Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Experimental investigation for the influence of graphene oxide

on properties of the cement-waste concrete powder composite
Yuwu Sui a,b,⇑, Shu Liu a, Chuping Ou a, Qinlei Liu a, Guanming Meng a
a
School of Materials Science and Engineering of Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
b
Collaborative Innovation Center of Green Building of Shandong Province, Jinan 250101, China

h i g h l i g h t s

The monitoring of the nonmetallic ultrasound detector proves that GO addition can improve the compactness of composite.

GO can tighten the cement-WCP composite crack.

The strengths of mortar with 20% WCP replacement of cement can satisfy the standard requirement with the 0.05% GO addition.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The effects of Graphene oxide (GO) on properties and microstructure of cement-waste concrete powder
Received 2 June 2020 (WCP) composite were investigated experimentally in detail, a nonmetallic ultrasound detection for com-
Received in revised form 23 December 2020 pactness, X-ray diffraction (XRD) detection for mineral composition and scanning electron microscope
Accepted 29 December 2020
(SEM) detection for structure and morphology were put in use. The experiment results represented that
Available online 25 January 2021
the mortar could be compacted and the mechanical strength could be improved under an action of GO
accompanying with the decrease of slump value. Compared to the compressive strengths, the flexural
Keywords:
strengths of mortar and cement-WCP composite were improved furtherly by GO. However, the properties
Graphene oxide
Waste concrete powder
of mortar could be deteriorated when the WCP replacement of cement more than 20%. It was confirmed
Nonmetallic ultrasound detection that the strengths of mortar with 20% WCP replacement of cement and 0.05% GO addition could exceed
Mechanical strength the values of standard. Ultrasonic wave, SEM and XRD detections proved that GO could strengthen the
Compactness composite structure and form a more compact composite.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Concrete, nowadays, as one of the most common building mate-
rials, is employed in a wide variety of applications, ranging from
small-scaled or uncomplicated buildings to large-scaled or compli-
cated construction due to super properties. However, high elastic-
ity modulus and low flexible strength illustrate its deficiency [1],
rebar or fiber is used in concrete to refine the toughness and
enhance the resistance of fragility. Nevertheless, cracks at nanos-
cale still occurs in fiber reinforcing cement composite [2].
Due to resource deficiency and reuse demand of building waste,
WCP is expected to be used in concrete as an admixture. However,
experiments proved that adverse effects on concrete with WCP
occurred. Kim et al. reported that 15% cement replaced by WCP
could reduce about 30% 28-day compressive strength compared
⇑ Corresponding author at: School of Materials Science and Engineering of
Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China.
E-mail address: herrsui@sdjzu.edu.cn (Y. Sui).
to the control mortar [3], and Sui et al. reported that cement with
30% mixing of WCP resulted in 50% decreasing of 28-day compres-
sive strength of mortar [4]. Self-consolidating concrete mixed with
WCP also had bad mechanical strengths and durability [5].
GO is usually obtained by oxidation of graphene with strong
acid, especially, it has hydrophilic active groups, such as hydroxyl
(–OH) and carboxyl (–COOH), which alters the non-hydrophilic
property of Graphene. GO is nano particle and owns two-
dimension structure like a sheet with a large surface area, its thick-
ness is much smaller than its length and width [6–8]. The proper-
ties of the cement-WCP composite with the GO addition may be
refined due to its special structure of GO.
GO can improve the properties of concrete [9], especially has a
good effect on the mechanical property of cement-based materials
[10]. With the addition of 0.022 wt% GO in cement, the compres-
sive strength, flexural strength and toughness and Young’s modu-
lus can be improved over 30% at early days [11]. Compared to the
control mix, the 28-day compressive strength is increased by 10%
in 0.06 wt% of GO in composites, GO is preferable to refine the

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.122229
0950-0618/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Sui, S. Liu, C. Ou et al. Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229

Table 1
Elemental properties of GO.

Purity (wt%) Thickness (nm) Layer diameter (um) Layer amount Surface area (m2/g) S-content (wt%) Appearance
>90 3.4–7.0 10–50 5–10 3000 <5 black

Table 2
Chemical composition and content (M.-%).

Composition CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 SiO2 MgO SO3 R2O Loss

Cement 63.26 9.56 3.58 18.02 3.36 1.41 / 0.81
WCP 42.54 8.92 2.74 19.96 2.42 0.76 2.36 20.30

Fig. 1. Distribution of cement and WCP particles.

Table 3
Physical properties of the materials used in the recipe.

Physical properties Cement WCP Standard sand PC

Density (g/cm3) 3.10 2.88 2.56* 1.11
Specific surface area (m2/kg) 435 800 / /
Average diameter (lm) 5.14 18.00 / /
Usage in mix composite (kg/m3) 311.9–445.5 44.5–133.6 1336.6 0.29
*
Apparent density.

flexural strength of cement composite, the flexural strength can be
increased by 75.7% compared to the control mix in the 0.04 wt% of
GO composite [12].
GO can improve the durability of concrete [9]. Long and
Mohammed et al. reported that the carbonation and freezing-
thawing resistance of the studied cement paste could be enhanced
by GO-containing hydration products [13–15]. Other properties of
cementitious composites also can be affected by GO, such as the
electrical resistivity value can be increased with the incorporation
of GO. The water absorptivity coefficient of 28-day GO composite
can be reduced by 24.8% compared to the control mix [12]. The
thermal conductivity, electrical resistance and sulfuric acid resis-
tance are positively influenced by GO [16]. GO has a noticeable
side-effect on workability [10,17], the value of the slump of con-
crete is decreased with the increasing of the dosage of GO
nanosheets [18–20].
The influences of GO on cementitious composites are variously
explained. One is ‘‘nano and nucleation effects”. Belonging to nano
particle, GO can enhance the cement hydration rate, reduce the
pore volume and densify cement paste [21–24]; the polymeriza-
tion degree of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gels can be
increased due to the nucleation effects [25]. Qureshi et al. reported
micropores (smaller than 10 lm) in GO composites were filled
2
with calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel and crystalline com-
pounds [12]. The other is ‘‘ion diffusion and transport resistance
effects”. Due to the presence of divalent Calcium ions, the ion dif-
fusion process is accelerated [26] and the transportation resistance
is increased under the action of GO-added [13], which accelerates
the cement hydration reactions, increases the compressive
strength and tensile strength of the mortar, reduces the pore vol-
ume and hardens cement properties. The interlocking of GO to dif-
ferent anionic and cationic ions has a good effect on composite
carbonation [14].
GO nanosheets like a formwork can regulate the hydration of
cement [27–29], decrease the fluidity, probably affect the shape
of the cement hydration products [26]. Usage amount, dispersion
state, oxidation degree and particles size of GO are the main effect
factors for concrete [30].
However, controversial results also exist. GO has no other obvi-
ous effect on cement hydration products except the improvement
of mechanical properties and durability of cement composite [30–
32]. Dispersion of GO and influence of GO on the durability, cement
hydration, and material fatigue have not been sufficiently
researched [10,33]. The effects of GO on the recovery of waste
cement are not very well documented [9]. In any case, GO addition
can change the properties of GO-cement composite, while the
Y. Sui, S. Liu, C. Ou et al. Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229

Table 4
Mortar recipe for the experiment.

Sample ID GO WCP Cement Water Sand PC

3 3 3 3 3
(kg/m ) (%) (kg/m ) (%) (kg/m ) (%) (kg/m ) (kg/m ) (kg/m3)
0-0 0 0 0 0 445.5 100 222.2 1336.6 0.29
0-10 44.5 10 401.0 90
0-20 89.1 20 356.4 80
0-30 133.6 30 311.9 70
0.01-0 0.045 0.01 0 0 445.5 100
0.01-10 44.5 10 401.0 90
0.01-20 89.1 20 356.4 80
0.01-30 133.6 30 311.9 70
0.02-0 0.090 0.02 0 0 445.5 100
0.02-10 44.5 10 401.0 90
0.02-20 89.10 20 356.4 80
0.02-30 133.6 30 311.9 70
0.03-0 0.135 0.03 0 0 445.5 100
0.03-10 44.5 10 401.0 90
0.03-20 89.1 20 356.4 80
0.03-30 133.6 30 311.9 70
0.04-0 0.180 0.04 0 0 445.50 100
0.04-10 44.5 10 401.0 90
0.04-20 89.1 20 356.4 80
0.04-30 133.6 30 311.9 70
0.05-0 0.225 0.05 0 0 445.5 100
0.05-10 44.5 10 401.0 90
0.05-20 89.1 20 356.4 80
0.05-30 133.6 30 311.9 70

Fig. 2. Illustration of the compactness measure for specimen by a nonmetallic
ultrasound detector (1–4 vertical direction; 1–2 horizontal direction; F – the
transmitting transducer; S – the receiving transducer).
influence of GO on the properties of cementitious composite with
addition of waste building materials is studied insufficiently,
thereby, this study is expected to enhance the properties of
WCP-cement composite by GO incorporation in order to exten-
sively reuse WCP.
2. Experimental materials, recipe, methods and apparatuses
2.1. Materials
Multilayer GO with elemental properties illustrated in Table 1
in the study was purchased from the Tanfeng company of Suzhou,
China. Properties of GO were measured and represented in the next
section. Portland cement P.O 42.5R and the waste concrete powder
produced by grinding the waste concrete were used in this study.
Chemical compositions of cement and WCP used in this study
were analyzed in Table 2. The waste concrete was comprised of
calcium carbonate aggregate, which led to more CaO in WCP and
more loss contents (CO2 was counted in loss). The particle size dis-
tributions of cement and WCP were illustrated in Fig. 1, obviously,
the WCP particle size is a little coarser than that of cement 42.5.
The polycarboxylate superplasticizer (PC) with 37% water reducing
rate was purchased from Huadi company of Jinan. The standard
sand was utilized for preparation of the specimen mortars.
The elemental physical properties of the materials used in the
recipe were illustrated in Table 3.
2.2. Recipe, main methods and apparatuses
In this study, GO added to mortar according to rates of 0.01%,
0.02%, 0.03%, 0.04% and 0.05% of cement, was dispersed by an ultra-
sonic wave (UW) and water bath (WB) method. In order to study
the properties of mortar with WCP, 10% to 30% of cement in mortar
was replaced by WCP.
In this study, the recipe for measuring the properties of cement-
WCP composite was selected and illustrated in Table 4 according to
Chinese standard GB/T 17671 [34], which is completely consistent
with ISO 679. The compressive strength and flexural strength of

a b
1

2
3

Fig. 3. GO SEM morphology detected by an OXFORD instrument of JSM-7610F (a) and the measurement points for EDS (b).

3
Y. Sui, S. Liu, C. Ou et al. Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229

mortar were determined with 40 mm  40 mm  160 mm cuboid,

which was made of one-part cement by mass, three parts of stan-
dard sand and 0.5 water-cement ratio. The mortar was stirred with
planetary mixer and shaped on the vibrating table with frequency
of 2800–3000 times per minute and amplitude of 0.75 mm in the
temperature of 20 °C ± 2 °C and the relative humidity 50%, the
sample in mold was cured in the curing box with the temperature
of 20 °C ± 1 °C and the relative humidity should not be less than
90%. Out of the mold, the samples were cured in the water with
the temperature of 20 °C ± 1 °C. At the age of test, the specimens
were taken out from water, three specimens were tested for flexu-
ral strength, and six specimens for compressive strength.
In order to study the influence of GO on the properties of
cement-WCP composite, the properties of GO, the slump value,
the mechanical strengths, the compactness, the changes of mineral
composition and structure of cement-WCP composite were mea-
sured, some test methods and instruments were illustrated in the
following sections.
The slump value of mortar was measured according to GB/T
2419 [35], the materials mixed according to the recipe were Fig. 4. GO chemical composition detected by EDS in Point 1.
installed into the test mold by two layers, after being tamped, were
taken out the mold, then were vibrated in the jumping table for 25
times in 25 s ± 1 s. Using a vernier caliper, the diameter of mortar
bottom surface in the mutual perpendicular directions was mea-
sured for 3 times, and the average value was as the fluidity value
of each measurement.
The mechanical strengths of the mortar-WCP composite were
tested by a TYE-300D bending and compression testing machine
Transmittance (%)

made in Tianjin, China. Three mortar cuboids and six half broken
cuboids were measured for the flexural strength and compressive
strength, respectively. The value that deviates from the average
by more than ±10% will be deleted, in case of more than two values,
the measure is invalid. The calculation of the flexural strength and
compressive strength should be accurate to 0.1 MPa according to
Chinese standard GB/T17671.
The influence of GO on the compactness of mortar was gauged
by a nonmetallic ultrasound detector ZBL-U510, which could mea-
sure the uncompacted and void spaces in concrete by the tests of
the ultrasonic time, wave amplitude and main frequency. Accord-
ing to Chinese standard CECS02: 2005 [36], the measure points
were determined by a transmitting transducer (F) and a receiving
Wavenumbers(cm-1)
transducer (S) on the upper and lower planes of the specimen
cured after 28 days and dried in drying box to constant mass Fig. 5. FTIR detection for GO.
(Fig. 2), every item in one point was measured by three times.
Accuracy of sound time measurement is ±0.1 ls, the accuracy of
wave amplitude is 3.9‰. When concrete has an uncompacted or
270
void space, the value of sound time became bigger than others, No WCP addition
nevertheless, wave amplitude and frequency decreased [37,38], 10% WCP addition
250
which were defined as abnormity points.
20% WCP addition
The mineral composition, structure and morphology of mortar-
230 30% WCP addition
Slump (mm)

WCP composite were studied by XRD and SEM, respectively. The

structure of GO was gauged by the Fourier Transform Infrared
210
(FTIR) Spectrometer Bruker Tensor II made in Germany. GO chem-
ical composition was measure by EDS.
190

170
3. Results
150
3.1. Structure characteristics of GO 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
GO addition (%)
The microstructure of GO was gauged by SEM and shown in
Fig. 3(a), the ingredient detection points of GO were marked in Fig. 6. Influence of GO on slump value of the cement-WCP composite.
Fig. 3(b).
The amorphous multi-layers and the wrinkles of GO were
illustrated in Fig. 3(a). Through detection of the three measure- carbon and oxide average values were 71.9% and 26.8%, respec-
ment points, the chemical composition of GO was by EDS, tively, in Fig. 4, it meant that GO had high purity and oxidation
4
Y. Sui, S. Liu, C. Ou et al.
Fig. 7. Influence of GO and WCP on the 3-d, 7-d and 28-d mechanical strengths of composite.
rate. The various function groups were determined in the spec-
tra of the GO samples, typical O–H, C@O and C@C stretching
vibrations were shown at 3234, 1722, 1619 cm1, respectively,
in Fig. 5. C–OH, C–O–C etc. stretching vibrations were also
detected in FTIR test of GO. The groups with oxygen can
improve the hydrophilicity of GO and make it easier to disperse
in water, which means that GO used in this study is reactive
[39,40].
5
Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229
3.2. Slump values of cement-WCP composite with GO
The slump value of mortar was affected by the high specific sur-
face area, rough surface and oxidation groups of GO. With the
increasing of GO addition, the slumps of cement-WCP composite
were decreased, which was represented in Fig. 6, every 0.01% GO
rose, 5–10 mm of slump was reduced. With the 0.05% GO addition,
the slump was 205 mm (Sample ID 005-0), nevertheless, the
Y. Sui, S. Liu, C. Ou et al. Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229

Table 5
Mechanical strengths of mortar-WCP composite compared to standard values.

Sample ID Compressive strength (MPa) Flexural strengths (MPa)

3 days 28 days 3 days 28 days
Standard values due to GB175 [41] 22.0 42.5 4.0 6.5
0-0 22.2 58.7 4.2 7.8
0.03-0 24.7 63.4 5.2 9.4
0-10 24.4 46.3 5.2 7.5
0.05-10 26.5 47.5 6.3 8.5
0-20 20.6 44.1 4.3 6.6
0.05-20 23.5 45.6 6.2 7.9
0-30 13.0 35.4 3.4 6.5
0.05-30 18.5 42.2 3.9 7.2

Table 6
Detection values of the nonmetallic ultrasound detector for the composite compactness.

Mortar without GO Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4

Sound time (ls) 1 19.60 19.60 19.60 19.60
2 20.00 19.60 20.00 20.00
Wave amplitude (dB) 1 103.93 99.44 99.20 100.54
2 92.69 98.18 96.38 84.98
Main frequency (kHz) 1 45.78 45.78 45.17 45.78
2 45.17 45.78 45.17 45.78
Mortar with 0.03% GO Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4
Sound time (ls) 1 19.60 19.60 19.60 19.60
2 19.60 19.60 19.60 19.60
Wave amplitude (dB) 1 97.50 99.35 99.50 100.64
2 100.33 100.01 99.46 96.27
Main frequency (kHz) 1 45.78 45.78 45.78 45.78
2 45.78 45.78 45.78 45.78
Mortar-WCP (10%) composite without GO Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4
Sound time (ls) 1 19.60 20.00 20.00 19.60
2 20.40 20.00 20.40 20.00
Wave amplitude (dB) 1 103.21 95.53 99.48 102.34
2 93.48 97.46 92.22 87.14
Main frequency (kHz) 1 45.17 45.17 45.17 45.17
2 44.56 44.56 45.17 45.17
Mortar-WCP (10%) composite with 0.03% GO Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4
Sound time (ls) 1 20.00 19.60 19.60 19.60
2 19.60 19.60 20.00 19.60
Wave amplitude (dB) 1 98.50 97.35 98.94 100.53
2 99.33 100.01 97.50 96.57
Main frequency (kHz) 1 45.78 45.78 45.78 45.17
2 45.78 45.78 45.17 45.78

composite still had a good slump, furthermore, in the mixing pro-
cess, no bleeding and segregation occurred in mortar.
With the addition of WCP, the slump value of cement-WCP com-
posite was deteriorated due to the high surface area of WCP and GO.
The slumps of mortars were less than 200 mm with the increasing
of GO and WCP additions. The decreases of slumps with 0.05% GO
were 15.6%, 17.7% and 18.2%, respectively, according with the addi-
tion of WCP 0%, 10% and 30%, in addition, the decrease of slump of
mortar-WCP composite had a linear relationship with the increase
of graphene oxide. All slumps of the samples attained to 180 mm
and the cuboids could be normally produced [35].
3.3. Influence of GO on the mechanical strengths of the cement-WCP
composite
Fig. 7 illustrated that GO addition could change mechanical
strengths for the composite with WCP or without WCP. The
mechanical strength was directly depended on the GO addition.
For the composite without WCP, the strengths increased until to
0.03% GO addition, then deceased. 0.03% GO addition could
enhance 3-d, 7-d and 28-d flexural strengths by 23.8%, 12.9% and
6
20.5%, respectively, and correspondingly, by 11.3%, 17.5% and
8.0% for the compressive strength for sample ID 0.03-0.
It was also demonstrated in Fig. 7 that 10% WCP replacement of
cement could heavily enhance the 3-d mechanical strengths of
mortar, while not improve the 7-d and 28-d strengths. GO addition
could improve the mechanical strength of composite with WCP,
more GO addition, higher the strengths of mortar-WCP composite,
e. g. 0.05% GO addition could enhance 19.2% 28-d compressive
strength of mortar with 30% WCP addition. Although the replace-
ment of WCP decreased the strengths compared to the values of
mortar without WCP, the flexural and compressive strengths of
mortar with 20% WCP replacing cement could exceed the standard
values with 0.05% GO addition, which meant it could attain to the
standard requirement in mechanical strength when the cement P.O
42.5R was replaced by 20% WCP (Table 5).
3.4. Effect of GO on the compactness of mortar-WCP composite
By the nonmetallic ultrasound detector ZBL-U510, the compact-
ness was detected with bilateral plane measurement, the sound
time, wave amplitude and main frequency of the ultrasonic wave
Y. Sui, S. Liu, C. Ou et al. Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229

Fig. 8. Uncompacted spaces of composite by detection of the nonmetallic ultrasound detector. (d Mess point; h Sound time abnormality; s Amplitude abnormality;
} Frequency abnormality).

2,000 10 μm 2,000 10 μm
c
(a) Mortar without GO (b) Mortar with 0.03% GO

2,000 10 μm 2,000 10 μm

(c) 10% WCP- mortar without GO (d) 10% WCP- mortar with 0.05% GO
Fig. 9. Structure and morphology of composite detected by SEM.

7
Y. Sui, S. Liu, C. Ou et al.
Fig. 10. Mineral composition of composite detected by XRD. (a) Mortar without GO; (b) Mortar with 0.03% GO; (c) 10% WCP-cement without GO; (d) 10% WCP-cement with
0.05% GO.
for the mortar-WCP composite were gauged, the values were
described in Table 6.
Normally, the sound time, wave amplitude and frequency of
ultrasonic in concrete produced in by the same recipe and curing
condition had no great change. According to the detection results
(Table 6), the abnormal values were illustrated in Fig. 8.
Five abnormity points of the cement-WCP composite without
GO were determined from Fig. 8(c), which meant that the addi-
tion of WCP fairly decreased the compactness of mortar. The
number of abnormity points of the samples with the GO addition
(ID 003-0 and 003-10) in Fig. 8(b and d) were relatively small,
which meant the compactness for mortar and composite was
increased by GO addition and GO could enhance the compactness
of composite.
3.5. Influence of GO on microstructure
The rod-like ettringite (AFt) morphology and massive C-S-H in
sample ID 0-0 were presented in the cement paste without GO
addition, meanwhile, big cracks and loose microstructure existed
in the mortar, the crystals were small and did not intertwine each
other (Fig. 9(a)). In Fig. 9(b), due to addition of GO, more crystals,
e.g. flower-like Calcium sulphoaluminate hydrate (AFm), were gen-
erated, which made the mortar structure denser and higher
mechanical resistance, especially, in flexural strength, furthermore,
which also meant GO could compact the composite structure.
The mortar with WCP seemed not fully hydrate, floc-shape C-S-
H and WCP powder were pasted together, resulting in small num-
ber of ettringite (AFt) rods and big pores. Obviously, WCP weak-
ened the cement hydration (Fig. 9(c)). The hydration degree for
cement-WCP composite was improved by GO addition because lots
8
Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229
of rob-shape ettringites and needle-shape C-S-H crystals were
formed, what is more, they were intertwined to form a reinforced
web structure (Fig. 9(d)), which meant that GO addition could
improve the growth of crystal and strengthen mortar and
mortar-WCP composite structures. Filling and intertwining of
more crystals in crack could improve the properties of cement-
WCP composite, full growth of crystals demonstrated that GO addi-
tion could enhance the rate of cement hydration.
The XRD detection results were presented in Fig. 10.
The hydration can be presented by the calcium hydroxide gen-
erated in cement hydration. In XRD figures, calcium hydroxides
were obviously presented, in addition, many vaterites were found.
Vaterite, one of carbonate, was produced by calcium hydroxide and
carbon dioxide in the hydration process [42], which meant vaterite
could also presented the hydration degree. In Fig. 10, the peak
intensities in 2h = 26° in (b) and (d) were obviously higher than
those in (a) and (c), which meant vaterite crystals were better
developed with the addition of GO.
Gypsum is used in cement as a retarder and reacts with trical-
cium aluminate to generate AFt, when gypsum runs out, the trical-
cium aluminate can continue to react with AFt, resulting in AFm
generation. The residue of gypsum was gauged after the same cur-
ing time, which meant the hydration was insufficient, more cal-
cium hydroxide and vaterite crystals were generated with the
addition of GO in Fig. 10(b and d) than in Fig. 10(a and c) without
GO, furthermore, more gypsums exited in Fig. 10(c) without GO
compared to in Fig. 10(d) with the addition GO, which could
demonstrate that GO addition in cement could accelerate the
cement hydration and enhance the properties of the cement-
WCP composite, while, WCP addition retarded the cement
hydration.
Y. Sui, S. Liu, C. Ou et al.
4. Conclusion
This study focuses on experimental investigation to the influ-
ence of GO on the cement-WCP composite, the slump values,
mechanical strengths, compactness space, microstructure and
mineral composition are detected. The following conclusions are
demonstrated:
(1) The slump of mortar is decreased with the increasing of GO
and WCP addition, the decreases of slumps with 0.05% GO
were 15.6%, 17.7% and 18.2%, respectively, according with
the addition of WCP 0%, 10% and 30%.
(2) GO addition can enhance the flexural and compressive
strengths of cement-WCP composite, GO prominently func-
tions for the improvement of the flexural strength, the flex-
ural strength of cement-WCP composite increases with the
addition of GO from 0.01% to 0.05%. The 10% WCP replace-
ment of cement can improve the 3-d mechanical strength,
however, more than 10% WCP replacement deteriorates
the mechanical strength. However, it can attain to the stan-
dard requirement in mechanical strength when the cement
P.O 42.5R was replaced by 20% WCP with the 0.05% GO
addition.
(3) The monitoring of the nonmetallic ultrasound detector
proves that the control sample has abnormity points, the
addition of WCP makes more porosities in the mortar struc-
ture and more abnormity points are measured. The addition
of GO compacts the structure of mortar or composite, the
abnormity points number obviously decrease, which means
GO can really make the composite structure denser.
(4) SEM detection represents that more crystals in the cracks of
mortar and composite generated with GO addition than in
the mortar and composite without GO. The XRD test results
illustrate that more calcium hydroxides and less gypsum are
gauged in mortar and composite with GO, which means GO
addition can accelerate the cement hydration.
As a whole, GO with nanometer particle level and sheet struc-
ture can enhance the properties of mortar as well as the cement-
WCP composite, which can bring perspective for the application
of the waste concrete powder in concrete.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yuwu Sui: Conceptualization, Methodology. Shu Liu: Visualiza-
tion. Chuping Ou: Investigation, Data curation. Qinlei Liu: Investi-
gation, Data curation, Writing - review & editing. Guanming
Meng: Software.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The Project is sponsored by the Shandong Province
Key R&D Program (Public Welfare) 2019 (Grant Number:
2019GSF109108); The Scientific Research Foundation for the
Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry
(Grant Number: (2013)1792), and the Open fund of Collaborative
Innovation Center of green building of Shandong Province. The
authors also thank to the help from Prof. J.N. Li and Q.B. Tian.
9
Construction and Building Materials 276 (2021) 122229
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