# Influence of Initiator Content and Polymerization Conditions on the Properties of Polyacrylate Mortar

## TL;DR

This study examines how initiator content and temperature affect the strength and bonding of polyacrylate mortar, finding optimal conditions for practical use.

## Contribution

The paper identifies optimal initiator content and polymerization temperature for maximizing mechanical and bonding properties of polyacrylate mortar.

## Key findings

- Compressive, flexural, tensile, and bonding strengths of polyacrylate mortar decrease with increasing temperature but increase with higher initiator content.
- SEM observations show dense polymer distribution at interfaces, improving interfacial continuity through cross-linked films.
- 20 °C is recommended as the best polymerization temperature for practical applications.

## Abstract

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of initiator content and polymerization temperature on the mechanical and bonding properties of polyacrylate mortar. Initiator content was controlled in 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1.0% and polymerization temperature was set at −20, 0, 20, 40, and 60 °C in aggregation process, respectively. The mixture of butyl methacrylate (BMA), benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and N, N-dimethylaniline (DMA) was added to the aggregate composed of quartz sand and silica fume (SF) according to the ratio of monomer to aggregate of 1:4. Results showed that compressive, flexural, tensile, and bonding strengths of polyacrylate mortar decreased with increasing temperature but increased with higher initiator content. The optimal initiator content was 0.6%. Although the highest strength was observed at −20 °C, this curing condition is not easy to achieve in practice and should be considered as laboratory optimization. According to the room temperature, 20 °C can be selected as the best polymerization temperature. SEM observations indicated that the polyacrylate cementitious material cross-linked to form a film, with a dense polymer distribution at the interface that improved interfacial continuity. These findings provide mechanistic insight for optimizing initiator content and curing conditions to enhance the mechanical and bonding performance of polyacrylate-based cementitious composites.