pH-Sensitive Microgels with Different Chemical Structures of Internal Curing of Cementitious Materials
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 1
Abstract
Cracking risk of cementitious materials remains one of the serious problems in the construction and highway field. Here, a series of pH-sensitive microgels with different anionic content and crosslinking density have been successfully synthesized and applied in cement mortar. The absorption behavior and pH sensitivity of microgel in aqueous solutions were determined. The effects of microgel on hydration degree, autogenous shrinkage, and compressive strength of cement mortar were studied. Experimental results indicate that the microgel exhibits less desorption in the pore solution and releases water timely in pH from 12–13. Despite the different anionic content of microgels, the addition of microgel with moderate crosslinking density is , which can alleviate the autogenous shrinkage of cement mortar. The compressive strength of mortar can be increased by about 5.7 MPa by the microgels with low anionic content and moderate crosslinking density, thereby showing excellent internal curing effect.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51202016), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD (300102310301 and 300102311404), the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51808051), the Basic Research Project of Natural Science in Shaanxi Province (No. 2019JQ-118), and the Special Project of Technical Innovation Guidance in Shaanxi Province (No. 2019QYPY-145).
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Received: Nov 25, 2021
Accepted: Apr 29, 2022
Published online: Oct 26, 2022
Published in print: Jan 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Mar 26, 2023
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