Concrete Admixtures

Concrete admixture is a material that can be added before or during concrete mixing to improve the performance of fresh concrete and hardened concrete. But usually, the amount of concrete admixture should not exceed 5% of the cement amount.

In general, the concrete admixtures we often use always have these characteristics, such as many varieties and less dosage, and they also have a great influence on the performance of concrete. In addition, concrete admixtures also have the advantages of less investment, quick results, and significant economic benefits. That is to say, if we rationally use admixtures in concrete, we can reduce construction costs, save cement, shorten construction periods, and improve concrete performance and construction operating conditions.

What Are the Main Admixtures Used in Concrete?

Concrete is one of the most widely used engineering materials in the world today. With the large-scale and multi-functional concrete projects in the 21st century, the complexity of construction and application environments, the expansion of application fields, and the optimization of resources and the environment, People put forward higher requirements for traditional concrete materials. It goes without saying that an important technical way to achieve high performance in concrete is to use high-quality admixtures and mineral admixtures. And concrete chemical admixtures can improve the quality of concrete during mixing, transportation, placing and curing. According to the different functions of concrete admixtures, they are mainly divided into the following categories:

Different Types of Concrete Admixtures for Sale

  1. Improve the fluidity of fresh concrete. It mainly includes various water reducing agents, air-entraining agents, grouting agents, pumping agents, etc.
  2. Regulates the setting time and hardening properties of concrete: retarder, accelerator, early strength agent,etc.
  3. Adjust the air content of concrete: air-entraining agent, foaming agent,etc.
  4. Enhance the physical and mechanical properties of concrete: waterproofing agent, antifreeze agent, grouting agent, expansion agent, etc.
  5. Improves the corrosion resistance of concrete. For example, rust inhibitors, impermeable agents, etc.
  6. Admixtures that provide special properties: foaming agent, colorant, fungicide, alkali aggregate reaction inhibitor, etc.
Among these concrete additives with different functions, Kingsun mainly offer three different concrete chemical admixtures, they are sodium lignosulfonate and calcium lignosulfonate (ordinary concrete water reducer), sodium gluconate (concrete set retarder), SNF and PCE superplasticizer (concrete superplasticizer). However, their functions, prices and costs are also different. The following are their details:
Kingsun constructio chemichals

As a best-selling chemical, sodium gluconate 98% min can be widely used in construction industry, food industry, textile printing and dyeing,  medical industry, etc. Its appearance is white crystalline powder. Next we will focus on its function in the construction industry.

In construciton industry, sodium gluconate can be used as a concrete retarder admixture. It not only delays the setting time of concrete, but also extends the working time of concrete from a few hours to a few days without compromising strength. Therefore, when the concrete needs to be poured for a long time or the weather is hot, the use of sodium gluconate is your best choice.

ItemSodium Gluconate
AppearanceWhite crystalline powder
Purity %98 Min
Loss on drying %0.50 Max
Sulfate (SO42-) %0.05 Max
Chloride (Cl) %0.07 Max
Heavy metals (Pb) ppm10 Max
Reduzate (D-glucose) %0.7 Max
PH (10% water solution)6.2~7.5
Arsenic salt(As) ppm0.2 Max
Packing & Loading25 kg/PP bag, 26tons in 20’FCL without pallets;
1000kg/Jumbo bag on a pallet, 20MT in 20’FCL;
1150kg/Jumbo bag on a pallet, 23MT in 20’FCL;

As a type of high-efficiency water reducing agent, SNF superplasticizer has strong adaptability in concrete. It is especially suitable for fluid concrete with high water reduction and enhanced requirements, steamed concrete, and it can also be used as a matrix material for composite admixtures. The main performance characteristics of sodium naphthalene sulfonate are as follows:

  • The water reduction rate is more than 25%. Besides, improve the workability of concrete and facilitate construction.
  • Good reinforcement and adaptability. In other words, it has good compatibility with various types of cement and admixtures.
  • The setting time is appropriate. Because of that, it has little effect on the initial and final setting time of the cement.
  • Used in a low-temperature environment. So it is convenient for winter concrete construction.
  • Good safety performance. Non-irritating or radioactive, non-dangerous, excluding substances that are rusting to steel.
TypeSNF-ASNF-BSNF-C
Solid Content (%) ≥92%
PH Value7-9
Na2SO4 Content (%)≤51018
Chlorine Content (%)≤0.30.40.5
Net Starch Fluidity(mm)≥250240230
Water Reducing Rate(%)262523
Packing25kg pp bag; 650kg Jumbo bag. A customized package is available.

As the latest generation of superplasticizer, PCE superplasticizer belongs to the high-performance water reducing admixture. It comes in two forms: white powder, liquid. The main function of PCE is High water reduction and high slump retention. And the water reduction rate is as high as 25% or more. The product has the advantages of environmental protection, less dosage, high water reduction rate, small slump loss, good workability and stability of concrete.

PCE can be widely used in highways, bridges, dams, tunnels, high-rise buildings, and other projects. It is also suitable for projects with long construction time and high requirements for concrete slumps, such as nuclear power engineering.

ItemsStandard
PCE (High Water Reduction)PCE (High Slump Retention)PCE Powder
AppearanceLight Yellow LiquidClear Transparent LiquidWhite Powder
Solid Content, %50±1.050±1.098±1.0
Density (23℃) (kg/m3)1.13±0.021.05-1.10600±50
PH6.5-8.56.5-8.59.0±1.0
Chloride Content,% ≤0.10.10.1
Na2SO4 (by solid content), % ≤4.04.04.0
SolubilityCompletely Soluble
Water reducing ratio, % ≥25
Packing 230kg PE drum, 1100kg IBC tank or flexitank, 25 kg PP woven bag.

Sodium lignosulfonate (referred to as wood sodium) is an extract in the process of bamboo pulping, which is obtained by concentration modification reaction and spray drying. The appearance is a light yellow (brown) free-flowing powder. It has good diffusivity and is soluble in water of any hardness, and the chemical stability of the aqueous solution is very good.

As a commonly used concrete water reducer, sodium lignosulfonate has the features of low cost and environmental friendliness. The following are the main functions: it can reduce 13% of unit water consumption, increase strength, save cement consumption, avoid water leakage in concrete building structures, increase durability, prevent cracks in concrete components, and improve Frost resistance, conducive to winter construction.

ItemsSodium lignosulfonate
AppearanceYellow Brown Powder
Dry Matter %92 min
Lignosulphonate %60 min
Moisture %7 max
Water-insoluble matter %0.5 max
Sulfate (as Na2SO4) %4 max
PH Value7.5-10.5
Content of Ca and Mg %0.4 max
Total reducing matter %4 max
Content of Fe %0.1 max
PackingNet 25kg PP bags; 550kg jumbo bags;

Calcium lignosulfonate is abbreviated as wood calcium powder, and the appearance is the brown-yellow powder. Its main component is calcium lignosulfonate. It has strong dispersion, cohesion and coupling, which also determines its wide range of applications. It is mainly used in concrete water reducing agent, mineral binder, ceramic body enhancer, adhesive, refractory binder, carbon black granulating agent, etc.

As a water reducing admixture for concrete, Calcium lignosulfonate has no rust damage to steel bars, and can significantly improve the frost resistance, impermeability and durability of concrete. In addition, it also has the effect of retarding setting, reducing the early hydration heat of cement, which is beneficial to the construction of large-volume concrete projects.

Index itemsStandard valueTest Results
AppearanceBrown powderMeets the requirement
Moisture≤5.0%3.2
PH value8--108.2
Dry matter≥92%95
lignosulphonate≥50%56
Inorganic salts(Na2SO4≤5.0%2.3
Total reducing matter≤6.0%4.7
Water insoluble matter≤4.0%3.67
Calcium magnesium general quantity≤1.0%0.78

You Should Know More About Concrete Additives

The development trend of commercial concrete admixtures will be accompanied by the increasing variety of commercial concrete products and the complexity and large-scale of building structures. The demand for external admixtures is increasing and the requirements are getting higher and higher. Therefore, future commercial concrete admixtures will develop in the following aspects.

(1) Composite multifunctional type. Composite and multi-functional concrete additives can learn from each other’s strengths and tend to be perfect in performance, and it is cheap, widely used, and has good performance. It has been widely used at present.

(2) Serialization and diversification of varieties. Continuously research and develop new varieties to make varieties serialized and diversified to meet the needs of various special projects and facilitate engineering use and quality control.

(3) Develop admixtures for high-performance commercial concrete. To make high-performance commercial concrete with good workability, high strength and high durability, the application of admixtures and admixtures is essential. Fluidity can also reduce the loss of slump over time and facilitate pouring, that is, commercial concrete has good construction performance. For example, the preparation of high-fluidity commercial concrete saves construction labor, reduces cost, and improves work efficiency.

Concrete additives can be a single chemical or a mixture of several chemicals, and can be supplied in powder form, but most are aqueous solutions because in this form they are easier to accurately dispense into concrete and then disperse in the concrete.

The compressive strength of concrete can be increased by:

  • Including admixtures.
  • Adjust the type and quantity of cement.
  • Reduce the water-cement ratio.
  • Using Secondary Cementitious Material (SCM).
  • Change aggregates – type and grade.

A workable concrete is a must to do construction work without much difficulty. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the factors affecting the workability of concrete.

  • Use of the Admixtures.
  • Water cement ratio.
  • Time and Temperature.
  • Mix Proportions.
  • Size of the Aggregates.
  • Shape of the Aggregates.
  • Grading of Aggregates.
  • Surface Texture of Aggregates.
  • Effect of the Clay Content.
  • Effect of Recycled Fine Aggregates.
  • Use of the Supplementary Cementitious Materials.

Concrete Admixtures Manufacturer & Supplier in China

  1. As a leading concrete admixtures manufacturer & supplier in China, Kingsun has more than 15 years of experience in construction industry. We can supply sodium gluconate 98% min, sodium naphthalene sulfonate (SNF), polycarboxylate superplasticizers (PCE), sodium lignosulfonate (SLS), calcium lignosulfonate (CLS) and other chemical admixtures for you.
  2. Kingsun has its own factory and raw materials, and has a lot of inventory, so we can meet customers’ supply needs and deliver goods to customers in a short time. Most importantly, all of our products have strict quality inspection reports.
  3. Kingsun products have been exported to more than 30 countries, including Israel, Pakistan, Bahrain, Mexico, Chile, Qatar, Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa, Jordan, Russia, Peru, Bangladesh, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, India, etc.
  4. We always do our best to provide customers with high-quality products, competitive prices and first-class services, and we will reply to the feedback from our customers as soon as possible. If you are interested in cooperating with our company, please contact us online in time.

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