Effect of Borax on Properties of Potassium Magnesium Phosphate Cement

The effects of borax on the setting time, compressive strength, bond strength, drying shrinkage and pH value were investigated for potassium magnesium phosphate cement (MKPC). The results show that with the increase of borax dosage, the setting time is gradually extended, both compressive strength and bond strength are greatly decreased, the drying shrinkage rate is increased. Especially high dosage of borax, the extension of setting time is more obvious. Compared with that without borax, when the dosage of borax is 12.5%, setting time can be prolonged by 214.8%.The influence of borax dosage on the time-dependent effect of compressive strength shows that when the dosage of borax is 2.5%~5.0%, compressive strength increases rapidly from 4h to 1d, and increases relatively slowly from 1d to 3d. When borax dosage is less than 2.5% or higher than 5%, the law of time-dependent effect of compressive strength is the opposite. Compared to borax prior to magnesia addition, the pH value of the system is larger and the time of inflection point is advanced when borax and magnesia are mixed together at the same time. The increase of borax dosage can reduce the pH value of the system, and decrease the rising rate of pH value, at the same time the required time when the final pH value is relatively stable is longer.