Effectiveness of polycarboxylate as a dispersant of carbon nanotubes in concrete

Abstract

Excellent multifunctional properties of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have brought interest of concrete analyst towards the use of nano materials in concrete. One of the most conventional problems accompany the usage of CNTs in concrete is spreading of the material which is known as dispersion in concrete which significantly affect the mechanical properties of concrete and results in large size of combined CNTs. To achieve dispersion of CNTs in cement concrete, many ways have been adopted. In this paper a study is considered to check the dispersion of CNTs into the concrete with the use of chemical process by considering polycarboxylate as a dispersant. To compare the observations samples with and without polycarboxylate were considered. Mechanical properties like compressive strength, indirect tensile strength and flexural strength were considered with proportions of CNTs as 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5% of total cementitious materials. Results suggest the effectiveness of polycarboxylate as a dispersant.