Investigating the Role of Carboxymethyl Cellulose and Polyvinyl Alcohol Additives on Concrete Performance: A Case Study from Jordan

This work searches for the influence of Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and poly-vinyl acetate copolymer (PVA) on the mechanical propertiesof concrete. Different mixtures were prepared and evaluated at various proportions of the two polymers. The features evaluated included compressive strength, flexural strength, density and initial setting time. Using (0.05-0.1 wt. %) PVA increased densityslightly from 2.42 to 2.45 g/cm3while using (0.3-1.0 wt. %) PVA reduced density from 2.42 to 2.33 g/cm3. A similar performance was observed when CMC was added to concrete. The initial setting time increased upon the addition of both polymers. PVA improved compressive strength and flexural strength at low weight percentages of 0.05-0.1%. At higher weight percentages of 0.3-1%, polymer effect was reversed. Increasing the weight percentage of CMC from 0.1to 0.5 % resulted in a decrease in comptressive strength from 28.5to 24 MPa. PVA resulted in higher compressive strengths than CMC for mixtures in the study. The compressive strength was 28.5 MPa and 33.3 MPa at 0.1 wt.% CMC and PVA, respectively. The effect of these polymers was investigated via Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) technique. FTIR spectral changes observed upon adding PVA and CMC to concrete highlight significant chemical and physical interactions, such as hydrogen bonding and matrix modification, which alters the composite’s structural and functional properties. These findings underscore PVA’s and CMC’s potential to changecement-based materials by altering hydration behavior and promoting better integration within the matrix. This makes them suitable for advanced construction materials with enhanced performance characteristics