Feasibility Study of Functionalized Graphene for Compatibility With
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Feasibility study of functionalized graphene for compatibility with cement hydrates and reinforcement steel Master of Science Thesis in the Master’s Program Structural Engineering and Building Technology SOFIA SIDERI Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Division of Building Technology Building Materials CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gothenburg, Sweden 2014 Master’s Thesis 2014:93 MASTER’S THESIS 2014:93 Feasibility study of functionalized graphene for compatibility with cement hydrates and reinforcement steel Master of Science Thesis in the Master’s Program Structural Engineering and Building Technology SOFIA SIDERI Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Division of Building Technology Building Materials CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gothenburg, Sweden 2014 Feasibility study of functionalized graphene for compatibility with cement hydrates and reinforcement steel Master of Science Thesis in the Master’s Program SOFIA SIDERI © SOFIA SIDERI, 2014 Examensarbete / Institutionen för bygg- och miljöteknik, Chalmers tekniska högskola 2014:93 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Division of Building Technology Building Materials Chalmers University of Technology SE-412 96 Gothenburg Sweden Telephone: + 46 (0)31-772 1000 Cover: Graphene’s structure Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Gothenburg, Sweden, 2014 Feasibility study of functionalized graphene for compatibility with cement hydrates and reinforcement steel SOFIA SIDERI Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Division of Building Technology Building Materials Chalmers University of Technology Abstract Cement-based concrete is a widely used material for a great variety of constructions. Although, cement has great properties and high performance, its intrinsic brittleness is a weakness that requires further investigation for improvement. Graphene demonstrates a number of excellent properties, such as high flexibility, 1 TPa Young’s modulus, 130 GPa tensile strength, high electrical and thermal conductivity. This study investigated the feasibility of implementing graphene into the cement matrix for improving its compressive and tensile or flexural strength. In addition, graphene coating was also investigated for protecting reinforcement steel bars in concrete from corrosion. Within the framework of this study, three main tests were conducted: compressive tests and tensile test on specimens of cement paste and mortar containing graphene, and half-cell potential test on corrosion initiation of steel bars coated with graphene and embbeded in cement mortar. From the literature, several research studies indicate the significance to investigate the graphene and its derivatives with cement composites within a multi-scale approach. According to one of the studies addition of graphene oxides (GO) with 1.5% by weight of cement revealed an increase in tensile strength by 48% compared with the cement mixture without graphene oxides. The Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) images showed good bonding between GO and the cement particles. The results obtained from the experimental study of this master thesis work did not, however, reflect graphene’s potential due to the fact that the functionalized graphene used in this study contained functional groups with silicon oxides, which were polymerized and inactive for chemical interaction with the cement hydrates. The study results from the literature also proved that single but also multi-layer graphene can work as anti-corrosion coating. The corrosion test from this master thesis work indicated that the specimens with graphene coating revealed a delayed corrosion initiation and some repassivation-depassivation cycles, as a result of the higher amount of chlorides needed for the depassivation of the passive film. Key words: Cement, hydrates, graphene, reinforcement steel, corrosion, functionalized graphene, graphene nanoparticles. VI CHALMERS , Civil and Environmental Engineering , Master’s Thesis 2014:93 Table of contents Feasibility study of functionalized graphene for compatibility with cement hydrates and reinforcement steel ................................................................................................................... 1 Abstract .................................................................................................................................... VI Preface ...................................................................................................................................... IX 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Purpose and objectives ................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Method ............................................................................................................................ 3 2. Cement-graphene compatibility............................................................................................ 4 2.1 The atomic structure of C-S-H gel ................................................................................... 4 2.2 The atomic structure of graphene and GO...................................................................... 5 2.3 Morphological relationships between the fresh cement paste and graphene ............... 8 2.4 Graphene functionalization ............................................................................................. 9 2.5 Graphene-cement nanocomposites .............................................................................. 11 2.6 Previous studies - Research results ............................................................................... 11 3. Graphene coating for reinforcement steel .......................................................................... 13 3.1 Mechanisms of chloride transport in concrete ............................................................. 13 3.2 Corrosion is an electrochemical process ....................................................................... 13 3.3 Electrochemical measurement techniques ................................................................... 16 3.4 Electrochemical rehabilitation methods ....................................................................... 18 3.5 Corrosion initiation and chloride threshold values ....................................................... 18 3.6 Graphene acting as a functionalized anticorrosion coating .......................................... 19 3.7 Previous studies - Research results ............................................................................... 19 4. Experiments on graphene cement nanocomposites .......................................................... 21 4.1 Method of production of graphene/silica hybrid sheets .............................................. 21 4.2 Part A ............................................................................................................................. 22 4.2.1 Compressive strength tests .................................................................................... 22 4.3.1 Bending test for flexural strength .......................................................................... 28 4.3.2 Compressive strength test ...................................................................................... 30 4.4 Part B - Corrosion test ................................................................................................... 31 5. Conclusions and Suggestions ............................................................................................... 37 5.1 Concluding remarks ....................................................................................................... 37 5.2 Further research needs ................................................................................................. 38 6. References ........................................................................................................................... 40 VII CHALMERS , Civil and Environmental Engineering , Master’s Thesis 2014:93 Appendix A: Half-cell potential measurements ...................................................................... 44 Appendix B: ............................................................................................................................. 45 VIII CHALMERS , Civil and Environmental Engineering , Master’s Thesis 2014:93 Preface Graphene and its applications to building materials such as cement and concrete attracted my research interest. Therefore, I carried out this feasibility study as my master examination work. The experiments have been carried out from January to May 2014. The project was carried out at the laboratory of Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. I would like to thank my supervisors, Professors Tang Luping and Liu Johan for their support. I would also like to thank the Bio-Nano Laboratory of MC2 and Smart High Tech AB for providing us with graphene. Many thanks are extended to my family that supported me all the way to complete my studies. Gothenburg, June 2014 Sofia Sideri IX CHALMERS , Civil and Environmental Engineering , Master’s Thesis 2014:93 X CHALMERS , Civil and Environmental Engineering , Master’s Thesis 2014:93 1. Introduction 1.1 Background Cement-based concrete is the most commonly used material