Highly concentrated carbon nanotube admixture for nano-fiber reinforced cementitious materials

Zoi S. Metaxa*, Jung Woo T. Seo, Maria S. Konsta-Gdoutos, Mark C. Hersam, Surendra P. Shah

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

136 Scopus citations

Abstract

The use of effectively dispersed multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/aqueous/surfactant suspensions in cement based materials have been shown to substantially improve their mechanical properties. The produced MWCNT suspensions have a high aqueous content, which corresponds to the mixing water. In the present work, a method for preparing highly concentrated MWCNT suspensions is presented, thus reducing the volume of the resulting admixture that is required in cement based materials. A centrifugal process, that uses two different ultracentrifuge rotors, was employed to reduce the quantity of water in the suspensions. Optical absorbance spectroscopy shows that the ultracentrifugation process increases the concentration of the MWCNT suspensions by a factor of 5. Using the highly concentrated MWCNT suspensions following dilution results in nanocomposites with mechanical properties that are comparable to the performance of samples prepared using the non-concentrated suspensions. These results verify that the ultracentrifugation concentration method successfully preserves the solubility of the MWCNT suspensions without affecting the reinforcing properties of the admixture. In this manner, the ultracentrifugation concentration method may constitute an effective preparation step for large-scale implementation of MWCNT admixtures.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)612-617
Number of pages6
JournalCement and Concrete Composites
Volume34
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2012

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Infrastructure Technology Institute at Northwestern University under Grant DTRT06-G-0015/M1 . This work was also supported by the US National Science Foundation under Grant DMR-1006391 .

Keywords

  • Carbon nanotubes
  • Mechanical properties
  • Nano composites
  • Optical absorbance spectroscopy
  • Ultracentrifugation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Building and Construction
  • General Materials Science

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