Graphene Oxide Incorporated Concrete for Rigid Pavement Application

Abstract

Nanomaterials are currently one of the trending research topics in material science. Due to a larger surface area, size, aspect ratios, and superior mechanical properties, the nanomaterials can be beneficial in the hydration process and nano-pore filling activities. Graphene oxide is one such nanomaterial with one its side in nanoscale, and other two sides are in larger scale. Because of the presence of oxygen functionalities, the graphene oxide can be easily dispersed in the aqueous solution when compared to other nanomaterials. Due to increase in traffic condition and environmental impacts, the pavements are not performing up to the design life. The current investigation is about the use of graphene oxide as cement additive and checking its suitability for the pavement application. In this study, polycarboxylate-based superplasticizer is used to improve the adhesion and dispersion property of the graphene oxide. The graphene oxide is added in the dosages like 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2% by weight of cement. Number of tests has been conducted to analyze the impact of additive. The workability of graphene oxide concrete gradually decreases with the increase in its dosage, and the loss of workability is not so significant. The mechanical properties of concrete like compressive, flexural, and tensile strength are greatly increased with the addition of 0.15% graphene oxide, which is found out to be optimum dosage. The percentage increase in flexural strength is more than the percentage increase in compressive strength at 7 and 28 days. The percentage improvement in early strength is more when compared to later percentage improvement. SEM images show, with the presence of graphene oxide, there is a formation of dense microstructure. The overall test result shows that graphene oxide can be used in pavement quality concrete.