Enhancement clay tolerance of PCE by lignin-based polyoxyethylene ether in montmorillonite-contained paste

[Display omitted] •Lignin-based polyoxyethylene was first applied in montmorillonite (MMT)-contained cement paste.•PEG-grafted-lignin had favor tolerance on MMT.•The adsorption amount of PEG-grafted-lignin was much larger.•UV adsorption and XRD were carried out to characterize the adsorption behavior on MMT. The dispersion ability of polycarboxylate ether (PCE) in fresh concrete is much impeded by clay impurities. To improve the dispersion of PCE in the clay-contained concrete, lignin-based polyoxyethylene ether (PEG-grafted-lignin) was synthesized through polyethylene glycol (PEG) grafted to kraft lignin (KL). The results showed that PEG-grafted-lignin increased the fluidity of MMT-contained cement paste when combined with PCE. It improved the rheological properties of MMT-contained cement paste by reducing the yield stress and the rheological behavior index. The adsorption of PEG-grafted-lignin on MMT was more quickly than KL and the equilibrium adsorption amount was 31.43mg/g at an initial concentration of 100mg/L. XRD revealed that PEG-grafted-lignin had inserted into the interlayer structure of MMT, while DLS disclosed the spatial effect of PEG-grafted-lignin was much stronger than PCE. This study put forward a new method in the anti-sludge study of PCE.