Tailoring polycarboxylate architecture to improve the rheological properties of cement paste

This study elucidates the link between polycarboxylate (PC) architecture (random vs. block) and rheological properties of cement pastes at a low water-cement ratio (W/C = 0.22) through a systematic investigation on the rheological properties, adsorption properties, solution viscosity and polymer hydrodynamic radius. Adsorption data show that the adsorption amount of the block PC is larger than that of the random PC while the paste flow is the same even though the dosage of the former is smaller, possibly owing to the fact that the adsorbing carboxylic groups are concentrated at one end in the case of the block PC, and the absence of neutral side chains in the adsorbing block effectively reduces the free energy barrier of PC adsorption. Results on the polymer hydrodynamic radius from dynamic light scattering (DLS) illustrate that the hydrodynamic radius of the block PC is smaller than that of the random PC, and in consistence with the DLS results, the solution of the block PC is also found to have a lower viscosity at the same polymer weight concentration. It is worth-noting that the apparent viscosity of the cement paste has a close relation with the viscosity of PC remaining in solution. The dual effects of a larger adsorption amount and a smaller hydrodynamic radius of the block PC effectively reduce the viscosity of PC remaining in solution, and hence effective reduce the apparent viscosity of cement pastes. It is believed that this study allows for a better understanding of the influences of polycarboxylate architecture on rheological properties of cementitious materials.