Effect of carbon nanotubes on compressive, flexural and tensile strengths of Portland cement-based materials: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are materials with excellent properties. However, when incorporated into cement-based materials, improvements in mechanical properties cannot always be guaranteed owing to their difficult dispersion and low interfacial interaction with the matrix. A systematic literature review was conducted to elucidate the influence of CNTs on compressive, flexural and tensile strengths of cement-based materials. The incorporation of CNTs increased compressive strength by up to 30% and flexural and tensile strengths by up to 50%. Furthermore, the optimal CNT content to achieve these improvements is up to 0.1% by weight of cement (BWOC).