Technology, Properties and Application of NRL Elastomers

Polymer latexes are being increasingly used in the construction industry as modifiers, especially in hydraulic cement concrete and mortar. Figure 1 presents polymeric latexes used as cement modifiers. Among the different presentations of polymeric latexes, elastomers are the most widely used (Ohama, 1995). In practice, there are two basic elastomers applicable to cement mixes and these are natural rubber latex (NRL) and synthetic latexes. Figure 2 shows some prominent derivatives of these elastomers. Indeed, elastomers are mainly added into hydraulic cement concrete and mortar in order to improve their performance properties.