Abstract: The formulation of gypsum foaming agents using alkyl polyglucosides (APG) as the main surfactant and blended with other surfactants,such as cocoamidopropyl betaine (CAB35),2-undecylimidazoline (UIZ) and sodium alcohol ether sulphate (AES) as well as foam stabilizers such as hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC),polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were investigated.The foaming multiple,foam stability,and bleeding ratio of the various blends of APG,were measured to evaluate their foaming and foam stabilizing performance.Results show that APG blending with UIZ and PVA displays better foaming performance than the others.The recommended conditions are as following:m(APG0810)∶m(APG1214)∶m(UIZ)=4∶1∶2,and PVA accounted for 10% (w/w) of total.At the mass fraction of 0.2%,after 3 min stirring under 1 800 r/min,this recommended blending system shows foam multiple as 4.33 after 1 min,and the foam multiple can maintain 3.12 even after 15 min.

Key words: foaming agent, alkyl polyglucoside, gypsum, blend