The effect of different types of functional groups on the fluidity of the polycarboxylate superplasticizers in the presence of various cations

In this study, the flow properties of two series of acrylic and methacrylate copolymers were investigated. Our aim was to design, synthesize and characterize novel water-soluble polycarboxylate copolymers (MAA-co-HEMA, MAA-co-AMPS, and MAA-co-AAm) that can be used as a superplasticizer in concrete, and to study the effects of changing the functionalities on the flow properties of the copolymers in concrete. Therefore, the slump retention experiments examined the effect of the ratio of sulfone, hydroxy and amide functional groups to carboxylic groups in the synthetic copolymer chain structure. The results indicated a significant improvement in flow and flow preservation in the presence of sulfone, hydroxy and amide in the carboxylate backbone chain, respectively. The maxima flow properties in the copolymer (MAA-co-AMPS) is definitely related to the higher absorption of sulfone functional group on cement surface, which by dispersing the agglomerated hydrating particles improves workability of concrete.