Research on technology of performance improvement of basic magnesium sulfate cement—BMS

Abstract Basic magnesium sulfate cement (BMS) is a new type of magnesium cementitious material, which has similar advantages with magnesium oxychloride cement, such as lightweight, fast setting, high strength, wear resistance, and is not easy to absorb the moisture. It can widely replace magnesium oxychloride cement in the field of building insulation materials. In addition, the BMS has 2.5 times the flexural strength of Portland cement of the same strength grade, and its durability and reinforcement protection performance is similar to Portland cement, which also has a good application prospect in the field of civil engineering. The preparation and hydration process of BMS is reviewed in this paper. The microstructure and properties of BMS, magnesium oxychloride cement and magnesium oxysulfate cement are comparatively analyzed. The effects of content and activity of α‐MgO in the magnesium materials, the type of blending solution, the α‐MgO/MgSO 4 ratio, the type and dosage of chemical admixture on the microstructure and properties of BMS were clarified. This paper is helpful for the application of BMS in civil engineering.