A method for the continuous production of a mineral foam of which the density in the dry state (d) is from 40 to 600 kg/m.sup.3, includes (i) mixing cement; a water reducing agent; 0.5 to 10%, % by weight with respect to the total weight of cement, of ultrafine particles having a liquid-solid contact angle comprised from 30° to 140°, and of which the D50 is from 10 to 600 nm; water, with a water/cement weight ratio from 0.3 to 2.5; (ii) adding to the mixture from 0.5 to 10% of a pore-forming agent, % by weight with respect to the weight of cement; (iii) applying the mixture obtained at step (ii) on a support; (iv) leaving the mixture to expand on the support.

A foam concrete with elemental sulfur has constituents that include a cement, a fine filler, an elemental sulfur in powder form, a coarse aggregate, a water, and a foam solution. The foam solution includes a foaming agent and a foaming water. The foam concrete has a compressive strength of at least 26 MPa, a thermal conductivity of less than 0.30 W/mK and a maximum dry weight of 1620 kg/m.sup.3.

A foaming agent, more particularly for the foaming of a building material/binder paste for producing pory lightweight-construction and insulating materials, is improved in terms of its stability and usefulness at relatively low outdoor temperatures. The foaming agent in the form of an aqueous-organic solution comprises or consists to an extent of at least 85 wt % of the following constituents: a) a surfactant component which comprises at least one foam-forming ionic surfactant, b) a fatty alcohol component which comprises at least one fatty alcohol and at least one ethoxylated fatty alcohol in a FA/FAEO mixing ratio of 95:5 to 0:100, c) a glycol component which comprises at least one constituent of the group of alkyl glycols, alkylene glycols up to C6 alkyl, diglycols, especially alkyl diglycols and diglycol ethers, and water.

TA geopolymer foam having: from 50% to 90% by mass of pozzolanic material polymerized relative to a total mass of the foam; from 0.01% to 2%, by mass of the at least one surfactant relative to the total mass of said foam; and from 1% to 20% by mass of fibers with lengths of between 5 and 1500 μm relative to the total mass of said foam. A process and a composition for manufacturing the foam, as well applications of the foam, are also disclosed. Finally, the invention relates to a kit comprising said composition for the manufacture of said foam, as well as a pozzolanic material.

The main weaknesses of masonry buildings, especially those made of clay, against earthquakes are: high weight, which increases the earthquake force that is proportional to the weight; low resistance that causes an early crushing of walls and ceilings; lack of ductility, which causes the masonry buildings to collapse immediately after cracking. These weaknesses have been the main causes of collapse of masonry buildings in past earthquakes in various parts of the world. Also, many of the restoration works, done on the historical monuments that were made by the mentioned materials, showed their inadequacy in some recent earthquakes This invention improves clay, as an eco-friendly, low-cost material with high workability, to present a better seismic behavior, by decreasing its specific weight to less than tones/m.sup.3 and increasing its tensile resistance up to five times of the ordinary clay, and giving better insulation capabilities against heat, sound and moisture to it.

Heat-expandable microspheres including a thermoplastic resin shell and a thermally-vaporizable blowing agent encapsulated therein. The thermoplastic resin is produced by polymerizing a polymerizable component containing (A) a nitrile monomer including acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile, (B) a carboxyl-group-containing monomer, and (C) a monomer copolymerizable with the nitrile monomer (A) and the carboxyl-group-containing monomer (B). Further, the amount of the acrylonitrile in the nitrile monomer (A) ranges from 0.1 to 9 wt % based on the nitrile monomer (A). Also disclosed are hollow particles manufactured by heating and expanding the heat-expandable microspheres; a composition containing a base compound and at least one particulate material selected from the heat-expandable microspheres and the hollow particles; and a formed product manufactured by molding or applying a coat of the composition.

Described is a micro-lattice damping material and a method for repeatable energy absorption. The micro-lattice damping material is a cellular material formed of a three-dimensional interconnected network of hollow tubes. This material is operable to provide high damping, specifically acoustic, vibration or shock damping, by utilizing the energy absorption mechanism of hollow tube buckling, which is rendered repeatable by the micro-lattice architecture.

A powder adhesive composition having cement, a dispersible polymer powder; and at least 10% volume of the powder adhesive is an expanded perlite. The cement is at a ratio of between 600-1000% of the mass of the expanded perlite. The powder adhesive composition is an adhesive, and the adhesion strength of the adhesive, is over 0.4 MPa, after 28 days, and after water immersion for at least 20 days.

Disclosed are a lightweight conductive mortar material, a preparation method therefor and use thereof. The lightweight conductive mortar material includes the following components in parts by weight: 100 parts of cement, 25 parts to 60 parts of a conductive porous lightweight aggregate loaded with a modified agar gel, and 30 parts to 45 parts of water.

A geopolymer foam composition, an article comprising a geopolymer foam composition, methods for making a geopolymer foam composition, and uses of a geopolymer foam composition.