Application of nonionic surfactants in construction industry

In the construction industry, non-ionic surfactants are widely used in concrete, wood processing and asphalt emulsions

Concrete is a composite solid material that uses gelling materials to bond aggregates into a whole. When preparing concrete, adding admixtures (a small amount of surfactants) can improve various physical and mechanical properties of concrete. Coagulant admixtures include: aerating agent, water reducing agent, coagulant promoting agent, retarding agent, foam agent, water preventing agent, coagulant accelerating agent and high performance water reducing agent.

The non-ionic surfactants commonly used in concrete are: alkyl phenol polyoxyethylene ether, fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether, etc.

Wood is treated by physical and chemical methods to have properties that meet building requirements, such as corrosion resistance, flame retardant, dimensional stability, and high strength. Most of the treatment agents used in physical and chemical methods use non-ionic surfactants as emulsifiers, commonly used are: fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether, alkyl phenol polyoxyethylene ether, fatty acid polyoxyethylene ester and other non-ionic surfactants.

Asphalt is a kind of widely used building material, which can be used in building protection, wood preservation, road engineering and maintenance, leakproof joint and other production. When using asphalt, it is necessary to treat it to make it into asphalt emulsion. According to the treatment method and the emulsifier used, asphalt emulsion can be divided into ionic, cationic and neutral clay types. Among them, the non-ionic surfactant used in the preparation of neutral clay-based asphalt emulsion is mainly fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether and alkyl phenol polyoxyethylene ether.