A review of the research and application of polycarboxylate water reducer

Abstract

As the core material of modern civil engineering, cement concrete's performance improvement and low-carbon transformation place higher demands on water reducer technology. Since the first generation of common water reducers emerged in the 1950s, water reducers have undergone three generations of innovation. Currently, the third generation of high-performance water reducers represented by polycarboxylic acid-based water reducers has become the focus of research due to its high water reduction rate, environmental protection and molecular designability. Despite the superior performance of polycarboxylate superplasticizers, their application still faces multiple challenges. Functions such as dispersion, collapse prevention, and mud resistance involve the synergistic effects of multiple theories such as electrostatic repulsion, steric hindrance, and hydration film lubrication. Existing theories are difficult to explain their macroscopic manifestations in a unified way.