Incorporating graphene oxide in cement composites: A study of transport properties

• Graphene oxide (GO) addition refines the microstructure of cement paste.
• Transport properties of cement paste are sensitive to the fraction of GO.
• GO addition enhances water sorptivity and chloride penetration values remarkably.

Graphene oxide contains a range of reactive oxygen functional groups enables it as a suitable candidate for reaction in cementitious materials through physical functionalization. This paper aims to investigate the transport characteristics of graphene oxide reinforced cement composites that can be translated to concretes made with similar constituents. Transport characteristics determine the long term durability of concrete structures. Tests such as water sorptivity, chloride penetration and mercury intrusion porosimetry were performed to observe the effect of graphene oxide addition into cement matrix and its transport properties. Graphene oxide was dispersed into cement mortar to produce graphene oxide cement composite using additions of 0.01%, 0.03% and 0.06% by weight of cement. Experimental results indicate that incorporation of very low fraction of graphene oxide (0.01%) can effectively hinder the ingress of chloride ions. Additionally, the sorptivity are significantly enhanced by adding graphene oxide with a moderate fraction of 0.03%. It can be concluded that graphene oxide addition to cement matrix can effectively improve the cement matrix transport properties which subsequently improve its durability.