Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effects of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on strength the properties of cement composites when surfactant (SAA) was applied as the dispersion method. TritonX-100 (TX10) was used as the SAA to pretreat SWCNTs, which has been proved to perform well in dispersing the agglomerates of SWCNTs. In this study, four different concentration of SWCNTs, namely 0.00 wt%, 0.02 wt%, 0.04 wt%, and 0.06 wt% by the mass of cement, were used to prepare cement composite specimens. The compressive strength and flexural strength of specimens were tested and recorded. The results show that the compressive and flexural strengths of cement composites decreased with the increase in the concentration of SWCNTs without the addition of TX10. However, when SWCNT suspensions were pretreated with TX10, the strength variation pattern changed; the compressive and flexural strengths of cement composites increased as a function of the concentration of SWCNTs, although there were reductions compared to non-TX10-treated specimens at all concentrations of SWCNTs. Furthermore, the relationship between the strength of cement composites and bulk density of specimens was considered.
Highlights
Concrete is known to have high compression strength but weak tensile capacity
It is known that multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) show better mechanical properties than single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), and many studies have been conducted to study the effect of MWCNTs on mechanical properties of cement composites
SWCNTs are more advantaged in enhancing electrical properties and thermal properties of cementitious materials, which give SWCNTs great potential for functional cement composites
Summary
Concrete is known to have high compression strength but weak tensile capacity. As micro-reinforcement paste in concrete to prepare composite materials with better bearing capacity [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. The results show that the mix of fiber can effectively enhance the tensile strength and toughness. The problem is that the strength of toughening fibers used in concrete are relatively low, and may cause larger porosity, imposing a negative effect on the mechanical properties of concrete. High strength fibers that are smaller than microfibers for applications of high-performance fiber reinforced concrete composite still has potential. The feasibility of applying carbon nanotubes (CNTs), as potential nanofibers, into cementitious composites has been widely studied due to CNTs’
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