Review on different families of polymeric superplasticizers used as adjuvants in the cementitious materials in civil engineering

This review on the exhaustive bibliographic study of macromolecular structures is consisting of superplasticizers used in civil engineering especially for the concrete industry. They are capable of increasing the physical properties in the fresh state and mechanical performances in the hardened state. The last is based on sodium or calcium salts of sulfonated poly-naphthalene, a sodium salt of sulfonated poly-melamine, acrylate-ester copolymer (polyacrylate), or high-purity lignosulfonates.These polymeric admixtures make it possible without modifying the consistency to greatly reduce the water content of a given concrete or which, without modifying the water content, considerably increases the slump/sprawl, or which produces both at the same time. The different molecules of long chain superplasticizers act according to the different basic mechanisms: by wrapping around the cement grains and giving them a highly negative charge so that they repel each other, leading to a dispersion of grains of cement which results in a great reduction in the amount of mixing water on one hand and a strong improvement in mechanical performance and physical properties on the other hand, including the compressive strength, the capillary absorption, the porosity and the sustainability