New Admixture Solves Concrete's Weaknesses

Growing out of a class of oil-soluble rust inhibitors for motor oil and lubricants invented in the 1950s by Michael Rhodes, Hycrete is a waterborne surfactant (soap-like material) that reacts with calcium and similar elements in concrete to form a water-insoluble metallic salt with properties of a fatty acid. Hycrete provides waterproofing both by filling the pores in concrete and, because it is hydrophobic, by repelling water. Hycrete provides additional corrosion protection, the company claims, because its bipolar hydrocarbon chain chemically bonds with steel to form a protective layer on the rebar.

Hycrete has achieved Cradle to Cradle™ (C2C) certification from McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC) as a “biological nutrient.” To achieve this certification, Hycrete must be safe to return to soil (see