Enhancing the mechanical and functional performance of carbon fiber reinforced cement mortar by the inclusion of a cost-effective graphene nanofluid additive

In this study, a low-cost and industrially scalable graphene nanofluid additive (GNA) was incorporated into carbon fibre-reinforced cement mortar (CFRCM) to enhance its functionalities. The results indicated that the synergistic effect of the carbon fibres and the GNA significantly improved many properties of the cement mortar. For the CFRCM modified with GNA (G-CFRCM), the maximum increases in the flexural and compressive strengths, 101% and 126%, respectively, which were much greater than those of the control, 25% and 45%, respectively, and the maximum increases in the thermal and electrical conductivities of the G-CFRCM, 36% and 68%, respectively, were much greater than those of the control, 27% and 19%, respectively. In addition, a surprising increase in the service life of the corresponding cathodic protection system with the G-CFRCM, more than 200% compared to that of the control showed, that this novel composite material is ideally suited for applications in high-efficiency cathodic protection systems.