Materials (May 2021)
Impact of Sulphate Ions Content on Performance of Maleic and Acrylic Superplasticizers in Cement Paste
Abstract
The paper presents test results of the impact of sulphate ions from calcium sulphates: Hemihydrate, dihydrate and anhydrite, on rheological properties and hydration heat of cement pastes with, and without, superplasticizers, derivatives of maleic (SP-2) and acrylic (SP-1) acids. It is demonstrated that cement pastes fluidity depends on superplasticizer chemical structure, and its effect is expressed by a hydrophilic coefficient. As maleic superplasticizers have flexible comb-like structure composed of a shorter backbone chain containing COO− carboxylate groups and very long side chains, cement pastes showed higher fluidity than with acrylic superplasticizer with ladder-like structure, longer backbone chains with shorter side chains. SP-1 showing lower hydrophilicity coefficient and fewer COO− groups was found to be less sensitive to increased sulphate ion content in pastes. However, with SP-2 with higher hydrophilicity, a gradual fluidity loss (increased paste viscosity) was observed. Plastic viscosity was approximately at the same level in SP-1-containing pastes. Tests showed that sulphates definitely changed polycarboxylate superplasticizers performance. A high concentration of sulphate ions reduced maleic superplasticizer efficiency. Under these conditions, SP-1 is more effective and therefore more suitable for fluidity of pastes containing higher SO42− ions content. Thus, sulphate ions concentration in the paste should be considered when selecting superplasticizer.
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