Abstract
This paper aims to investigate the effects of edge-oxidized graphene oxide nanoflakes (EOGO) on the mechanical properties and sorptivity of cement composites. The EOGO used in this study was produced by a mechanochemical process that assists the production of EOGO in large quantities at significantly reduced costs, enabling its practical use for infrastructure construction. The scope of this work includes the use of EOGO as an additive in cement composites, including cement paste and mortar. This study explores two mixing methods: The dry-mix method and the wet-mix method. The dry-mix method uses EOGO as dry powder in cement composites whereas the wet-mix method uses a water-dispersed solution (using a sonication process). Varied percentages of EOGO, ranging from 0.01% to 1.0%, were used for both methods. To evaluate the concrete durability, the effect of EOGO addition on sorptivity of the cement composites was investigated by performing total porosity and water sorptivity tests. It was found that 0.05% of EOGO is the optimum proportion to exert the highest strength in compressive and flexural strength tests. In addition, the dry-mix method is comparable to the wet-mix method (with dispersion of EOGO), thus more practical for field engineering applications.
Highlights
The strength and durability of concrete are the two most significant characteristics that govern structural efficiency for load capacity and service life purposes [1]
This study investigated the effect of different mix design methods of Edge-Oxidized Graphene Oxide (EOGO)-cement composites on the mechanical properties, total porosity, and water sorptivity of EOGO-cement composites
Different contents of EOGO ranging from 0.01% to 1.0% were used as an additive in cement paste and mortar
Summary
The strength and durability of concrete are the two most significant characteristics that govern structural efficiency for load capacity and service life purposes [1]. Durability of concrete, which controls the concrete’s service life, may be defined as the capability to maintain a minimum performance level over a specific time when exposed to a degrading environment [2]. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) along with other carbon-based nanomaterials have been used to enhance the mechanical properties of cement composites by controlling the cracks at the nanoscale level [5,6,7]. Musso et al [5] discovered that compression resistance and the modulus of rupture in plain cement paste is able to produce an improvement of around 10%–20% and 14%–34%, respectively, by adding 0.5% in weight of pristine and annealed multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Cwirzen et al found that the addition of CNTs into plain cement paste is able to increase the compressive strength by about 50% [7]
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