Nano-fibrillated cellulose as a green alternative to carbon nanotubes in nano reinforced cement composites

Abstract

In this paper, a study for the availability of utilizing nano cellulose, as an alternative material for carbon nanotube in nano reinforcing of cement based materials was conducted. One of the main disadvantages of carbon nanotube is its high production cost. Nano-fibrillated cellulose is a natural material extracted from cotton fibers can be used as a nano fiber material for the cement paste. The comparison is done through studying the effect of nano-cellulose on the mechanical properties; through compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strength and on the microstructure analysis; through a scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscopy, and x-ray diffraction, and comparing with the results obtained through using carbon nanotube instead. NCL and CNT were added to cement paste with the same ratios; 0.02 wt%, 0.04 wt%, 0-06 wt%, and 0.08 wt%. Results show that the optimum percentage for both NCL and CNT was 0.04 wt%. NCL had shown to be a great alternative to CNT as Nano reinforcement to the cement composites not only to enhance the mechanical strengths but also in enhancing the microstructure of the cement matrix.