Evaluating the Self-Sensing Ability of Cement Mortars Manufactured with Graphene Nanoplatelets, Virgin or Recycled Carbon Fibers through Piezoresistivity Tests

Alberto Belli, Alessandra Mobili, Tiziano Bellezze, Francesca Tittarelli and Paulo Cachim
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Alberto Belli: Department of Materials, Environmental Sciences and Urban Planning, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche 12, INSTM Research Unit, Ancona 60131, Italy
Alessandra Mobili: Department of Materials, Environmental Sciences and Urban Planning, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche 12, INSTM Research Unit, Ancona 60131, Italy
Tiziano Bellezze: Department of Materials, Environmental Sciences and Urban Planning, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche 12, INSTM Research Unit, Ancona 60131, Italy
Francesca Tittarelli: Department of Materials, Environmental Sciences and Urban Planning, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche 12, INSTM Research Unit, Ancona 60131, Italy
Paulo Cachim: Department of Civil Engineering (DECIVIL), Universidade de Aveiro, RISCO Research Unit, Aveiro 3810-193, Portugal

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: This paper presents the resistivity and piezoresistivity behavior of cement-based mortars manufactured with graphene nanoplatelet filler (GNP), virgin carbon fibers (VCF) and recycled carbon fibers (RCF). GNP was added at 4% of the cement weight, whereas two percentages of carbon fibers were chosen, namely 0.05% and 0.2% of the total volume. The combined effect of both filler and fibers was also investigated. Mortars were studied in terms of their mechanical properties (under flexure and compression) and electrical resistivity. Mortars with the lowest electrical resistivity values were also subjected to cyclic uniaxial compression to evaluate the variations in electrical resistivity as a function of strain. The results obtained show that mortars have piezoresistive behavior only if they are subjected to a prior drying process. In addition, dry specimens exhibit a high piezoresistivity only when loaded with 0.2 vol.% of VCF and 0.4 wt.% of GNP plus 0.2 vol.% RCF, with a quite reversible relation between their fractional change in resistivity (FCR) and compressive strain.

Keywords: cement; mortar; carbon fiber; filler; graphene; self-sensing; piezoresistivity; recycling; mechanical properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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