Facile preparation of sulfur polymer cement via low-temperature curing

Sulfur has been considered as one of the promising construction materials because of its excellent mechanical and chemical properties, and ease of abundant production. However, there are some challenges for revealing high performance of sulfur materials due to their rigidity and shrinkage. While polymerized sulfur has been suggested as an alternative, the conventional process to synthesize sulfur polymer (SP) is unfavorable for practical applications due to the explosive reaction. Here, we report a facile route to prepare a SP without exothermic reaction through a post-curing process of the as-prepared SP. The reaction between sulfur and dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) was carried out within 10 min at 140°C to form a precursor of the SP, followed by solidification at room temperature. The as-prepared SP was again heated to 120°C for curing process. The cured SP cement (SPC) exhibited the decreased viscosity and increased bending strength compared to conventionally prepared SPC regardless of the reaction time.