Determining the physical properties of polymer in different admixtures used for self-compacting cement paste by ESEM (original) (raw)

The aim of this study is to determine the physical properties of the polymer in plasticizers used for selfcompacting cement pastes by environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) method. Images of fresh cement paste containing cement, water, and plasticizer prepared by using 3 different types of plasticizer were examined by ESEM. Lignosulfonate-based, naphthalene sulfonate-based, and polycarboxylate-based plasticizers were added to the cement paste at a rate of 1% by weight of the cement. Images of the fresh cement pastes were obtained using ESEM within the first 3− 5 min after mixing. As a result, the presence of electrostatic and steric effect forces of cement pastes prepared with the polycarboxylate-based additive was determined by ESEM analysis. In the ESEM analysis of the self-compacting cement paste, the diameter of the polymer that forms the steric force effect of the polycarboxylate-based additive was measured as 100− 160 nm and the polymer length was 1− 2 μm. The presence of an electrostatic force was determined from the brightness around the cement particles by ESEM image analysis.