Abstract
The ongoing tendency to create environmentally friendly building materials is nowadays connected with the use of reactive magnesia-based composites. The aim of the presented research was to develop an ecologically sustainable composite material based on MOC (magnesium oxychloride cement) with excellent mechanical, chemical, and physical properties. The effect of the preparation procedure of MOC pastes doped with graphene nanoplatelets on their fresh and hardened properties was researched. One-step and two-step homogenization techniques were proposed as prospective tools for the production of MOC-based composites of advanced parameters. The conducted experiments and analyses covered X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, sorption analysis, X-ray diffraction, and optical microscopy. The viscosity of the fresh mixtures was monitored using a rotational viscometer. For the hardened composites, macro- and micro-structural parameters were measured together with the mechanical parameters. These tests were performed after 7 days and 14 days. The use of a carbon-based nanoadditive led to a significant drop in porosity, thus densifying the MOC matrix. Accordingly, the mechanical resistance was greatly improved by graphene nanoplatelets. The two-step homogenization procedure positively affected all researched functional parameters of the developed composites (e.g., the compressive strength increase of approximately 54% after 7 days, and 37% after 14 days, respectively) and can be recommended for the preparation of advanced functional materials reinforced with graphene.
Highlights
Graphene is a carbon-based, two-dimensional nanomaterial and consists of a single monolayer of graphite with a thickness of one atom (0.34 nm)
The effect of the mixture homogenization procedure in the preparation of homogenization procedure was not great, but still sufficient for the practical use of graphenemagnesium oxychloride cement paste doped with graphene nanoplatelets on its fresh reinforced Magnesium oxychloride cement (MOC) materials in construction practice
The addition of graphene and the process of procedure improved the distribution of graphene particles in MOC fresh mixture, which two-step homogenization resulted in the following aspects: resulted in the upgraded parameters of the hardened composites
Summary
Graphene is a carbon-based, two-dimensional nanomaterial and consists of a single monolayer of graphite with a thickness of one atom (0.34 nm). The price of GNPs is about 400 EUR/kg, which is not high with respect to its low content in the composition of graphene-doped composites. The addition of GNPs to Portland cement-based composites to enhance, in particular, their mechanical, electrical, and durability-related properties was studied intensively. Liu et al [5] investigated the effect of GNPs and graphene oxide nanoplatelets (GONPs) on the mechanical and piezoresistive properties of cementitious materials. Tao et al [6] studied the influence of GNPs on microstructure, mechanical properties, and electric conductivity of cement mortar. The electrical potential method was used for the evaluation of the structural health of the GNPs-infused mortar in the study reported by Le et al [7]. The enhancement of resistance against water and chloride ingress of concrete with the content of GNPs was researched by Du et al [8]
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