Performance evaluation of self-compacting mortars with graphene oxide

Abstract

In this paper, we intend to evaluate the viability of producing self-compacting mortars (SC_mortar) using graphene oxide (GO). The performance of different mortars will be evaluated. For these mortars, the traditional binder, composed of Portland cement (C) and fly ash from thermoelectric power stations (FA), will be reinforced by GO, establishing the constitutive relations that allow the future use of this type of material without reservations regarding expected performance. Currently, the repair and rehabilitation of concrete structures has a prominent role in the construction industry and SC_mortar play a vital role in this work. The cement, as well as the other constituents of these SC_mortar, must be carefully selected to obtain an adequate composition with a granular mixture as compact as possible and with good performance both in the fresh and in the hardened state. GO is very reactive, essentially due to its high specific surface and has a high potential for improving the properties of these SC_mortars, mainly in terms of their mechanical behaviour. Thus, the main objective of this work is to evaluate the performance of SC_mortars, both in the fresh (self-compactability) and in the hardened state (mechanical behaviour and durability), in binary and ternary mixes of C, FA and OG. Six mixes were produced, namely: [100%C]; [100%C+0.02%GO]; [100%C+0.06%GO]; [70%C+30%FA]; [70%C+30%FA+0.02%GO]; [70%C+30%FA+0.06%GO]. The results obtained allowed to verify that the use of GO contributed to the decrease of the SC_mortars properties in the fresh state. However, the results obtained demonstrate promising indicators regarding the mechanical behaviour of the mixes studied.