Silane-based water repellent and easy-to-clean surfaces for concrete structure improvement

Long-term performance of concrete surfaces is one of the most important problems in the construction film. Modifications of concrete surfaces by targeted deposition of surface functional additives that make the surface hydrophobic allowed to improve the aesthetic durability of the concrete. Silane-based water repellent materials using modified silicon precursor were synthesized in a laboratory and applied on concrete substrates. The initial chemical and physical properties of the treated and untreated surface were tested at two different curing times of concrete specimens with water-to-cement ratios of 0.38 and 0.5, and using different silane-based protective systems. The longer curing time of the concrete specimens the slightly better hydrophobic effect was observed after treatment. The interactions between the applied chemical protective treatments and the concrete surface were examined. We presented a few preliminary experiments and results.