Technical Papers
Jun 17, 2023

Interaction of Superplasticizers with C3A: Understanding the Superplasticizer Compatibility with Cement

Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 9

Abstract

The incompatibility between the superplasticizer (SP) and cement can cause problems with the cementitious materials’ fresh and hardened qualities, such as unstable workability, uncontrollable setting times, excessive air entrainment, and so on. In this paper, five various types of SPs were prepared. Their interaction with pure tricalcium aluminate (C3A) and its hydration products were investigated and their effect on the generation of Ettringite (AFt) and single-sulfur calcium sulphoaluminate hydrate (AFm) in paste and their compatibility with cement were also studied. The results demonstrate that after 15 min of cement hydration, the AFt and AFm content of mixture with polycarboxylate SP and sulfonated acetone-formaldehyde superplasticizer (PCA-SAF) is 124.6% and 24.8% higher than that of SAF, respectively, which decreases the consumption of SPs molecules and improves the compatibility of SAF with cement. Compared with polynaphthalene sulfonate superplasticizer (PNS), PCA-PNS dramatically enhanced the SP’s compatibility with cement. Accelerating the production of AFt and AFm during the early stages of cement hydration may be one method to increase SP–cement compatibility.

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Data Availability Statement

Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52130806, 51978318, and 52008191).
Author contributions: Xuping Ji—conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing (original draft, review, and editing); Tinghong Pan—conceptualization, methodology, writing (review and editing, supervision, formal analysis); Wenhao Zhao—conceptualization, methodology, writing (review and editing); Jianzhong Liu—conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis; Jianfang Sha—methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing (review and editing); and Fangyu Han—methodology, investigation, formal analysis.

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Go to Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35Issue 9September 2023

History

Received: Jul 8, 2022
Accepted: Jan 25, 2023
Published online: Jun 17, 2023
Published in print: Sep 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Nov 17, 2023

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Senior Engineer, Key Laboratory of High Performance Civil Engineering Materials, Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co., Ltd., Nanjing, Jiangsu 211103, China. Email: [email protected]
Ph.D. Candidate, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Kunming Univ. of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6930-5505. Email: [email protected]
Wenhao Zhao [email protected]
Senior Engineer, Key Laboratory of High Performance Civil Engineering Materials, Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co., Ltd., Nanjing, Jiangsu 211103, China. Email: [email protected]
Jianzhong Liu [email protected]
Director, Key Laboratory of High Performance Civil Engineering Materials, Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co., Ltd., Nanjing, Jiangsu 211103, China. Email: [email protected]
Jianfang Sha [email protected]
Senior Engineer, Key Laboratory of High Performance Civil Engineering Materials, Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co., Ltd., Nanjing, Jiangsu 211103, China. Email: [email protected]
Senior Engineer, Key Laboratory of High Performance Civil Engineering Materials, Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co., Ltd., Nanjing, Jiangsu 211103, China. Email: [email protected]

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