Durability & mechanical properties of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube incorporated pozzolana portland cement composite

Abstract

The current study examined the impact of Functional Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (FMWCNTs) incorporated in Pozzolana Portland Cement (PPC) mortar on mechanical and durability characteristics. The mechanical and durability properties of PPC mortar have been found to be remarkable in the presence nanomaterials. The results indicate that 0.0015% FMWCNTs by weight percent of cement (PPC1) had the maximum improvement in mechanical and durability performance over the 90-day curing periods. In PPC1, compressive and tensile strengths improved by 8.74% and 20.61%, respectively, as compared to the control sample (PPC-C). When the calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) gel is dense, it improves the electrical resistance of PPC mortar for PPC1. Water absorption was found to be reduced by 29.31% and 78.71% in PPC1 samples at 28- and 90-day curing ages, respectively, when compared to PPC-C. This decrease can be attributed to the influence of FMWCNTs in PPC mortar on void reduction via the bridging and filler effects. After an aggressive acid attack, the compressive strength of PPC mortar was found to be 43.63% for PPC3 as compared to PPC-C at 28 days of curing. The investigation showed that the nano-engineered mortar displayed the lowest amount of mass loss and the least reduction in mechanical strength as compared to PPC-C. The characterizations of Powdered X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) have been employed for the finding of significant bonding within the PPC mortar.