Evaluating the operational properties of concrete admixtures containing molecularly modified polycarboxylate superplasticizers

The objective of this study focused on the design and preparation of a molecularly modified polycarboxylate superplasticizer to develop concretes with enhanced engineering features. For this purpose, polyethylene glycol was chemically modified with maleic anhydride to give the mono polyethylene glycol maleate (MPEGM). Then, polycarboxylate superplasticizer comprising of isoprenyl oxy polyethylene glycol (TPEG) and acrylic acid (AA, PCE-1), and the synthesized MPEGM with TPEG and AA (PCE-2) were prepared through solution radical polymerization. Subsequently, concrete mixtures with different dosages (0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3 wt%) of PCE-1 and PCE-2 were prepared. Chemical structure of the synthesized MPEGM and superplasticizers together with their copolymer composition were identified by FTIR and