Improving the mechanical properties of cementitious composites with graphite nano/micro platelets addition

Applications of nanotechnology in construction material industry have attracted the attention of researchers due to their exceptional mechanical properties and high potential to be used as reinforcement within cement matrix. Among all the nano materials, use of carbon based nano materials (CNM's) is one of the most important areas of research in the field of nanotechnology in cementitious systems. In this study, nano/micro platelets of raw graphite were introduced in the cement composite to investigate its effects on the mechanical properties of resulting matrix. Graphite nano/micro platelets (GNMP's) were added in 0.05 and 0.1 % by weight of cement. The results were quite encouraging and even with a very small addition of Graphite nano/micro platelets, considerable improvement in compressive strength was observed. Effect of added content of GNMPs on flexural strength of cement composite was also investigated using three-point bending test and a significant improvement in flexural strength of cementitious matrix was achieved.