Effect of adding highly reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets based nanomaterial on cement composites

A specific form of carbon-based nanomaterials, such as highly reduced graphene oxide (rGO), is synthesized. Their influence of adding in a cementitious composite has been documented in this work. The prepared rGO is being added in order to strengthen the performance of cement composites. The rGO was synthesized using a top-down approach followed by a redox reaction from graphite powder as a starting material. Simply-two steps, the first one is the oxidation of graphite using the modified hummers method, and the second one is the reduction of obtained graphene oxide in order to get rGO. Structural characterization was done using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and FE-SEM/EDX analysis. The characterization results show a successful formation of rGO-based nanomaterial. Further, the synthesized rGO was added as an additive in cementitious composites. The five mixes, including the reference sample, were prepared with the synthesized rGO concentration of (0.03 %, 0.05 %, 0.07 %, and 0.09 % by wt. of cement). The effect on microstructural changes and mechanical properties was studied experimentally using in-situ FE-SEM imaging and compressive strength measurements. The compressive strength at the rGO dosage of 0.09 % gives better strength in comparison to the rest of the mixes. The microstructural analysis was done using SEM/EDX measurements. A significant improvement in compressive strength has been observed even at a low concentration (0.03 %) of rGO. The results are also be verified by phase assemblage using XRD test results.