Tile adhesive is one of the largest applications of special dry-mixed mortar at present. This is a kind of cement as the main cementitious material and supplemented by graded aggregates, water-retaining agents, early strength agents, latex powder and other organic or inorganic additives. mixture. Generally, it only needs to be mixed with water when used. Compared with ordinary cement mortar, it can greatly improve the bonding strength between the facing material and the substrate, has good slip resistance and has excellent water resistance and heat resistance. And the advantages of freeze-thaw cycle resistance, mainly used to paste building interior and exterior wall tiles, floor tiles and other decorative materials, widely used in interior and exterior walls, floors, bathrooms, kitchens and other architectural decoration places, is currently the most widely used ceramic tile bonding material.

Usually when we judge the performance of a tile adhesive, we not only pay attention to its operational performance and anti-sliding ability, but also pay attention to its mechanical strength and opening time. Cellulose ether in tile adhesive not only affects the rheological properties of porcelain adhesive, such as smooth operation, knife sticking, etc., but also has a strong influence on the mechanical properties of tile adhesive. Influence on the opening time of tile adhesive

When rubber powder and cellulose ether co-exist in wet mortar, some data show that rubber powder has stronger kinetic energy to attach to cement hydration products, and cellulose ether exists more in the interstitial fluid, which affects the mortar more viscosity and setting time. The surface tension of cellulose ether is higher than that of rubber powder, and more cellulose ether enrichment on the mortar interface will be beneficial to the formation of hydrogen bonds between the base surface and cellulose ether.

In the wet mortar, the water in the mortar evaporates, and the cellulose ether is enriched on the surface, and a film will be formed on the surface of the mortar within 5 minutes, which will reduce the subsequent evaporation rate, as more water is removed from the thicker mortar Part of it migrates to the thinner mortar layer, and the film formed at the beginning is partially dissolved, and the migration of water will bring more cellulose ether enrichment on the mortar surface.

Therefore, the film formation of cellulose ether on the surface of mortar has a great influence on the performance of mortar.

1) The formed film is too thin and will be dissolved twice, unable to limit the evaporation of water and reduce the strength.

2) The formed film is too thick, the concentration of cellulose ether in the mortar interstitial liquid is high, and the viscosity is high, so it is not easy to break the surface film when the tiles are pasted.

It can be seen that the film-forming properties of cellulose ether have a greater impact on the open time. The type of cellulose ether (HPMC, HEMC, MC, etc.) and the degree of etherification (substitution degree) directly affect the film-forming properties of cellulose ether, and the hardness and toughness of the film.

In addition to imparting the above-mentioned beneficial properties to mortar, cellulose ether also delays the hydration kinetics of cement. This retarding effect is mainly due to the adsorption of cellulose ether molecules on various mineral phases in the cement system being hydrated, but generally speaking, the consensus is that cellulose ether molecules are mainly adsorbed on water such as C-S-H and calcium hydroxide. On the chemical products, it is rarely adsorbed on the original mineral phase of clinker. In addition, cellulose ether reduces the mobility of ions (Ca2+, SO42-, …) in the pore solution due to the increase in the viscosity of the pore solution, thereby further delaying the hydration process.

Viscosity is another important parameter, which represents the chemical characteristics of cellulose ether. As mentioned above, the viscosity mainly affects the water retention capacity and also has a significant effect on the workability of the fresh mortar. However, experimental studies have found that the viscosity of cellulose ether has almost no effect on cement hydration kinetics. Molecular weight has little effect on hydration, and the maximum difference between different molecular weights is only 10min. Therefore, molecular weight is not a key parameter to control cement hydration.

“Application of Cellulose Ether in Cement-Based Dry-Mixed Mortar Products” pointed out that the retardation of cellulose ether depends on its chemical structure. And the general trend concluded is that for MHEC, the higher the degree of methylation, the smaller the retarding effect of cellulose ether. In addition, the retarding effect of hydrophilic substitution (such as substitution to HEC) is stronger than that of hydrophobic substitution (such as substitution to MH, MHEC, MHPC). The retarding effect of cellulose ether is mainly affected by two parameters, the type and quantity of substituent groups.

System experiments also found that the content of substituents plays an important role in the mechanical strength of tile adhesives. For HPMC, a certain degree of supply is required to ensure its water solubility and light transmittance. The content of substituents also determines the strength of HPMC. The gel temperature also determines the use environment of HPMC. Within a certain range, an increase in the content of methoxyl groups will bring about a downward trend in the pull-out strength, while an increase in the content of hydroxypropoxyl groups will lead to a decrease in the pull-out strength. rising trend. There is a similar effect for opening hours.

The change trend of mechanical strength under the open time condition is consistent with that under normal temperature conditions. HPMC with high methoxyl (DS) content and low hydroxypropoxyl (MS) content has good toughness of the film, but it will affect the wet mortar on the contrary. material wetting properties.