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Effects of carbon nanotubes on mechanical and 2D-3D microstructure properties of cement mortar

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Abstract

To study the influence of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the mechanical and microstructural properties of cementitious composites, 0.00, 0.02, 0.08, 0.10, and 0.20 wt% of multi-wall carbon nanotubes were added into cement mortar, in which the cement-sand ratio was 1:1.5. The flexural and compressive strengths of cement mortar at the age of 3, 7, 28 and 90 d and the fracture performance at the age of 28 d were determined, its 2D micrograph was tested by means of SEM, and the 3D defects distribution was firstly determined with or without CNTs by means of XCT (X-ray computerized tomography). The results showed that 0.08 wt% of CNTs improved the compressive strength and flexural strength by 18% and 19%, respectively, and a significant improvement of its fracture property was observed. Moreover lower addition of carbon nanotubes to cement mortars can improve its microstructure and decrease the defects significantly compared to the cement mortar without CNTs. With the increase of the content of CNTs, the mechanical properties of cement mortars presented to be declined largely due to the agglomeration of CNTs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China

    Qiaoling Liu  (刘巧玲), Wei Sun & Caihui Wang

  2. School of Civil Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, 250101, China

    Qiaoling Liu  (刘巧玲) & Hao Jiang

Authors
  1. Qiaoling Liu  (刘巧玲)
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  2. Wei Sun
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  3. Hao Jiang
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  4. Caihui Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qiaoling Liu  (刘巧玲).

Additional information

Funded by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2009CB623200), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China (No. IRT13075)

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Liu, Q., Sun, W., Jiang, H. et al. Effects of carbon nanotubes on mechanical and 2D-3D microstructure properties of cement mortar. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol.-Mat. Sci. Edit. 29, 513–517 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-014-0950-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-014-0950-3

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