Study of the in-situ growth of carbon nanofibers on cement clinker

Because fibres are difficult to disperse evenly in cement-based materials, we attempted to grow carbon nanofibers (CNFs) in situ on Portland cement clinker particles using chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The results show that the phase compositions and alite polymorph didn't change for the Portland cement clinker treated at 600 degrees C in the atmosphere of blended gas containing argon (Ar), hydrogen (H-2) and acetylene (C2H2). The CNFs was successfully grown in situ on the Portland cement clinker due to the reaction of C2H2 in the presence of H-2. The diameter and length of the CNFs were 20-30 nm and 0.6-0.9 mu m respectively. C3S is the main component of cement clinker. The hydration of C3S plays a crucial role in the performance of cementitious composites. The hydration of C3S was significantly delayed and reduced due to the incorporation of CNFs.