittleness of early products of cement hydration is
higher than natural coarse aggregates, which is the main reason
for the lower toughness of concrete.
4. Chemical resistance of UPC
Due to the low acid and alkali corrosion resistance of cement
materials, the chemical resistance of OPC is weak. Similarly, the
mechanical properties of UPC are also affected by chemical compo-
sition. Acid solution (H2SO4, HCl, HNO3, Citric acid (C6H8O7), Acetic
acid, Formic acid, Lactic acid, Soft drink), alkaline solution (KOH,
NaOH), salt solution (Na2SO4), oil exposure liquids (Gas oil, Gaso-
line, Kerosene) and water (Potable water, Demineralized water/
Distilled water) all have a negative impact on the mechanical prop-
erties of UPC [32,55,106,107]. Among them, after soaking for
6 months, UPC lost the maximum compressive strength in alkaline
solution, and the sulfuric acid solution has a greater corrosive effect
than other acid solutions, the degree of reduction of the compres-
sive strength and splitting tensile strength of UPC in oil exposure
liquids would gradually worsen over time. The chemical solution
will destroy the polymer molecular chain, reduce the polymer
molecular weight, and thus destroy the properties of the resin,
resulting in a reduction in the strength of the resin after curing.
At the same time, the chemical solution will affect the properties
of the filler and aggregate in the polyester concrete, and the decom-
position of the aggregate and the calcium carbonate and other sub-
stances in the filler will result in a decrease in the softening strength
of the filler and aggregate in the UPC. The effect of acid solution on
UPC is mainly due to the chemical reaction between the acid and
the aggregate in UPC, which degrades the aggregate and affects
the mechanical properties of UPC. The alkali solution decomposes
the resin, which reduces the crack resistance of the UPC [40]. Mod-
ified polyester resin, or change the UP type, improved filler and the
nature of the aggregate can greatly improve the chemical resistance
of polyester concrete [108,109]. However, the chemical resistance
of UPC is still higher than that of ordinary OPC, and UPC is often
used in metallurgical electrolysis cells and related corrosion resis-
tant environments. Compared with the traditional OPC, UPC has
higher corrosion resistance and lower cost, so it has higher eco-
nomic value in a corrosion-resistant environment [108].
Unsaturated polyester resin polymers have large organic mole-
cules with complex structures that are sensitive to excess energy.
When the macromolecular structure receives a large amount of
8 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709
energy, the molecular chain of the airport is easily destroyed,
thereby degrading the structure and properties of the polymer.
Previous studies have shown that the minimum energy required
to open the covalent bond of the main carbon chain is in the range
of 5–10 eV [110]. Polymers with some special functional groups
and/or bonds tend to degrade due to chemical reactions under cer-
tain environmental conditions, especially when in contact with liq-
uids [111]. The unsaturated polyester resin includes an ester bond
in a main polymer chain and/or a crosslinked chain. When it is
chemically attacked by an acid or a base, the polymer chain under-
goes fracture hydrolysis. The hydrolysis reaction of the unsatu-
rated polyester resin in acid solution, alkaline solution and strong
oxidation conditions (such as H2O2 and strong oxidizing acid solu-
tion) would represent by the following formulas (1-1), (1-2), and
(1-3). When hydrolysis corrosion occurs, the amount of ester bonds
in the resin is reduced, and a carboxylate is produced as a corrosion
product [112].

Acid corrosion

Alkali corrosion

Oxidative corrosion
5. Shrinkage performance
The unsaturated polyester resin undergoes a certain volume
shrinkage during the curing process, and the large volume shrink-
age of UP resins can range from 7 to 10% [109]. The curing process
is commonly described via three distinct regions (Fig. 7) [113]. In
Region I, the uncured resin is composed of chemical entities that
are discrete relative to each other. Region II indicates the curing
stage of the resin, and monomer molecules undergo chain forma-
tion and linear growth by branching (polymerization) in this pro-
cess [114]. Then the resulting molecular chains are crosslinked to
form a large rigid three-dimensional molecular network. Region
III marks the end of the curing process without further polymeriza-
tion shrinkage. However, the coefficients of thermal expansion
(CTEs) of polymer concretes is 3–4 times higher than that of an
ordinary cement concrete [115], the shrinkage of polyester con-
crete will be greater than that of ordinary Portland concrete, and
most of the shrinkage strains may occur in the 8–24 h time range,
among them, the phenomenon of shrinkage of polyester concrete is
faster than that of ordinary concrete [102]. Cure shrinkage
may cause premature cracks or delamination at the interface of
the resin and aggregate, excessive shrinkage strains may cause
delamination between the overlay and the substrate [116], and
the shrinkage of polyester concrete affects the application of polye-
ster concrete in engineering, especially for some important
projects.
ð1-1Þ
ð1-2Þ
ð1-3Þ
The shrinkage of polyester concrete is mainly caused by the vol-
ume shrinkage during the curing of the unsaturated polyester
resin. The polymer changes from a liquid viscous form to a solid
form with high yield and fracture stress as the crosslinking reac-
tion proceeds. However, the highly crosslinked structure reduces
the molecular mobility of the polymer, making the brittleness of
polymer increase, and the crack resistance inside the polymer
reduce. Several methods may be used to increase toughness of
unsaturated polyester resin, further improve the shrinkage resis-
tance of polyester concrete: (1) low profile additives (LPA), like
 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709
Fig. 7. Three distinct regions of the cure process. Vi and Vf are the specific volume of
the system at gelation and 100% cure, respectively [113].
Fig. 8. Creep compliance curves depending on filler types [141].
the thermoplastic polyurethane (PU), and polystyrene (PS) [117],
poly (vinyl acetate), polystyrene, poly (methyl methacrylate)
(PMMA) [118], succinic acid [119], liquid rubber [120,121], ther-
moplastic [122,123] or core-shell particles [108,124,125], (2) inor-
ganic filler, like the CaCO3 [126], glass bead [127], micron- and
nanometer-sized aluminum particles [128], and (3) synthetic low
shrinkage resin [129,130]. The LPA in the polymer could achieve
a shrink-expansion balance by itself thermal expansion during
the curing process of the polymer, wherein the thermal expansion
property and the incompatibility with resin cross-linking curing
systems of the LPA play decisive roles in controlling the shrinkage
of the resin [131]. LPA type [132], the cure temperature, pressure
and thermal history also can affect the shrinkage properties of
LAP on the resin [133–136]. Reasonably design the number of inor-
ganic particles can reduce the amount of resin in polyester con-
crete to a certain extent. Some inorganic particles, like nano-
silica [137], flame retardant blend [138], could change the pseudo-
plasticity and thixotropy of the resin, and it is necessary to pay
attention to this characteristic in the application of polyester
concrete.
However, for high-strength applications, special blends of
strong aggregates and special reinforcements should be used in
unsaturated polyester resin concrete. At the same time, special
precautions should be taken to prevent cases involving large sus-
tained loads over a longer period of time, as viscoelasticity may
cause excessive creep to deform under conditions of use. Previous
studies have shown that special precautions should be taken when
9
Fig. 9. Isothermal DSC curves [130].
unsaturated polyester concrete specimens involve large continu-
ous loads or high temperatures, because the viscoelastic properties
of resin binders can lead to unreasonably high deformation. [18].
When the creep stress ratio exceeds about 50%, the unsaturated
polyester concrete specimens often undergo excessive creep defor-
mation and catastrophic failure [139]. Creep deformation can be
effectively reduced by limiting the amount of slip between the
resins and increasing the crosslinking or molecular weight
between the resins [140]. Tae et al. [141,142] systematically stud-
ied the creep of unsaturated polyester concrete and used the short-
term creep test to obtain the long-term creep prediction formula
(Eq. (1-4)). The error between long-term creep prediction and
experimental long-term creep compliance is less than about 4%
(Fig. 8). Compared to ordinary concrete, the creep strain of unsat-
urated polyester concrete grew relatively fast in the early period
and showed more than 20% long-term creep in the first two days,
showing about 50% long-term creep in the first 20 days. This phe-
nomenon is caused by creep in the polymer concrete caused by
molecular motion in the viscoelastic resin binder.
   
DðtÞ ¼ D20 20 t
1  e24 þ rD25
t
1  e1000
g þ D1 1


t=6000
þ rD30
1 1e ð1-4Þ
where, Dg is the glassy creep compliance, which is measured at
t = 0, D20 25 30
1 , D1 , D1 are the coefficients under temperature of 20,
25, 30 of the short-term creep compliance cure, r is the factor used
to adjust the coefficients to minimize the error in the predicted
creep compliance, t is the time.
The creep strain of the unfilled polymer concrete is much
greater than the creep strain of the polymer concrete containing
the filler, because the filler plays an important role in limiting
the deformation of the polymer concrete [141,142]. In addition,
in terms of the type of filler, CaCO3 as a filler has a better effect
on polymer concrete than fly ash in terms of creep strain and speci-
fic creep. This is due to the large surface area of the CaCO3 particles
and the higher adhesion between the resin binder and the aggre-
gate. UP has two distinct exothermic peaks during the exothermic
process, and the first exothermic peak of the DSC curve is attribu-
ted to the cross-linking polymerization stage and belongs to
between the unsaturated polyester chain and the styrene mole-
cule. The second exothermic peak belongs to the homopolymeriza-
tion thermal stage of styrene [143,144]. The external admixture
will chemically react with the unsaturated polyester resin, result-
10 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709

Fig. 10. Fiber and polyester composite interaction phase diagram [186].

ing in a change in the exothermic peak of the unsaturated polye-
ster resin, which macroscopically affects the mechanical properties
of the resin. Sheng et al. pointed out that there is only one exother-
mic peak in the curing curve of adipic acid/VER samples, indicating
that the curing process of VER and adipic acid becomes one-step
polymerization, which is different from the traditional VER sample,
CaCO3 / VER sample. And PVAc / VER specimens. A one-step poly-
merization of VER with adipic acid also showed an exothermic
peak of the isothermal DSC curve of adipic acid/VER in Fig. 9 [130].
6. Effect of external admixture on UPC
6.1. Fiber reinforced UPC
Although UPC is superior to OPC in terms of compressive
strength and corrosion resistance, since UP is less liable after cur-
ing, a three-dimensional network structure is easily formed inside
the UP mixture, which increases brittle fracture in the interior of
UPC, resulting in poor resistance to crack initiation and propaga-
tion in UPC and poor impact strength [145–147]. Previous studies
have shown that polymer concrete can be reinforced with fibers,
including synthetic fibers, natural fibers and cut textile waste. Syn-
thetic fibers include Kenaf fiber [148], glass [149–151], carbon
[152,153] and aramid fibers [154], polypropylene fibers [155–
158], etc; natural fibers include coconut [159], jowar, sisal and
bamboo [160–164], banana [165,166], bagasse [155,167] and luffa
fibers [168], hemp fiber [169], flax [170], vitamin [147,171,172],
etc. Textiles include cotton [173,174], silk [175–177] and rayon
[178,179], Kraft paper [180]. The fracture properties and mechan-
ical strength, impact toughness of polyester concrete can be
improved by adding fibers. When a fiber is subjected to an external
force, it usually appears to be detached from the polymer material

Fig. 11. Fiber surface chemical treatment [209].

 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709
and pulled out. The energy consumption of the process in which
the fibers are peeled off in the polyester composite contributes to
the improvement of the mechanical properties of the composite,
which is often considered to be the failure mechanism of the fiber
polyester composite [155,179,181–183]. Longer lengths and higher
volume fractions, larger aspect ratio fibers can increase the work of
fracture, which in turn improves the mechanical properties of
polyester composites [184,185] (Fig. 10).
The mechanical properties of synthetic fibers tend to be more
excellent, so the use of synthetic fibers can effectively improve
the mechanical properties of polyester blends. Adding 0.2 vol%
polypropylene fiber in polymer concrete which applying a dose
of 250 kGy, the compressive strength and elastic modulus of poly-
mer concrete can be increased by 62% and 142% respectively, and
the compressive strain of that can be reduced by 23% [53]. Com-
pared with non-fiber PC, the maximum compressive strength of
PC with nylon fiber increased by 33–51% [187]. The addition of
polyester fiber significantly reduces the Ec of unsaturated polye-
ster concrete, and the addition of fiber increases the ductility of
polyester concrete [188]. The addition of glass fiber can improve
the bending strength and stiffness of the polyester mixture, where
the bending strength, bending stiffness and failure strain are
increased by 138.9, 94.6 and 62.8%, respectively [149]. However,
the threshold of fiber content is 2% by volume. When the fiber
addition exceeds this limit, the processability of the PC mixture
will drop sharply [189]. At the same time, due to the alkaline envi-
ronment inside the cement concrete, some fibers such as PET fiber
will gradually lose their toughness in the alkaline environment for
a long time, resulting in the fiber reinforcement effect is gradually
reduced [190].
One of the problems of curing of natural fibers and polyester
resins is the high water absorption of fibers, which adversely
affects the performance of these composites [191]. The water
absorbed by the filler-filled jute fibers may cause hydrolysis of
the polyester at the interface of the filler matrix. During the water
absorption process, the hydrogen ions generated by the hydrolysis
of acrylic acid catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of the polyester
chain, generate more carboxyl end groups, accelerate the degrada-
tion of the matrix, and reduce the mechanical properties of the
hard fiber reinforced polyester resin [192,193]. At the same time,
increasing the fiber content also causes the polymer to become less
tensile in a wet environment. This is because increasing the
amount of fiber will cause more moisture to enter the interior of
the polyester concrete, and the fiber will expand when it meets
water, greatly reducing the mechanical properties of the polymer
[194,195]. Chemical treatment can effectively reduce the water
absorption of the fiber. The grafting technique is used to crosslink
some of the functional groups with the fibers, which not only
increases the strength of the fibers, but also reduces the water
absorption of the fibers. And further increases the strong interfacial
adhesion between the fibers and the polyester matrix [196,197].
Fig. 12. Failed sections of polyester concrete beam [220].
11
Fig. 13. Constitutional formula of MMA monomer.
Textile chips may not be considered as aggregate or steel. How-
ever, it does help to increase the volume of the mixture and reduce
the weight. And because of its fiber properties, it helps to increase
the bending resistance and pressure resistance [53]. The bending
strength behavior shows that as the content of textile fibers in
the polymer concrete mixture increases, the damage becomes less
brittle [198–200].
In order to improve the bond strength between the fiber and the
polymer matrix, the effect of the reinforcing fiber in the polyester
mixture can be characterized by physical or chemical treatment
[201]. Chemical treatment usually uses a hybrid or grafted tech-
nique to combine specific functional groups with fibers or soak
the fibers with a solution such as an acid or a base to change the
surface characteristics of the fibers [202–207]. When the fiber
and the polyester matrix are subjected to an external force, the
chemically treated fiber and the ester matrix may hinder the crack
propagation due to the irregular and strong interface, thereby
increasing the role of the fiber in the polyester mixture (Fig. 11)
[208,209]. Vilay et al. [166,178,210,211] used sodium hydroxide
(NaOH) and acrylic acid (AA), hydrochloric acid (HCl) to chemically
treat the fibers. The fiber’s diffusion coefficient and maximum
water absorption are improved and then the interfacial adhesion
of the fiber matrix is improved. Ismail et al. [212] studied the effect
of silane coupling agents on the mechanical properties of bamboo
fiber-filled natural rubber composites. By adding silane, the
mechanical properties of the composite such as tensile strength,
tear strength, hardness and tensile modulus are improved. This is
because the silane coupling agent improves the adhesion between
the fiber and the matrix, ultimately increasing the mechanical
properties of the composite. Zhang et al. [213,214] used alkali, Y-
aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (KH-550) and c-methacryloxypro
pyl-trimethoxy-silane (KH-570), 1,6-diisocyanato-hexane (DIH)
and 2-hydroxylethyl acrylate (HEA) to improve the interfacial
adhesion between the fiber and the matrix (unsaturated polyester).
Due to the directionality of the fibers, the arrangement in differ-
ent directions has different properties for the fiber-reinforced
material. Adding oriented fibers is a special area of research in fiber
reinforcement, fibers often interact with polyester concrete in the
form of a tendon, like the fiber reinforced polymer (FRP)
[215,216], GFRP [217]. Reinforced fiber placed along the direction
of principal stress can reduce creep deformation and increases load
carrying capacity (the flexural strength and stiffness) in the beams,
and improve the ultimate load carrying capacity of beams
[218,219]. However, it is worth noting that despite the addition
of oriented fibers in polyester concrete, its local failure form is still
a form of brittle failure when the polyester concrete is subjected to
the action of bending moment forces. Therefore, the structure of
the directional added fiber needs to pay attention to the maximum
creep variable to prevent structural damage or collapse due to
excessive structural creep [220] (Fig. 12).
Short fibers tend to be randomly distributed, not unidirection-
ally distributed in polymer concrete. The length, type, volume con-
tent, interface and microstructure characteristics (volume fraction
and fiber arrangement), transverse modulus and elastic modulus of
12 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709

the fiber will have different effects on the polyester concrete [44]. to increase, the amount of waste PET continues to grow. Waste PET
However, how to ensure the uniform distribution of short fibers in has become a major environmental pollution problem. The use of
polyester concrete and simplify the construction is still worthwhile waste PET as a raw material to produce unsaturated polyester resin
research, especially for fibers with a large difference in density or not only reduces the cost of the unsaturated polyester resin but
gravity with that of aggregate or resins. also allows the waste to be reused, thereby reducing environmen-
tal pollution. The basic principle of waste PET synthesis UP is as fol-
lows: the waste PET is depolymerized into low molecular weight,
6.2. Methyl methacrylate (MMA)
and after purification, it can be reused as a polyester raw material
to prepare an unsaturated polyester. At present, the use of waste
As a crosslinking monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA) is
PET to synthesize unsaturated polyester resin generally has the fol-
sometimes used in combination with styrene to jointly crosslink
lowing methods: (1) direct alcoholysis of waste PET to synthesize
the unsaturated resin molecules during the curing of the unsatu-
unsaturated polyester resin; (2) alcoholysis with dibasic acid and
rated polyester resin [221]. Fig. 13 shows the chemical formula
dibasic acid The reaction synthesizes a polyester and introduces
of methyl methacrylate. It has better solubility for a variety of
a dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) molecule into the polyester molecule;
resins than styrene (St) and lower viscosity at the same quality.
(3) synthesizes the unsaturated polyester resin by dissolving the
The molar ration of St and the length of St between the crosslinks
waste PET with a glycol and a polyol mixed alcohol as an alcohol-
could affect the degree of crosslinking of polyester composites, a
ysis agent.
good balance of those two factors could result in an optimum
Many studies have indicated that waste PET can be used to syn-
crosslinking density [222]. When MMA is used as a crosslinking
thesize UP and produce reliable UPC [46,102,130,144–147].
agent, its added concentration affects the amount of residual styr-
ABDEL-AZIM A et al. [86,227,228] used manganese acetate as a cat-
ene and the volume shrinkage of the resin system. At low MMA/St
alyst to depolymerize poly (ethylene terephthalate), polyester, and
ratio, the amount of residual styrene and the volume shrinkage of
textile waste. And glycolysis is carried out using different ratios of
the resin system are not significantly affected, but when the ratio is
diethylene glycol (DG) to propylene glycol (PG). Sebacic acid (SE)
high, the unreacted crosslinking agent (styrene) and the polyester
and maleic anhydride (MA) was used as a raw material to prepare
can be quickly reacted, but the volume shrinkage control of the
unsaturated polyesters of different molecular weights. And the
resin system is poor [223]. Some derivatives of MMA (like the
synthetic recycled UP and aggregate are combined to obtain polye-
hydroxyethyl methacrylate–polyurethane (HEMA–PU)) also have
ster concrete with excellent physical and mechanical properties.
an effect on the properties of unsaturated polyester resins, a lower
The performance of a PC based on recycled PET can be comparable
HEMA-PU content (8 wt%) led to a higher tensile strength, whereas
to that of a PC with the virgin materials [229,230]. The recycling of
a higher HEMA-PU content (20 wt%) increased the Izod impact
PET waste can provide a potentially low-cost source of resin, and
energy and decreased the degree of volume shrinkage in the resin
its recycling in PC will also help reduce environmental problems.
systems [224].
Byung-Wan Jo [93] pointed out that regenerated PET-based unsat-
Yeon, K. S. et al. [225,226] found that the workability and work-
urated polyesters can be mixed with inorganic aggregates to pro-
ing life of UPC were significantly improved with the increase of
duce polymer concrete with high mechanical properties and
MMA content. When the MMA content is in the range of 20–40%,
durability. The polymer concrete made of recycled PET resin has
the corresponding early strength of the UPC (40% Styrene content)
a compressive strength of 73.7 MPa in 7 days, a flexural strength
can be significantly improved, but when the MMA content is 50%,
of 22.4 MPa, a splitting tensile strength of 7.85 MPa, and an elastic
the strength tends to decrease. Furthermore, as the MMA content
modulus of 27.9 GPa. The compressive strength of polymer con-
increases, the compression and flexural strength of the MMA-
crete has a certain relationship with other properties (elastic mod-
modified UPC (40% Styrene content) tends to increase at low tem-
ulus, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength). The use of
peratures (0 and 15 °C), but when the MMA content exceeds 40%,
recycled PET in polymer concrete helps to reduce material costs,
these hardly increase. However, when MMA is used as a diluent, an
solve some of the solid waste problems caused by plastics, and
increase in MMA content reduced the elastic modulus and com-
save energy.
pressive strength, but the reductions of these properties were
ME TAWFIK et al. [231] found that UP which is prepared from
much smaller than the one produced using a styrene monomer
waste PET is used as a binder, and styrenated polyester (SP) and
(SM). Nur Hafizah A. Khalid et al. [36] indicated that MMA has a
waste marble are used as fillers to synthesize polyester concrete
long chemical molecular interaction of alkene aliphatic that pro-
with excellent chemical resistance and fire resistance. Due to the
longs the curing process. The MMA Polymer Retarder additive
presence of UP, the polyester concrete prevents the loss of calcium
extends the fresh life of the polymer binder. The polymer retarder
hydroxide and calcium sulfate in seawater, and finally ensures the
additive content of up to 0.2% does not significantly affect the
strength stability in the seawater retest. Due to the excellent flame
hardness of the cured resin. Higher retarder additive levels
retardancy of the waste marble, the synthetic polyester concrete
increase the fluidity of the polymer. The retarder not only extends
has a certain ‘‘self-extinguishing”, although UP will burn with smo-
the service life of the polymer concrete but also improves the over-
key and flammable drips. Byung-Wan Jo et al. [50] proved that
all performance. The retarder not only extends the service life of
increasing the content of UP (prepared by PET) can increase the
the polymer concrete but also improves the overall performance.
strength of polyester concrete, and there is a threshold for the
Sang-Hoon Hyun et al. [79] found that even under the condition
influence of resin content on the strength of polyester concrete.
of minus 20°, the compressive strength of UPC added with MMA
Above this threshold, the strength of polyester concrete does not
can still reach 42-65Mpa. And the average compressive strength
increase. Polyester concrete has good corrosion resistance to dilute
at 72 h was 86.6% of the strength at 168 h, which is important
hydrochloric acid, but the acid corrosion resistance of polyester
for practical application and operability.
concrete is reduced when recycled aggregate is used as aggregate;
polyester concrete seems to have no obvious reaction to alkali
7. PET recycled UPC solution. Karina Guerra Tonet et al. [232] found that the addition
of flame retardants and alumina powders increased the compres-
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a condensation polymeriza- sive strength of UPC (PET) and reduced flame propagation time.
tion of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol, commonly referred to The SEM picture shows that after passing through the flame, the
as polyester or PET. As PET production and consumption continue polyester concrete with the alumina powder and the flame retar-
 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709
Fig. 14. Three types of permeable polyester concrete blocks [234].
Fig. 15. Roots view passed block in 20 weeks after seeding [235].
dant forms a film-like substance on the surface of the resin com-
posite to prevent the flame from spreading.
KSRebeiz et al. [18,46] indicated that the compressive strength
and modulus of UPC (PET) will decrease with the increase of curing
temperature, and the compressive strength of 60-degree tempera-
ture curing for one month is lower than that under 25°. The com-
pressive strength of the test piece is reduced by about 40%, and the
modulus is reduced by about 35–40%. The reason for this phe-
nomenon may be that the high temperature changes the shrinkage
property between the cured product of the resin and the aggregate
interface, which in turn affects the mechanical behavior of the
polyester concrete.
Of course, there are some studies on the direct addition of waste
PET as an additive material to concrete and mortar, which, like
fibers, acts as reinforcement in concrete or mortar [230,233]. Such
studies are beyond the scope of this article and are therefore not
outlined in detail.
8. Green concrete
Urban roads play an important role in urban construction. How-
ever, in the past, urban roads simply served transportation, less
versatility of the road was considered. The development of multi-
functional roads not only improves the level of urban construction
but also helps protect the surrounding environment of the road.
Sung, Chan Yong [234,235] used the UP to develop porous polymer
concrete, and the porous polymer concrete could be used to make
13
water-permeable concrete bricks and plant polymer blocks. The
water-permeable polyester concrete has excellent water perme-
ability and drainage, in addition, its physical and mechanical prop-
erties have been tested to meet engineering needs. The
compressive strength of the porous polymer concrete depends on
the binder content and the aggregate size, and its value is in the
range of 17.1–23.2 MPa. Planting different varieties of plants in
plant polymer blocks, regardless of plant type, coverage (more than
12 weeks after observation) exceeded 7 points. The plant roots of
the polymer blocks were not only completely passed through a
block having a height of 5 cm, but also completely passed through
a block having a height of 10 cm within 20 weeks after sowing. It
will benefit environmentally friendly greening projects such as
slope greening and revetment. With the advent of the ‘‘Internet
of Things” and the era of intelligence, perhaps polyester concrete
can be applied in more application scenarios (Figs. 14 and 15).
9. Conclusion
This paper introduces the composition of unsaturated polyester
resin concrete (UP, filler, aggregate), and discusses the effects of
temperature, humidity and curing time on the durability of unsat-
urated polyester resin concrete. Due to the physicochemical prop-
erties of UP, unsaturated polyester concrete has excellent chemical
resistance, but there is also a certain volume shrinkage property
during the curing process. In order to reinforce the unsaturated
polyester resin concrete, fibers and MMA are introduced into the
UPC. Industrial development and daily life have led to an increase
in waste PET. How to make UPC using PET is also a hot topic in cur-
rent research. With the increasing emphasis on environmental pro-
tection, the use of UPC to make green concrete is also of great
value. The main conclusions of this paper are as follows:
1. The content of the unsaturated polyester resin in the unsatu-
rated polyester concrete is usually controlled at 10–20 wt% to
ensure the mechanical properties of the UPC. The curing of
unsaturated polyester resin is affected by temperature, humid-
ity, initiator and curing form. How to control the curing of
unsaturated polyester resin concrete and reduce the curing cost
are still an important subject to be studied in the future;
2. Abandoned building waste and fillers can be used to make UPC
and have excellent mechanical properties. With the continuous
development of industry, the amount of industrial waste and
construction waste are gradually increasing. The rational use
of UPC to reduce the amount of waste is a green and sustainable
topic.
3. Humidity and high temperature will reduce the mechanical
performance of UPC. At the same time, UP has aging problems
with time, which will reduce the performance of UPC. In the
UPC production process, the problem of humidity and excessive
14 Y. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 228 (2019) 116709
temperature should be avoided reasonably. At the same time,
how to reduce UP with rain, sunshine and high temperature
aging is of great significance to the durability of UPC.
4. The chemical resistance of UPC is significantly better than that
of OPC. But in strong acid, strong base and strong oxidizing
environment, the double bond, the group in fatty acid or phenyl
group will be attacked and the UP will be degraded.
5. The curing of UP is a volume shrinking process. The use of fillers
and anti-shrinkage agents can effectively reduce the volume
shrinkage of UPC during curing. The creep performance of
UPC is better than that of OPC under the same conditions, and
the use of fillers can effectively improve the creep resistance
of UPC.
6. Fiber can improve the toughness and impact resistance of UPC,
but because the fiber tends to be short, how to ensure the uni-
formity of fiber distribution in UPC is a subject worth studying.
Grafting technology and grafting technology can effectively
change the surface properties of fibers, improve the interaction
between fibers and polyester matrix, and further increase the
mechanical properties of UPC. It is worth noting that the dam-
age of UPC is often brittle failure, and the characteristics of UPC
should be noted in large loads and continuous loads.
7. PET can be synthesized into UP and further made into UPC. Rea-
sonable and effective use of PET can not only reduce the pres-
sure on the environment, but also exert its role in
environmental greening. With the gradual arrival of the Inter-
net of Everything, it is of great significance to rationally develop
the use of UPC.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgements
This research was sponsored by the Chang’an University Short-
Term Study Abroad Program for Postgraduate Students (No.
0021/300203110004), the Fundamental Research Funds for the
Central Universities, CHD (No. 300102219715), the Natural Science
Basic Research Plan in Guangdong Provincial Communication
Department (No. 2016–611), and the Natural Science Basic
Research Plan in Shaanxi Provincial Communication Department
(No. 2016–06K). This support is hereby acknowledged.
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