Experimental study demonstrates that pH control reduces shrinkage and wear in polymer-modified cement mortar, suggesting improved polymer stability and durability.
High alkalinity in cementitious systems may impair polymer stability and film formation, limiting the benefits of modification using polymers. An alkalinity-control approach for cement mortars modified with styrene acrylic latex (SAL) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was investigated by targeting a fresh-mix pH of ∼11 at controlled times after mixing (0, 10 and 30 min). A reference mortar (400 kg/m3 cement) and polymer-modified mixtures with SAL solids/cement ratios of 5–20% and a fixed PVA solids/cement ratio of 2% were prepared. Mechanical performance (compressive and flexural strength, pull-off bond strength), abrasion depth and drying shrinkage were evaluated, and microstructural characteristics of the mortars were examined using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that, compared with the corresponding mixtures without pH control, pH control implemented at mixing reduced the 28-day abrasion depth by ∼23% for mixes without PVA and by ∼11% for mixes with PVA, and reduced the 28-day drying shrinkage strain by ∼22% (without PVA) and ∼18% (with PVA).
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Rahmati et al. (2026) studied this question.
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