by Papaioannou, S., Amenta, M., Kilikoglou, V., Gournis, D. and Karatasios, I.
ABSTRACT
The present work focuses on the synthesis and integration of encapsulated healing agents in ternary mixtures of repair mortars for cultural heritage applications. The research is categorized in three sections: a) the devel-opment and characterization of spherical encapsulated healing agents according to optical and scanning elec-tron microscopy, b) the incorporation of different concentrations of capsules in ternary repair mortar mixtures (consisting of white cement, lime and pozzolan) and the study of their survivability during mixing process, their distribution in the matrix and effect on the mechanical properties of the matrix, and c) the identification of the healing products created inside the cracks by scanning electron microscopy. The results revealed that the methodology followed can be efficiently used to prepare encapsulated healing agents with good chemical compatibility with the repair mortars. Capsules presented uniform distribution in the mortar mixtures with-out significant effect on their mechanical performance. Finally, healing assessment revealed the efficient acti-vation of capsules during damage of the specimens, as well as the contribution of capsules on the healing mechanism.
