RESEARCH ARTICLE
Improvement of Flexural and Compressive Strength of Cement Mortar by Graphene Nanoplatelets
Yu Chen1, Xingchen Li1, *, Chuangchuang Li1, Nana Zhang1, Ronggui Liu1, Chunhua Lu1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2021Volume: 15
First Page: 165
Last Page: 171
Publisher ID: TOCIEJ-15-165
DOI: 10.2174/1874149502115010165
Article History:
Received Date: 11/1/2021Revision Received Date: 12/4/2021
Acceptance Date: 25/4/2021
Electronic publication date: 07/07/2021
Collection year: 2021

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
In order to provide space for improving the durability of engineering structures by enhancing strength, the addition of nanomaterials has become a research trend in recent years. Graphene and its derivatives have unique properties and have been used in certain fields, which has also stimulated continuous and in-depth research on whether it can improve structural strength.
Objective:
This paper investigates the mechanical properties and mechanism of cement-based materials reinforced by Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNPs).
Methods:
Macroscopically, the flexural strength and compressive strengths of cement mortar were tested. Microscopically, the structure and composition were characterized and analyzed by SEM, EDS, and XRD.
Results:
The results show that the mechanical properties of modified cement mortar are directly related to the GNPs content. When the GNPs content is 0.04wt%, the flexural and compressive strength can still be increased by 12.8% and 33.9% after 28 d. Furthermore, the appropriate content of GNPs dispersed in the cement matrix played a role in promoting cement hydration. The interconnection with hydration products further reduces cracks and pores so that the cement composites form a denser microstructure.
Conclusion:
The results obtained above would provide references for understanding the reinforcement mechanism of GNPs.