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Polycarboxylate superplasticizer (PCE) is a widely used water-reducing agent that can reduce significantly the water demand of concrete, which reduces the porosity and enhances the strength and durability of the concrete. (The PCE consists of a single backbone with many long PEO side chains.) Generally, aggregate occupies >70 wt.% of concrete; clay minerals are ubiquitous in nature and are difficult to avoid in mined aggregates. Clay minerals in aggregate often render the PCE ineffective and give rise to rapid loss of the fluidity of the concrete; this phenomenon is referred to as ‘poor clay tolerance of PCE.’ Though the poor clay tolerance of PCE is known widely, the relationship between the clay tolerance and the molecular structure of the PCE, in particular the effect of the side-chain structures, on clay tolerance is not understood completely. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of different grafting densities of polyethylene oxide (PEO) side chains on the clay tolerance of PCE. The raw materials included mainly PCE, which was synthesized using acrylic acid and isopentenol polyoxyethylene ether, and a natural montmorillonite (Mnt), one of the most common clay minerals. The loss of fluidity of the cement paste was tested to assess the clay tolerance; total organic carbon was used to measure the amount of PCE adsorbed; X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis were used to investigate the microstructure of the intercalated Mnt. The results showed that preventing the superficially adsorbed PCE from being intercalated into Mnt was of great importance in terms of the improvement in clay tolerance of PCE, which increased with greater grafting density of PEO in the side chain of the PCE. The results also suggested the possibility that polymers which intercalate preferentially into the Mnt could improve significantly the clay tolerance of the PCE system.

Utilization of sea sands and coral aggregate for concrete in ocean construction is increasingly attracting the attention all over the world. However, the potential risk of steel corrosion resulting from chloride in these raw materials was one of the most concerned problems. To take this risk into account, chloride transporting to the surface of steel should be hindered. e formation of Friedel's salt in hydration process is widely accepted as an effective manner for this hindrance. In this study, an attempt to hasten the formation of Friedel's salt by adding triisopropanolamine (TIPA) was done in the cement-fly ash system, with intention to chemical bind chloride, and the chloride-binding capacity at 60 d age was examined. e results show that TIPA can enhance the chloride-binding capacity of cement-fly ash paste at 60 d age, and the reason is that the formation of Friedel's salt can be accelerated with addition of TIPA. e mechanism behind is revealed as follows: on the one hand, the accelerated cement hydration provides more amount of calcium hydroxide to induce the pozzolanic reaction of fly ash, which can hasten the dissolution of aluminum into liquid phase; on the other hand, TIPA can directly hasten the dissolution of aluminum in fly ash, offering more amounts of aluminum in liquid phase. In this case, the aluminum/sulfate (Al/S) ratio was obviously increased, benefiting the formation of Friedel's salt in hydration products. Such results would expect to provide useful experience to promote the chloride-binding capacity of cement-fly ash system.