The effect of super absorbent polymers on the performance of immature cementitious mortars

Construction industry like any other area of economic and social life undergoes continuous alterations and improvements in order to successfully comply with the requirements of sustainable development. Consumers demand more durable, less labour and service intensive materials at a competitive price. To meet these expectations numerous new composite materials have been developed over the last couple of decades, including cementitious materials modified by superabsorbent polymers (SAP). The paper presents part of the larger research project on the performance of cementitious mortars containing two types of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) as the internal curing agent.SAP A is a copolymer of acrylamide and acrylic acid and SAP B is a polymer based on acrylic acid. Research work presented in this paper involves macro and micro scale characterisation of polymer modified mortars. The microstructural features were studied with application of the Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry and the Scanning Electron Microscopy techniques. Analyses of pore size distribution in mortars of different ages are accompanied by the analyses of strength and autogenous shrinkage development as well as early density changes in immature mortars by the X-ray absorption method. The investigations confirmed the positive effect of SAP A on the reduction of autogenous shrinkage and microcrack propagation. Limited absorption/desorption abilities of SAP B cannot reassure continuous supply of water and hence the performance of SAP B mortars was comparable with the reference samples. The effect of both SAPs on strength development proved to be negligible.</p