Effects of a hydrogel on the material properties of mortars

Traditional curing methods of concrete such as moist curing and membrane curing are considered as external curing methods which are sometimes not convenient in practical applications. Therefore, the concept of self-curing has been proposed. Self-curing concrete is made by preparing concrete incorporated with self-curing agents, which are to reduce the water evaporated from concrete, and increase the water retention of concrete compared to conventional concrete. Hydrogel or superabsorbent polymer is a crosslinked polymer that can absorb and retain large amounts of water relative to their own mass. In this study, an anionic hydrogel as a selfcuring agent was prepared and added into mortars. The effect of this hydrogel on the material properties of mortars was studied. The results indicate that the mortars with proper amount of hydrogel showed lower water loss from materials and retained higher humidity than those without any hydrogel present. Addition of proper amount of hydrogel could also make the resulting mortars with higher compressive strength and lower dry shrinkage.