Properties of latex blends and its modified cement mortars

In this paper, the mechanical properties of three latex blends and the mechanical properties and chloride diffusivity of the latex-modified mortars are studied. The relationships between the properties of polymer films formed from latex blends and the properties of the latex blend-modified mortars are illustrated. The test results showed that the modified mortar with the blend of styrene-acrylic ester (SAE) and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) showed synergistic effect; especially the flexural strength of the SAE/SBR blend-modified mortars was about 20-40% higher than that of monolatex-modified mortars. However, the vinyl chloride-vinylidene chloride copolymer (PVDC)/SBR and PVDC/SAE blends-modified mortars showed antisynergistic effect. The compressive strength of the modified mortars increased with the increasing of the tensile strength of the latex films, while the flexural strength of the modified mortars did not depend on the tensile strength of the latex films. When PVDC with the mass fraction of 0.2 or SAE copolymer emulsion with mass fraction of 0.4 was blended into SBR latex, the latex blend-modified mortars showed lower chloride diffusivity. The chloride diffusivity of the modified mortars increased approximately linear with the tensile strength of the latex blend films, and decreased with increase of the elongation at rupture of the latex blend films. When the elongation at rupture of the latex blend films increased from 200-300% to more than 800%, the chloride diffusivity of the modified mortars decreased from 10-15×10⁻¹² to 3-4×10⁻¹² m²/s.