Energy Saving Preparation and Evaluation of a Novel Polycarboxylate Superplasticizer

A novel polycarboxylate superplasticizer (PCE) with energy saving preparation was elaborately designed and synthesized by using acrylic acid (AA), hydroxypropyl acrylate (HPA) and isopentenyl polyethylene glycol (IPEG) as monomers. To investigate the effects of the preparation method on the effectiveness of PCE, the PCEs were prepared from energy-saving method and common method respectively, and the hydration heat evolutions of the cement pastes containing these PCEs were comparatively probed. Furthermore, the working mechanisms of the PCEs by different preparations were identified via adsorption behavior, adsorption kinetic and Zeta potential of the PCE on cement surfaces. The results showed that, this novel PCE prepared in an energy saving manner can significantly prolong the hydration process and present a stronger adsorption capacity. In addition, the adsorption of this PCE on cement surface exhibited a characteristic of pseudo first order kinetic equation model. The evaluation in energy conservation showed that, this energy saving preparation can save 1.548×10⁴ kJ per 10 ton production. The aim of this study is to provide a new avenue to synthesize a PCE with economical method which achieves energy-saving preparation. Due to the indispensable application in construction industry, the innovations from this study contribute to the low energy-consumption production and high eco-effectiveness of the novel PCE, which has potential applications in low-emission building materials.