Electrical characteristics of carbon nanotube- and graphene-mortar composites

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of the water-to-binder ratio (W/B) and carbon nanotube (CNT) content on the mechanical (flow characteristics and compressive strength) and electrical characteristics (electrical resistance, piezoresistivity) of CNT/mortar composite. According to an electrical characteristics analysis, CNT/mortar composites in S.S.D. (saturated surface dry) and O.D. (oven dry) conditions were fabricated to investigate the influence of the presence of free water on the electrical characteristics. In addition, this study presented a method to reduce graphene oxide (GO) into graphene so that the graphene can be used as a material with good sensing function. The electrical characteristics of a mortar composite with graphene produced by the reduction method presented in this study are also investigated. This dissertation can be divided into two parts as follows: 1) Mechanical and electrical characteristics of carbon nanotube/mortar composite: Here, the microstructure of the fractured surface of the CNT/mortar composite and the dispersibility of CNTs were examined in scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. Flow and compressive strength tests were carried out to investigate the mechanical characteristics of the CNT/mortar composite. In addition, the electrical resistance and the piezoresistivity of the CNT/mortar composite were measured to evaluate the electrical characteristics. 2) Electrical characteristics of graphene/mortar composite: In this part, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrical resistance of a mortar composite with graphene produced by the reduction method presented in this study were measured to investigate the electrical characteristics of the composite.