Internal curing water effect of superabsorbent polymer on microstructure of high-performance fine-grained concrete

This study investigates the influence of internal curing water on the compressive strength and microstructure of high-performance cementitious materials. For this, three high-performance fine-grained concrete (HPFC) and cement pastes were prepared. Two reference mixtures were investigated with total water-cement ratios (w/c) of 0.30 and 0.35. The third mixture was prepared with a basic w/c of 0.30 and the addition of 0.3% of superabsorbent polymer (SAP), resulting in a total w/c of 0.35. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), and compressive strength tests were performed. The incorporation of SAP resulted in a refinement of the porous structure of the paste, despite increasing the total porosity. In addition, the paste containing 0.3% SAP resulted in an intermediate calcium hydroxide content compared with the reference pastes. Thus, it was concluded that SAP internal curing water participates in the hydration reactions of the cementitious material.