THE HYDRATION OF PORTLAND AND ALUMINOUS CEMENTS WITH ADDED POLYMER DISPERSIONS

We have studied the hydration of ordinary Portland cement and "Secar 71" aluminous cement with added polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, acrylic, poly (vinylidene chloride-acrylic), poly (styrene-acrylic) polymers and poly (styrene-butadiene) rubber latex. We have used the techniques of conduction and differential scanning calorimetry, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction in our studies. The nature of the interactions between the polymers and the two cements is significantly different. For Portland cement all polymers were found to retard the hydration rate to some extent, with the acrylics producing the maximum affect, whereas in the case of Secar 71, polymer additions had minimal effects on the hydration of or heat evolution from the cement. Our results suggest that many polymers interact with Portland cements in a chemical way although for aluminous cements the observations are less clear except in the case of polyvinyl alcohol-acetate.