Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are broadly applied in cement and concrete. However, the increased macrovoids resulting from the absorption/desorption of SAPs, remarkably reduced the resulting mechanical properties. In this study, we prepared superabsorbent CaAlg hydrogels by crosslinking Ca²⁺ and sodium alginate (NaAlg). The ion-responsive behavior of CaAlg was measured, and results showed at lower the Ca²⁺ concentrations, higher swelling potentials were observed, which was consistent with what was expected with the formation of a less dense network. This interesting dependence on Ca²⁺ concentration likely avoids the formation of large macro-pores during the mixing process of cement and results in increased swelling when cracks occur and water enters the crevices. The results of compressive strength measurements demonstrated that the addition of 0.5 wt% CaAlg resulted in a negligible reduction (0.014%) in compressive strength due to the limited swelling capacity in pore solution. Interestingly, in the sodium silicate self-healing system, in addition to the widely reported self-sealing effects upon adsorption of additional water, CaAlg also accelerates the precipitation of calcium silicate hydrates (CSH) by providing Ca²⁺, which makes the healing process more efficient.

高吸收性聚合物（SAPs）广泛应用于水泥和混凝土。然而，由于SAP的吸收/解吸而导致的大孔隙的增加，显着降低了所得的机械性能。在这项研究中，我们通过使Ca ²⁺和藻酸钠（NaAlg）交联制备了超吸收性CaAlg水凝胶。测量了CaAlg的离子响应行为，结果表明，在较低的Ca ²⁺浓度下，观察到较高的溶胀电势，这与低密度网络的形成所期望的一致。这种对Ca ^2+的有趣依赖浓缩可能避免在水泥混合过程中形成大的大孔，并在发生裂缝和水进入缝隙时导致溶胀增加。抗压强度测量的结果表明，由于孔隙溶液中有限的溶胀能力，添加0.5 wt％的CaAlg导致抗压强度的降低可忽略不计（0.014％）。有趣的是，在硅酸钠自愈系统中，除了在额外的水吸附的广泛报道自密封效果，CaAlg也加速硅酸钙水合物（C的析出小号通过提供的Ca 1H）²⁺，这使得愈合过程更有效率。