《22 Effect of dispersity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on compression strength of cement》.doc

Effect of dispersity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on compression strength of cement Hongbo ZHU a(, Peiming WANG a, Chen LI a, Xian LIU b, Jiaolong ZHANG b a. Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China; b. Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China Abstract: the dispersity of Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in water and in cement paste, as well as its effect on the compressive strength of composition with MWCNTs and cement are investigated, using ultrasonic dispersion and three kinds of surface active agents Polycarboxylate Superplasticizer (Ad), Poly Vinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP) and washing powder (XYF). The dispersity of MWCNTs in water, which is shown in numeral photo, is analyzed by observation while cement paste is analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that MWCNTs is easy to agglomerate both in water and in cement paste, and it exhibits poor reinforce ability if using single Ad as advisable surface active agent, even though librated by ultrasonic. Assisted by ultrasonic, PVP and XYF can promote dispersions of MWCNTs both in water and cement paste obviously. Therefore the PVP increases the compressive strength. The XYF decreases the strength evidently because more air bubbles were brought inside the cement paste and the dimension of hole was heightened, the density of hardened cement then lowers remarkably. Key words: multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), dispersity, cement, compression strength Introduction Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are firstly applied to reinforce acrylic bone cement [1-2]. Now it is widely used to enhance the performances of Portland cement. Arnon et al [3-4] think that CNTs can increase the compressive strength and improve the microstructure of engineered cementitious composites (ECC). Thanongsak et al [5] consider the CNTs can reduce the porosity of hardened