Development of conductive cementitious materials using recycled carbon fibres

Conductive cementitious materials have gained immense attention in recent years owing to the possibility of achieving multifunctional materials. The usual approach has been to incorporate carbonaceous nanomaterials and/or virgin carbon fibres into cementitious matrices. This paper presents the first research devoted to the development of conductive cementitious materials using recycled carbon fibres (rCFs). Four different types of PAN-based rCFs were studied, by varying the aspect ratio and supplying characteristics, in two concrete dosages: conventional and ultra-high-performance concrete mixes. Two mixing methods-dry and wet-commonly used to fabricate fibre-reinforced concrete were considered. The results obtained in our result have shown that wet mix method achieves better workability of the mixes and good dispersion of the fibres. Furthermore, electrical resistivity values in the range of 3-0.6 Ω m were obtained for rCF contents ranging from 0.2 to 0.8% in vol. The obtained results demonstrate the possibility of using rCF to develop multifunctional cementitious materials and thus enhance the possibility of using these materials from an industrial point of view. Furthermore, new possibilities are created for the recycling of carbon fibre composites to obtain high-added-value products.