Recent trends and applications in the research and development activities of redispersible powder: a vision of twenty-first century

In the twenty-first century, the RDP (redispersible powder) has become the critical ingredient in various sectors and has numerous applications in day to day life. RDP is a free-flowing, white powder obtained by spray drying of an aqueous dispersion. Commercially available polymeric admixtures are classified into polymer dispersion, redispersible polymer powder (RDPP), water-soluble polymers, and liquid polymers. RDPP is a polymer emulsion that is converted to RDP by high temperature and pressure followed by spray drying and surface treatment to powdered thermoplastic resin material. Today, the demand for RDP is increasing in various fields due to their desirable change in properties after their addition with different products. High-grade RDP is manufactured via the various monomers so that the efficiency of RDP increases for the application purpose. RDPP is synthesized via polymerization and spray drying technique which has applications in concrete–polymer composite/polymer-modified mortar and concrete. The different types of latex-based RDP known are a copolymer of ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA), a terpolymer of ethylene/vinyl chloride/vinyl laurate (E/VC/VL), terpolymer of vinyl acetate/ethylene/vinyl ester of versatic acid (VAc/E/VeoVa), acrylate copolymer, polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) polymer, styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR), etc. The current paper audits the standards process technology for RDP, the past significant importance and historical backgrounds, recent and future developments and advancement of concrete–polymer composite, and normalization work on concrete–polymer composites. The core–shell morphology of RDP in polymer cement waterproof mortar is also discussed in this paper. In the construction field, polymer-modified cement (hydraulic) mixtures are used due to their unique properties. As new inventions have been done in the area of RDPP, it is investigated that polymer film formation in cement mortars modified with water-soluble RDPP also occurs. The effect of RDPP concentration on the initial and final setting time of cement mortars plays a significant role in this field. Furthermore, the amalgamation of nanotechnology with RDP synthesis has boosted the applications of RDP in various other fields. RDP has played a vital role in the field of medicine, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. In the food industry, RDP is used to increase storage ability, durability, and product properties. The review paper covers all the stages in RDP/RDPP synthesis from the year 1999 to 2021. The different techniques for synthesizing high-quality and efficient RDP have been reviewed here. The paper gives a complete overlook of trends in applications of RDP over the period. This paper discusses all the past and future applications, recent trends, development of RDP in the various fields and shows its bright prospective in the upcoming years.