Synthesis, Characterization, and Application Properties of Aminosulfonate-Phenol-Salicylic Acid-Formaldehyde (AH) Polymer in Concrete

In this study, a water-soluble aminosulfonate-phenol-salicylic acid-formaldehyde (AH) polymer was synthesized by the reaction between phenol, sodium sulfanilate, salicylic acid, and formaldehyde; the molecular structure of synthesized AH polymer under the optimum reaction conditions was characterized by Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and infrared spectroscopy (IR);and the effect of AH polymer on the application properties of concrete, i.e., water reductionpercentage, slump preservation, air content, wet density, setting times, the compressive strength, and the flexural strength, was compared with aminosulfonate-phenol-formaldehyde (AS) polymer. The test results indicated that the molecular weight of AH polymer has a narrower rangedistribution and a new function group (-COOH) was bonded to the main chain of AH polymer molecule, the use of AH polymer in concrete resulted in an increase of the air content of concrete and a decrease of the wet density of fresh concrete, concrete with AH polymer exhibits a higher water-reduction percentage value and a lower slump loss, which cause a better retardation setting result and lower mechanical properties than concrete with AS polymer at the same dosage.