Brush Polymer Cofactor Blend for Cement Water Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost and limited availability of cellulose ethers for use in cement and mortar applications, coupled with their tendency to delay cement setting reactions, necessitate the development of a more cost-effective and efficient viscosity modifying agent that provides thickening and water retention without the drawbacks of traditional cellulose ethers.
Innovation Solution
The use of nonionic or substantially nonionic vinyl or acrylic brush polymers with pendant or side chain polyether groups, combined with aromatic cofactors such as poly(naphthalene sulfonate) aldehyde resins, to create compositions that mimic the thickening and water retention properties of cellulose ethers while minimizing setting retardation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cellulose ethers are used as viscosity modifying agents in cement and mortar, then thickening and water retention properties are improved, but setting time is excessively delayed and production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters by using nonionic vinyl or acrylic brush polymers with pendant polyether groups instead of traditional cellulose ethers. These polymers have different molecular structures (brush architecture with polyether side chains) that provide similar thickening and water retention properties without the excessive setting retardation, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining reliability and reducing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs synthetic polymers that can be produced more cheaply and consistently than natural cellulose ethers. The synthetic brush polymers offer a cost-effective alternative that maintains the desired thickening and water retention properties while avoiding the capital-intensive production processes required for cellulose ethers.
2Ease of operation
If cellulose ethers are used to provide thickening and water retention, then viscosity control is improved, but production cost and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive, complex-to-manufacture cellulose ethers with cheaper synthetic brush polymers. The synthetic polymers can be produced through more straightforward chemical processes, reducing both production cost and manufacturing complexity while maintaining ease of operation in terms of viscosity control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameters by using synthetic polymers with adjustable molecular weights and polyether side chain lengths. This allows for optimized viscosity control through parameter selection during polymer synthesis, while avoiding the complex, capital-intensive manufacturing processes required for cellulose ethers.
3Quantity of substance
If traditional cellulose ether production methods are used, then supply availability is limited, but capital investment requirements are extremely high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adopts synthetic brush polymers that can be manufactured more economically and with lower capital investment. This enables increased supply availability without requiring the hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investment needed for traditional cellulose ether production facilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential functional properties (thickening and water retention) from cellulose ethers and replicates them using simpler synthetic polymer structures. This allows production through less capital-intensive processes while maintaining the desired supply availability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
These compositions effectively provide high viscosity and water retention in cement and mortar applications, comparable to cellulose ethers, without the capital expenses associated with traditional cellulose ether production and with reduced setting retardation, offering a more consistent product.
Implementation Method 1
The brush polymer and aromatic cofactor compositions of the present invention complex nonionically in water to give a very high solution viscosity at low concentration
Implementation Method 2
such nonionic thickening avoids flocculation or adsorption of the thickener onto alkaline particles in a cement or mortar
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides compositions useful as a replacement for cellulose ether in cement, plaster or mortar compositions comprising i) nonionic or substantially nonionic vinyl or acrylic brush polymers having pendant or side chain polyether groups, and having a relative weight average molecular weight of from 140,000 to 50,000,000 g/mole, and ii) aromatic cofactors containing one or more phenolic groups, such as catechol tannins, phenolic resins, polyphenolics, and napthhols or, in combination, one or more aromatic groups with at least one sulfur acid group, such as naphthalene sulfonate aldehyde condensate polymers, poly(styrene-co-styrene sulfonate) copolymers, and lignin sulfonates, preferably branched cofactors, including phenolic resins, aldehyde condensate polymers and lignin sulfonates. The compositions may comprise a dry powder blend of i) and ii), one dry powder of both i) and ii), or an aqueous mixture.