Mechanical performance of metakaolin-based geopolymer mortar blended with multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

In recent decades, the cement industry has been viewed as a major environmental problem mainly due to carbon dioxide CO2 emissions during the production of Portland Cement (PC). Among the solutions to this problem is to replace Portland cement-based materials with alkali-activated materials. Metakaolin-based geopolymer mortars are currently considered a serious alternative to ordinary Portland cement mortar due to its various advantages. The present experimental study aims to develop metakaolin-based geopolymer mortars reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The content of MWCNTs incorporated was 0.1; 0.2; 0.3, and 0.4 wt%, respectively, with respect to the mass of metakaolin. A mixture without the addition of carbon nanotubes was also prepared and used as a reference (control sample). The alkaline activation of metakaolin was carried out using aqueous sodium silicate solution having a molar ratio (SiO2/Na2O) equal to 1.77. Mechanical characterization of the hardened samples was performed after curing for 3, 7 and 28 days. The results indicate that the incorporation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the geopolymer matrices improves compressive strength. Microscopic analysis has shown that these carbon nanotubes contribute to the densification of the geopolymer matrix and give rise to crack bridging mechanisms. The highest value of the compressive strength was recorded using an alkali silicate content equal to 8 (expressed as a percentage of Na2O) combined with 0.2% of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the geopolymer mortar. The integral absolute error (IAE) calculated on the compressive strength values at different curing ages are all within an acceptable range (0–10%).