Effect of Vinyl Acetate, Vinyl Versatate, Acrylic Ester Terpolymer on the Durability of Polymer Cement Mortar Surface Coatings

Cementitious coatings are used to treat concrete structures as they retard the ingress of harmful liquids and gases as well as adhere to the substrate functioning homogeneously to resist external loads. This research presents a valuation study of the influence of polymer cement mortar (PCM) as a treatment for concrete surfaces. The adhesion strength, water permeability, chloride ion penetration, and accelerated carbonation experiments were conducted on cement mortar coatings with 0%, 3%, 6%, and 9% polymer additions by weight of cement. The polymer in this study is a terpolymer of vinyl acetate, vinyl versatate, and acrylic ester (VA-VV-Ac) and the cement is Blast Furnace Slag Blended Cement (BFSC). The results reveal that VA-VV-Ac PCM coatings maintain high adhesion strength after exposure to cyclic thermal loading compared to the non-polymer sample. Moreover, adding the terpolymer led to increased hydrophobicity and resistance to carbonation and chloride ions. The microstructure analysis using SEM and digital microscope images uncovered that PCM has a smaller large void ratio and fewer cracks at the sand-cement paste transition zones.