40 Years of PCE Superplasticizers ‐ Current State of the Art and Future Perspectives

With over 15 Mio tons of annual production, polycarboxylates (PCEs) currently dominate the global superplasticizer market. Among them, HPEG and IPEG PCEs have attained a prominent position as they present the most cost‐effective PCEs known at present. Recently, new vinyl ether PCEs designated as EPEG and GPEG PCEs were introduced, thus broadening the family of VPEG PCEs. Furthermore, novel phosphated comb polymers which significantly reduce the stickiness of concrete have been developed. For calcined clay blended cements, HPEG PCEs of specific molecular design as well as zwitterionic (amphoteric) PCEs have proven to be highly effective. Moreover, NaOH activated AAS binder systems were successfully fluidized with APEG or HPEG PCEs exhibiting particularly short side chains (nEO < 10). While for Na₂CO₃, Na₂SiO₃ and Na₂SO₄ activated systems, the search for effective superplasticizers is still ongoing. This review underlines the critical role which chemical admixtures will play in the successful transition of the construction industry to a net zero carbon age.