Achieve 10 key benefits that bring Performance, Reliability and Flexibility to your SLU Formulation.
Fast setting self-leveling underlayment (SLUs) are essential for modern construction schedules, but they are becoming harder to formulate reliably. Variability in cement quality, volatile lithium pricing, sustainability targets, and temperature sensitivity are stretching traditional systems beyond their comfort zone.
To address these challenges, BASF developed the SLU Dream Team—a formulation concept built around selective hydration control. The system combines Melflux® SELECT 6030 F and HyCon® R 3660 F to deliver consistent and superior workability, predictable setting behavior, and robust strength development across a wide range of cementitious applications.
Rather than accelerating or suppressing hydration indiscriminately, the SLU Dream Team selectively retards the formation of first hydration products and thereby manages selective ettringite retardation to create superior rheology, extended open time, and reliable hardening even at cold temperatures.
“What we’re really giving formulators is flexibility. You can make a better product, you can lower your cost, or you can do both—depending on what your market needs.”
— Jisha Hechel, Technical Expert, Azelis
One of the most important outcomes of this controlled hydration is strength development efficiency. Improved early and final strength allows formulators to rethink how much binder they actually need in the system. In many cases, total cement content can be reduced by 10–15% while maintaining fast set and early walkability. At the same time, lithium carbonate usage can be significantly reduced, helping mitigate cost volatility and regulatory concerns.
“When customers see they have more strength than they need, the next question becomes: how much binder can we safely take out?”
— Jisha Hechel, Technical Expert, Azelis
Beyond strength and cost optimization, the SLU Dream Team is designed for real-world robustness. Compared to traditional systems, the Dream Team system demonstrates faster setting behavior at low temperatures, performs consistently after long-term storage, and tolerates raw material variability across CAC, CSA, and OPC-based formulations. This selective ettringite retardation makes the HyCon R 3660 F suitable not only for SLUs, but also for fast setting tile adhesives and repair mortars where reliability is critical and major benefits can be achieved also.
From a formulation standpoint, conversion is straightforward. Existing superplasticizers are replaced with Melflux® SELECT 6030 F, for unlocking the full potential of Hydration Control due to optimized interaction with aluminate phases and very short mixing time requirements. Traditional retarders are exchanged for HyCon® R 3660 F, and dosages are fine-tuned to match target flow and set time. BASF and Azelis support this process with lab validation, troubleshooting, and perfectly designed starting point formulations—helping customers move from concept to production with confidence.
Insight in Practice
The SLU Dream Team is not just an additive combination; it is a formulation strategy driven by BASF innovation. By improving robustness, expanding formulation flexibility, and enabling meaningful cost or sustainability gains, it helps formulators deliver fast setting cement systems that perform reliably from the lab to the jobsite.