How To Fomulate and Apply Polycarboxylate Superplasticizer?

In recent years, with the rapid development of the real estate industry and construction projects, the performance requirements for concrete in engineering construction have become increasingly high, and the designed strength of concrete has also increased. The previous lignin-based water reducers and naphthalene sulfonate-based superplasticizer SNF water reducers have low water reduction rates and do not significantly improve the workability of concrete, which cannot meet the construction requirements. To save energy and reduce the self-weight of buildings, the strength grades of concrete used in building structures are getting higher and higher. High-strength and high-performance concrete requires admixtures to have high water reduction and significantly improve the performance of concrete.

The demand from engineering and the market has given rise to the third-generation high-performance water reducer - polycarboxylate superplasticizer/PCE high range water reducer. Compared with traditional high-efficiency water reducers such as sodium naphthalene sulfonate(SNF), polycarboxylate Superplasticizer PCE high-performance water reducers have many unique technical performance advantages: low dosage, high water reduction rate; good retention of the fluidity of concrete mixtures; good compatibility with cement; small shrinkage of concrete prepared, which is conducive to improving the volume stability and durability of concrete; environmentally friendly and pollution-free during production and use, belonging to green and environmentally friendly admixtures. It is precisely because of these excellent properties that polycarboxylate superplasticizer PCE high range water reducer has been widely used in construction projects.

Polycarboxylate superplasticizer PCE high range water reducing agent is mainly composed of poly-carboxylic acid/polycarboxylate superplasticizer mother liquid and various functional additives. Due to the different requirements of each construction site and the varying quality of sand and gravel materials from different companies, it is necessary to compound poly-carboxylic acid/polycarboxylate superplasticizer mother liquid with other functional additives according to customer requirements to meet the needs of each customer. The main raw materials in the compounding process include: poly-carboxylic acid/polycarboxylate superplasticizer mother liquid, retarder components, early strength components, air-entraining components, defoaming components, thickening components, etc. According to different technical requirements, each material plays a crucial role in the compounding process.

At present, there are four types of polycarboxylate superplasticizer PCE high range water reducer mother liquids on the market: one is high water-reducing type mother liquid, one is slump-retaining type mother liquid, one is slow-release type mother liquid, and one is early strength type mother liquid.

Sometimes, according to the customer's requirements, these types of mother liquids are compounded in a certain proportion to obtain a compounded polycarboxylate superplasticizer PCE high range water reducer mother liquids with more ideal performance and meeting the customer's requirements. Each type of mother liquid plays a different role in the mixture.

• When the water-reducing rate of the compounded polycarboxylate superplasticizer PCE is low and the water-reducing rate needs to be increased, the proportion of the water-reducing type mother liquid can be increased to improve the water-reducing rate;
• When encountering high temperatures in summer and poor slump-retaining performance of concrete, the proportion of slump-retaining type mother liquid is increased in the compounding of the admixture to improve the slump-retaining performance of the admixture;
• When encountering excessive stone powder content and high mud content in the sand and stone materials of the concrete company, a certain proportion of slow-release type mother liquid should be introduced to control the excessive adsorption of the admixture by the stone powder and mud content;
• When encountering severe cold winters or requiring high early strength, such as all PC prefabrication component factories require high early strength for mold turnover, the early strength type mother liquid is introduced in the compounding of the admixture to improve the early strength.                                                                                                                                                                                              Only by using the diversified polycarboxylate superplasticizer mother liquids in combination can an ideal product be obtained to meet the requirements of different customers. Through the compounding of different performance mother liquids, the performance of the product can be adjusted, taking advantages and compensating weaknesses, and improving the comprehensive performance of the product.