Strength and toughness are destined conflicts in traditional inorganic materials. Herein, we prepared a high-performance calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) based organic-inorganic composites, with a trace of sodium alginate (about 8 wt%). A 1.9-fold increase in flexural strength and a nearly 6.8-fold enhancement for work of fracture are achieved in the composites, and importantly, the elastic modulus is increased by 22.2 %. Here, flawless C-S-H gel devoid of obvious interphase boundary was formulated attributed to the intercalation of sodium alginate into the C-S-H layer, creating a hybrid bonding network of hydrogen bonds together with the ion complexation effect. Concurrently, sodium alginate is to establish an organic plasticizing zone, aiding in the mitigation of stress within cracks. Hence, our study overcomes the challenge of achieving a harmonious balance between strength and toughness, offering innovative pathways for advancing the development of high-performance organic-inorganic composite materials. Besides, the improvement mechanism proposed in this research provides a pristine and feasible methodology for strengthening and toughening of Portland cement-based materials.

中文翻译：

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协同增强钙-硅酸盐-水合物 （CS-H） 基有机-无机复合材料的“强度-韧性-弹性模量”：化学键合和开裂路径优化


强度和韧性在传统无机材料中注定会发生冲突。在此，我们制备了一种基于高性能钙-硅酸盐-水合物 （CSH） 的有机-无机复合材料，其中含有微量的海藻酸钠（约 8 wt%）。复合材料的弯曲强度提高了 1.9 倍，断裂功提高了近 6.8 倍，重要的是，弹性模量增加了 22.2%。在这里，由于海藻酸钠嵌入 C-S-H 层，形成了没有明显相间边界的完美 CSH 凝胶，从而在离子络合效应下产生了氢键的杂化键合网络。同时，海藻酸钠将建立一个有机塑化区，有助于减轻裂纹内的应力。因此，我们的研究克服了实现强度和韧性之间和谐平衡的挑战，为推进高性能有机-无机复合材料的发展提供了创新途径。此外，本研究提出的改进机制为波特兰水泥基材料的强化和增韧提供了一种原始可行的方法。