Effects of cyclodextrin-modified polycarboxylate superplasticizers on the dispersion and hydration properties of cement paste

A new series of poly (AA-co-β-CD-A-co-TPEG) (PACDs) copolymers were prepared by the copolymerization of a novel monovinyl β-cyclodextrin monomer (β-CD-A), acrylic acid and isoprenyl oxy polyethylene glycol (TPEG-2400), which could be used as superplasticizers and shown excellent dispersion ability. Therefore, this work mainly investigated the adsorption behavior, dispersing properties as well as hydration behavior of cement pastes. Optical microscopy was employed to describe dispersing performance. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and TGA/DTG were utilized to account for the cement hydration process. We found that the PACDs with β-CD-A exhibited outstanding dispersion ability. In addition, the performances of the PACDs were monitored by evaluating the setting time and fluidity of the cement paste. The results clearly shown that the setting time was longer and slump loss was smaller than that of PACD0 that without β-CD-A. Therefore, PACDs with the proper content of β-CD pendants had excellent performances due to the steric hindrance of the CD moieties.