Exploring novel aspects of designed macromolecular structures on their interactions with cement and nano/microsilica particles and rheological properties

Various copolymers and novel branched terpolymers with different sulfonate ion and amine groups were prepared and characterized. Zeta potentials of cement slurries increased following the addition of synthesized polymers, indicating the effects of molecular weight, sulfonate ion and polyethylene glycol (PEG) branch. The rheology experiments revealed that it is possible to control the viscosity of cement slurries by varying the molecular structures of the resulting polymers. The formation of different networks through interactions between nano/microsilica and various polymer chains was accounted for the diversity in viscosity. The viscosity behavior of polymer-modified cement slurries was fit by the Generallized Newtonian Power-Law model. The results of SEM showed that polymer structures have an effect on the microstructure and morphology of cement, such as the dispersion, shape and size of hydrated calcium silicate (CSH) gels, as well as the dispersion of nano/microsilica particles. The presence of nano/microsilica particles along with various copolymers increased the hardness of the 1 and 7-day hydration cement. These results provide new ideas to control cement slurries properties using novel functional and branched polymers and nano/micro silica.