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An alternative approach to improve the compatibility of PCE in cement paste blend with coal gangue powder

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Abstract

Coal gangue (CG) is an environmental waste that faces an urgent demand for disposal in China. The utilization of CG in construction materials has broad application prospects and gained increasing interest. However, the poor compatibility of polycarboxylate superplasticizer (PCE) with CG powder hinders its efficiency in a wide range of applications. Here, this paper attempts to improve the compatibility of PCE with CG powder in cement paste based on the regulation of aggregation and the adsorption behavior of PCE. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and fluorescence spectroscopy tests were carried out to understand the improved mechanism. The results indicated that the addition of CG powder increases the ionic strengths of the cement liquid phase, which makes PCE tend to aggregate at a lower concentration compared with no CG powder introduction. Adding (CH3COO)2Cu is beneficial for enhancing the workability of cement paste by reducing PCE aggregation while maintaining the compressive strength of cement specimens. Therefore, (CH3COO)2Cu extra addition can be regarded as an effective and sustainable way to improve the workability of cement paste with CG powder.

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Funding

This article is funded by National Key R&D Program of China, No. 2022YFB2602604, Qiang Yuan, Systematic Project of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Engineering Safety, No. 2022ZDK027, Yi Tian.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Zonglin Xie, Yuxuan Li, Yi Tian, Jinyuan Hu & Qiang Yuan

  2. China Railway NO.9 Group CO., LTD, Shenyang, China

    Dahui Sun

  3. National Engineering Research Center for High-Speed Railway Construction Technology, Changsha, China

    Yi Tian & Qiang Yuan

  4. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention and Engineering Safety, Guangxi University, Nanning, China

    Zheng Chen

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  1. Zonglin Xie
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Xie, Z., Li, Y., Sun, D. et al. An alternative approach to improve the compatibility of PCE in cement paste blend with coal gangue powder. Waste Dispos. Sustain. Energy 6, 139–150 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42768-023-00174-y

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