Investigation of the use of mPEg-B-PCL diblock copolymers as cement chemical

The use of polymer-based chemical additives to improve the chemical and mechanical properties of cement has been rapidly increasing in recent years. Polymer types such as liquid polymer, powder polymer, hydrophilic polymeric structures, latexes are frequently used as cement additives. Glycol structures from polymer additives are generally used as grinding aids in cement production. The fact that there are very few studies on the use of copolymers containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) and poly ε-caprolactone (PCL) in the construction sector motivated us to do this study. In this study, the effectiveness of mPEG-b-PCL diblock copolymers as a strength enhancer and grinding aid in Portland cement (CEM I 42.5R) was investigated. In CEM I type cement (90 clinker/ 5 limestone/ 5 gypsum), after grinding of diblock copolymers in laboratory scale mill compared to cements milled with MEG and DEG without additives, changes in compressive strength and water requirement were observed at 32µ, 45µ and 63µ fineness, 2, 7 and 28 days. mPEG-b-PCL copolymers provided 18.86%, 24.87%, 45.74% advantage compared to samples without additives at 32µ, 45µ and 63µ fineness in cement mortar, respectively. An increase in water requirement was observed compared to samples with MEG and DEG added without additives. In addition, the effectiveness of low molecular weight mPEG-b-PCL diblock copolymers as plasticizers was also investigated. Mini Slump test, which was applied to determine the plasticizer effect, is determined by using a spreading table according to TS EN 12350-5 standard. Mini slump spreading tests of AB2 coded copolymer were carried out for CEM I cement. It was observed that the spreading diameters increased linearly when added to the cement paste at various rates (%0=37.25 mm; %0.5=41.5 mm; %1.0=45 mm; %1.5=46.25 mm; %2.0=47 mm).