MULTITECHNIQUE CHARACTERIZATION OF CEMENT PASTE WITH AND WITHOUT GRAPHENE OXIDE

Graphene oxide (GO) is a “two dimensional” material that contains functional groups such as hydroxyl, carboxyl, and epoxy. The oxygencontaining functional groups facilitate dispersion of GO in aqueous solution. GO sheets have a large tensile strength and a large specific surface area. This provides the motivation to explore the effects of graphene oxide GO mixed into cementitious composites, in particular because it has been reported that GO improves the microstructure and mechanical properties. This is setting the scene for the present contribution. It is focused on quasiisothermal calorimetry for characterization of the hydration kinetics, and on uniaxial compressive strength tests providing insight into the most important mechanical material property in cement and concrete research.