New insight into design of highly ordered calcium silicate hydrate with graphene oxide

Abstract

Calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) is the main hydration product of cement and the most important binder that plays a pivotal role in the mechanical properties of concrete. However, one of the major drawbacks of C–S–H is its high brittleness and low flexural strength due to its disordered structure at the nano- and micro-scales. Therefore, this study adopts graphene oxide (GO) to modify the structure of C–S–H, and investigates the effects of synthetic methods on the structure of C–S–H–GO composites. In this study, the highly ordered C–S–H–GO composite is successfully synthesized and exhibits itself the high toughness. Moreover, the formation mechanism of the highly ordered C–S–H–GO composite is explored and discussed, which provides a new insight into the design of high-toughness cement-based materials.