Recent progress on graphene oxide for next-generation concrete: Characterizations, applications and challenges

Modern concrete infrastructure demands structural members with superior mechanical, durability and smart properties to achieve multifunctional applications. To satisfy these increasing requirements, nanotechnology has widely found application in cement materials to enhance the structural properties and overcome the defects of energy consumption, environmental protection and low toughness of traditional cement materials. As a typic sheet-like graphene derivate, graphene oxide (GO) with very small dosage has been experimentally proved remarkable improvements on strength and durability of concrete due to its exceptional mechanical properties and active functional groups. However, its role on health monitoring and ultra-high performance is still not well understood in the literature. Particularly few studies concern about the alternative methods to characterize interfacial transition zone that modified by nanosheets. In this paper, available methods for the study of micromechanical performance of interfacial transition zone containing nanosheets are firstly reviewed from the view of characterization techniques and multiscale models. A specific focus is then given to the smart and the durability applications of GO towards next-generation concrete. Finally, main challenges and future perspectives of adopting nanosheets into concrete are detailly summarized and discussed for further improvement. This review can arouse new insights of the nano-cement composites and provide a comprehensive guideline for the scientific community to design multifunctional concrete structure for future building industry.