Edge-Oxidized Graphene Oxide as Additive in

Fiber-Reinforced Concrete: Effects on

Fresh and Hardened Properties
Mohammad Khawaji 1; Byoung Hooi Cho, Ph.D. 2; Boo Hyun Nam, Ph.D., M.ASCE 3;
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Yousef Alharbi, Ph.D. 4; and Jinwoo An, Ph.D. 5

Abstract: This study experimentally investigates the effects of edge-oxidized graphene oxide (EOGO), which is a low-cost carbon-based
nanomaterial, on fresh and hardened properties of normal portland cement concrete (PCC) and fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC). Interestingly,
adding EOGO to normal concrete mixtures improves the workability of concrete. In this regard, EOGOs as an additive were applied to FRCs
in order to improve FRCs’ low workability without losing mechanical enhancement due to EOGOs. Two fiber types of basalt fiber (BF) and
steel fiber (SF) were used in this study. First, 0.05% of EOGO by the cement weight was mixed in basalt FRC (BFRC) mixture, which is 0.1%
of the BF by the concrete volume. Second, considering the results of BFRC, 0.1% of EOGO was employed in steel FRC (SFRC) mixture with
1.0% of SF by the concrete volume. Testing was aimed at investigating the effects of EOGO on the workability and mechanical strengths of
the FRC mixtures. The test results illustrate that the EOGO improves workability more than 100% in the SFRC mixture but about 20% in
the BFRC mixture. The EOGO provides a slight increase of both compressive and flexural strengths for normal concrete and SFRC mixtures.
In contrast, it was observed that the EOGO increases the flexural strength of SFRC in terms of initial crack generation and range of elastic
behavior. The EOGO-SFRC required more than 30% of energy to reach the initial crack point than the SFRC mixture. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)
MT.1943-5533.0003092. © 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Edge-oxidized graphene oxide (EOGO); Basalt fiber-reinforced concrete (BFRC); Steel fiber reinforced concrete
(SFRC); Workability; Mechanical properties; Flexural behavior.

Introduction in single-walled, double-walled, or multiwalled. CNFs are formed

Over the past decades, several types of nanomaterials, such as
nanosilica (nano-SiO2 ), nano-titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2 ), car-
bon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and graphene
oxide (GO), have been introduced to cement composites for per-
formance enhancement. Particularly, carbon-based nanomaterials
significantly improve mechanical properties of cementitious com-
posites with high Young’s modulus and tensile strength (Ferro et al.
2011; Kim et al. 2016; Lee et al. 2018a; Safiuddin et al. 2014).
They are composed of carbon atoms that connected with C–C
bonds. From a morphological perspective, CNTs could be formed
1
Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil, Environmental, and
Construction Engineering, Univ. of Central Florida, 12800 Pegasus Dr.,
Suite 211, Orlando, FL 32816. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3236
-252X. Email: mkhawaji@knights.ucf.edu
2
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dept. of Civil, Environmental, and
Construction Engineering, Univ. of Central Florida, 12800 Pegasus Dr.,
Suite 211, Orlando, FL 32816 (corresponding author). ORCID: https://
orcid.org/0000-0001-8897-7120. Email: byoungcho@ucf.edu
3
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil, Environmental, and Construction
Engineering, Univ. of Central Florida, 12800 Pegasus Dr., Suite 211,
Orlando, FL 32816. Email: boohyun.nam@ucf.edu
4
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, King Saud Univ.,
P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia. Email: yrharbi@ksu.edu.sa
5
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Engineering, Univ. of Mount Union, 1972
Clark Ave., Alliance, OH 44601. Email: jinwooan@knights.ucf.edu
Note. This manuscript was submitted on April 16, 2019; approved on
August 26, 2019; published online on January 22, 2020. Discussion period
open until June 22, 2020; separate discussions must be submitted for in-
dividual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, © ASCE, ISSN 0899-1561.
in a cylindrical nanostructure, and GO is a single-layered carbon
network with a functionalized oxygen group.
GO has a two-dimensional sheet form that has sp2 -orbital bond-
ing carbon atoms (Lin et al. 2016; Warner et al. 2012). GO has
unique properties like high strength, high toughness, large surface
area, and surface functionalization (Li et al. 2015; Lu et al. 2017;
Wu et al. 2017). The large surface area of GO that has a large
amount of functionalized oxygen groups works as nucleation sites
for the formation of hydration products and regulates and refines
the microstructure of cement hydration products (Lv et al. 2013;
Wang et al. 2017; Zhao et al. 2017). GO plays a role in accelerating
the rate of cement hydration due to its nucleation effect (Li et al.
2017a; Yang et al. 2017) and acts as fibers holding the tensile
stresses that initiated inside the cement paste matrix (Li et al.
2017c), and GO fills and bridges, in nano-scale, the products of
cement hydration (An et al. 2018a). Incorporating GO in low
percentages in cementitious composites have shown improved
mechanical properties of cement paste and mortar where the com-
pressive and flexural strength are improved in ranges of 30%–38%
and 26%–70%, respectively, and the tensile strength is improved as
well up to 40% for cement paste and mortar by incorporating GO in
percentages of 0.03%–0.06% by the cement weight (Al-Muhit et al.
2015; Chuah et al. 2018; Gong et al. 2015; Li et al. 2017c; Lu and
Ouyang 2017; Lv et al. 2014; Mohammed et al. 2016; Mokhtar
et al. 2017; Pan et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2015). Even though adding
GO to the cement composite materials enhances the mechanical
properties, GO reduces the fluidity of cement composite mixtures
in the range of 23%–60% where the GO percentages are in the range
of 0.01%–0.08% by the cement weight because GO has a large sur-
face area that requires more water to become wet. Regarding the

© ASCE 04020028-1 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028

 aspect of workability, it has been believed that GO agglomerates in-
side the cement composite matrix and captures the water, so it causes
a reduction in the free water quantity and in the workability of the
cement composites (An et al. 2018b; Gong et al. 2015; Li et al.
2017b; Lu and Ouyang 2017; Lu et al. 2017; Lv et al. 2016; Pan
et al. 2015; Shang et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2015). While those re-
searches are conducted on the cement paste and mortar mixture, it
has barely performed on cement concrete composites with a coarse
aggregate matrix (Devasena and Karthikeyan 2015; Lu and Ouyang
2017; Mohammed et al. 2017a, b).
Edge-oxidized graphene oxide (EOGO) produced by a new me-
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chanochemical method could achieve cost reduction compared
with the conventional GO produced by the Hummers method
(Garmor 2015). Hummers method passes through three main steps:
oxidation, purification, and exfoliation of graphite, and these proc-
esses produce high manufacturing cost (Zhao et al. 2017). In
contrast, the newly developed mechanochemical method uses a
ball-milling process associated with a non-toxic oxidizing agent
to mill the graphite powder, so few layers of EOGO are produced
as a flake shape. Since this mechanochemical method has a low
cost, EOGO nanoflakes can be expected to incorporate practically,
in a large amount, in the concrete industry. The effects of EOGO on
the fundamental mechanical properties of cement paste and mortar
mixture have been examined to analyze the microstructure and
chemical compositions (Al-Muhit et al. 2015; An et al. 2018a;
Chuah et al. 2018; Gong et al. 2015; Li et al. 2017a, b, c; Lu and
Ouyang 2017; Lv et al. 2013; Mohammed et al. 2016; Mokhtar
et al. 2017; Pan et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2015, 2017; Yang et al.
2017; Zhao et al. 2017). The results of a preliminary study show
that the EOGO improves the workability of the cement concrete;
thus, in the proposed study, the enhanced workability in concrete
due to EOGOs was explored in fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC),
which is a low-workable concrete mixture.
Different kinds of fibers have been commonly used in concrete to
improve the mechanical capabilities of the cementitious materials. It
has widely known that steel fiber (SF) improves the toughness of
cement composites and increases the ductility of the concrete mate-
rials but dramatically reduces the workability (Abbass et al. 2018;
Boulekbache et al. 2016; Lee et al. 2018b; Leone et al. 2018; Li
and Li 2017; Liang and Wu 2018; Mahmod et al. 2018; Yoo
et al. 2017). Basalt fiber (BF), which is a relatively new type of fiber
offering innovative applications in concrete composites, has been re-
ported to improve the concrete mechanical properties, such as com-
pressive, flexural, and tensile strengths, but to significantly reduce
Fig. 1. Production procedure of EOGO nanomaterial. (Reprinted from Composites Part B: Engineering Vol. 173, J. An, B. H. Nam, Y. Alharbi, B. H.
Cho, and M. Khawaji, “Edge-oxidized graphene oxide (EOGO) in cement composites: Cement hydration and microstructure,” 106795, © 2019, with
permission from Elsevier.)
© ASCE 04020028-2
J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028
the fresh concrete workability (Arslan 2016; Branston et al. 2016;
Dong et al. 2017; Jiang et al. 2014; Kizilkanat et al. 2015). Previous
researches recorded that the compressive strength of steel FRC
(SFRC) was enhanced by 24% when 0.75% of hooked-end steel fi-
ber by the total concrete volume was added (Hasan-Nattaj and
Nematzadeh 2017), and the flexural strength of SFRC was improved
more than double the value of normal concrete when 2.5% of cor-
rugated steel fiber by the total concrete volume was added (jun Li
et al. 2017). In addition, adding a small amount of basalt fiber (BF),
0.85% by the cement weight, improves the concrete compressive
strength by 7% (Arslan 2016) while adding the BF in a fraction
of 7.50% by the weight of cement enhances the concrete flexural
strength by 34% (Kizilkanat et al. 2015). However, the workability
of SFRC and basalt FRC (BFRC) have shown reductions for all
cases compared with the normal PCC with possible decreases up to
50% or less (Dong et al. 2017; Hasan-Nattaj and Nematzadeh 2017;
Jiang et al. 2014; jun Li et al. 2017; Kizilkanat et al. 2015).
In this study, the effects of EOGO on FRC (both BFRC and
SFRC) properties were studied. A workability test was performed
to determine the fresh properties of the FRCs. Compressive and
flexural strength tests were performed to measure the mechanical
properties of the FRCs. In the first step, different percentages of
EOGO were mixed in normal PCC. Second, considering the results
of the first step, a selected dosage of EOGO was added into the
basalt fiber-reinforced concrete (BFRC). Finally, the EOGO was
mixed in SFRC mixtures with the consideration of the results of
the first and second steps. In addition, the flexural behavior of
EOGO mixed SFRC was discussed and associated with the first
crack initiation and its ductility.
Experimental Program
Materials
Edge-Oxidized Graphene Oxide
In this study, EOGO was used as an additive in the cement concrete
mixtures. Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of how EOGOs are
produced through the mechanochemical process with ball milling
and non-toxic oxidizing agent (An et al. 2019). In a custom tank
with a capacity of 1.4 L, stainless steel balls of 6 mm diameter and
1 g weight each are employed to mill the graphite into nanoflakes at
a rate of 700 rpm (Blair et al. 2014), and the non-toxic oxidizing
J. Mater. Civ. Eng.
 Table 1. Chemical components and physical properties of EOGO 100
Experimental
Parameter Value
80 High

Percent (%) passing

Carbon (%) 90–95
Low
Oxygen (%) 5–10 60
Surface area (m2 =g) 200–300
Nominal particle size (nm) 500
40
Density (g=cm3 ) ∼1.0

20

agent is added to generate functionalized oxygen group on the pro- 0

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0.01 0.1 1 10
duced graphite nanoflakes (Garmor 2015). This process provides
(a) Particle size (mm)
EOGO nanoflakes consisting of multiple layers of carbon sheets
(e.g., up to ten layers), and reactive functionalized oxygen groups 100
are attached to the periphery of each layer. These physical and
Experimental
chemical characteristics of EOGO nanoflakes were investigated 80 High

Percent (%) passing

in a previous study using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier trans-
form infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy
techniques (An et al. 2019). Via this process, EOGO contains a
lower amount of reactive oxygen than conventional GO nanosheet
produced by a chemical treatment (referred to Hummers method),
which reaches about 30% oxygen (Lv et al. 2013). EOGOs contain
about 5%–10% oxygen, and the remaining non-oxygen composi-
tion is mainly carbon. Table 1 shows the chemical components and
physical properties of EOGO. Fig. 2 shows the images of scanning
electronic microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron micros-
copy (TEM) of the EOGO used in this study. The purpose of
SEM images is to identify the size and morphology of the nano-
material, while TEM images are useful for imaging a sample’s layer
conditions with a significantly higher resolution if they are com-
posed of either a single or multiple ultrathin layers (Lin et al.
2016; Warner et al. 2012). The SEM image of EOGO shown in
Fig. 2(a) clearly identifies the flake shape of EOGO. The nominal
particle size was statistically determined; 90% of the particles have
diameters less than 800 nm, and their nominal size was computed
as 500 nm (Alharbi et al. 2018). The TEM image of EOGO shown
in Fig. 2(b) presents the multilayer condition of the EOGO flake
(An et al. 2019).
Portland Cement Concrete
Ordinary portland cement (OPC) Type I satisfying the requirement
of ASTM C150 (ASTM 2018b) was mixed in the concrete mix-
tures. In the concrete mixture, standard sand and granite were used
as fine aggregate and coarse aggregate, respectively. The fine and
coarse aggregates satisfy the requirement specified in ASTM C33
Low
60
40
20
0
1 10 100
(b) Particle size (mm)
Fig. 3. Gradation curve of aggregates: (a) fine aggregate; and (b) coarse
aggregate.
(ASTM 2018a) standards for concrete aggregates. Figs. 3(a and b)
show the gradation curves of the fine and coarse aggregates used
in this study, respectively. Table 2 summarizes the properties of
those fine and coarse aggregates. All aggregates were oven-dried
at 110°C for 24 h to achieve a dry condition. The oven-drying pro-
cedure follows ASTM C127 (ASTM 2015a) and ASTM C128
(ASTM 2015b) for coarse and fine aggregates, respectively.
Fibers
In this experimental study, two types of fiber were employed, BF
and SF, that have totally different physical properties, such as the
type of raw material, specific gravity, strength, and water absorp-
tion capability, although the concrete containing these two fibers

Fig. 2. Images of EOGO: (a) SEM (reprinted with permission from Alharbi et al. 2018); and (b) TEM (reprinted from Composites Part B:
Engineering Vol. 173, J. An, B. H. Nam, Y. Alharbi, B. H. Cho, and M. Khawaji, “Edge-oxidized graphene oxide (EOGO) in cement composites:
Cement hydration and microstructure,” 106795, © 2019, with permission from Elsevier).

© ASCE 04020028-3 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028

 Table 2. Properties of fine and coarse aggregates
Properties Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate
Specific gravity 2.66 2.69
Absorption (%) 0.52 0.60
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Fig. 4. Fibers used in this study: (a) BFs; and (b) corrugated SFs.
may not be sufficient for predicting the behavior of other types of
FRC. BF with a length of 25 mm and a diameter of 10–22 μm was
used in the BFRC mixtures. The specific gravity was 2.67, and the
water absorption was 11%. In contrast, a SF with corrugated shape
was used in this study to prepare the SFRC mixtures. The corru-
gated SF had a length of 25 mm and an aspect ratio of 43 with a
minimum tensile strength of 345 MPa. The SF meets the physical
property requirements of the ASTM A820 standard [ASTM A820
(ASTM 2011)]. Fig. 4 shows the photos of basalt and SFs, and
Table 3 provides the physical properties of both fibers.
Mix Design and Specimen Preparation
Mix Design
The EOGO was mixed in normal PCC and FRC mixtures to inves-
tigate the effects of EOGO on fresh and hardened properties of
the different types of concrete mixtures. The water to cement
(w/c) ratio of 0.5 was used for all cases, and the proportion of
cement∶sand∶aggregate was 1.0∶2.1∶2.3. The EOGO as a dry pow-
der was manually mixed with the cement prior to the addition of
water. First, a designated amount of EOGO was mixed with 1 kg of
cement in a sealed plastic bag by hand for 20 min. Afterward, the
dried cement-EOGO mixture was remixed with the whole amount
of cement to be used in a concrete batch by scoop for another
20 min. This process occurred 1 day before starting the concrete
mixing. This dry powder mixing method may give more practical
benefit in the construction field when it can be ensured that the
EOGO powder is uniformly distributed in the mixtures. In this re-
gard, one of the previous studies provide indirect information that
Table 3. Physical properties of different fibers used in this study
Length
Fiber type Material (mm)
Basalt fiber (BF) Naturally mined igneous rock 25
Steel fiber (SF) Low carbon steel 25
© ASCE
J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028
the dry EOGO powder was uniformly distributed in cementitious
mixtures. A previous study reported that the dry mixing method has
shown similar performance for both fresh and hardened properties
compared with the water-sonication method, which can confirm
the uniform distribution of EOGO in the cementitious matrix (An
et al. 2018b).
Three different series of concrete mix designs were employed
in this study. First, different amounts of EOGO (0.01%, 0.05%,
and 0.10% by weight of cement) were mixed in concrete. The test
results indicated the EOGO increases the workability of concrete.
The details are discussed in the Results and Discussion Section. The
EOGO was then applied to FRC mixtures to compensate for the re-
duced workability due to the fibers to maintain the high mechanical
performance of concrete. BFRC and SFRC were chosen to verify the
efficiency of EOGO in the concrete workability, and the mechanical
strengths were then measured on those FRC mixtures. Second, the
BFRCs were mixed and tested. For the BFRC mixing group, 0.05%
of EOGO (by the cement weight) and 0.10% of basalt fiber (by the
concrete volume) were designed in accordance with the standards
ACI 211.1, ACI 211.3, ACI 318, and ACI 302 (Kosmatka and
Wilson 2011). The 0.05% of EOGO was selected based on the re-
sults of the first test with the normal PCC mixture. Third, the
SFRCs were then designed based on the testing results of normal
PCC and BFRC. For the SFRC mixing group, four different con-
crete mixes including normal concrete (Control), EOGO-concrete,
SFRC, and EOGO-SFRC were prepared. The selected percentages
of EOGO and SF were 0.1% (by the weight of cement) and 1.0%
(by the concrete volume), respectively. The 0.1% of EOGO was
selected because the study focused more on the enhancement of
workability rather than the improvement o mechanical properties.
Tables 4 and 5 show the actual mix design adopted in this study and
present the percentages of EOGO, basalt fiber, and steel fiber used
in the BFRC and SFRC concrete mixtures, respectively.
Mixing Procedure
Mixing concrete matrixes followed ASTM C192 (ASTM 2016a),
the standard practice for making and curing concrete test specimens
in the laboratory. Coarse and fine aggregates were first placed in a
mixer with a small amount of water to make the aggregates have a
pre-wet condition, and the mixer was started to rotate and cement
that was pre-mixed with EOGO and fibers were added in the mixer.
The mixer was rotated until all components were uniformly distrib-
uted in the mixture by visual inspection. Afterward, water was
placed in the mixer, and the mixture was consecutively mixed
for 3 min followed by 3 min rest. Lastly, the mixture was remixed
for an additional 2 min.
Specimen Preparation
Testing specimens were prepared for slump, compressive, and flexu-
ral strength tests following ASTM C192 (ASTM 2016a). Standard
cylinder (100 × 200 mm) and beam (100 × 100 × 350 mm) speci-
mens were cast to measure the mechanical properties of the hardened
concrete. The concrete cylinder and beam testing specimens satisfy
the requirements of ASTM C39 (ASTM 2016b) and ASTM C78
(ASTM 2018c), respectively. Three (3) samples of each mix ID
for both curing ages of 7 and 28 days were prepared for repetitive
Diameter Aspect Specific Tensile Absorption
(μm) ratio gravity strength (MPa) (%)
10–22 — 2.67 1,100 11
— 43 7.86 ≥345 —
04020028-4 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.
 Table 4. Mix design used in EOGO and basalt fibers concrete mixtures
Mix ID Cement (kg=m3 ) Water (kg=m3 ) Coarse aggregate (kg=m3 ) Fine aggregate (kg=m3 ) EOGO (g=m3 ) BF (kg=m3 )
CONTROL 384.50 192.25 881 800 0.0 0.0
EOGO 384.50 192.25 881 800 192.25 0.0
BFRC 384.50 192.25 881 800 0.0 2.67
EOGO-BFRC 384.50 192.25 881 800 192.25 2.67

Table 5. Mix design used in EOGO and steel fibers concrete mixtures
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Mix ID Cement (kg=m3 ) Water (kg=m3 ) Coarse aggregate (kg=m3 ) Fine aggregate (kg=m3 ) EOGO (g=m3 ) SF (kg=m3 )
CONTROL 384.50 192.25 881 800 0.0 0.0
EOGO 384.50 192.25 881 800 384.50 0.0
SFRC 384.50 192.25 881 800 0.0 78.6
EOGO-SFRC 384.50 192.25 881 800 384.50 78.6

testing. The specimens were demolded after 24 h of casting, and they
were stored and cured in a water bath that had a relative humidity of
100% and a laboratory ambient temperature of 23°C until testing.
The compressive and flexural strength tests were performed at the
ages of 7 and 28 days for all mixtures.
Test Procedure
Workability
A slump cone test was performed to evaluate the effect of EOGO
on the workability of different concrete mixtures according to the
ASTM C143 standard [ASTM C143 (ASTM 2015c)]. Six consecu-
tive slump readings (for each mix ID) were measured from one
batch of the concrete mixture. The mixture materials used for each
slump test were remixed with the rest of the concrete mixture in the
same batch, and the slump tests were consecutively performed six
times using an identical method. The six consecutive slump tests
were finished in 30 min after mixing the mixture, and the speci-
mens for strength tests were cast using the rest of the mixture. This
ensures the quality of the specimens and the consistency between
the materials for the slump test and specimens for the strength test.
By this method, the consecutive slump tests were duplicated and
averaged for three batches for each mix design (CTRL, EOGO,
SFRC, and EOGO-SFRC).
In addition, a compaction factor test [BS 1881 Part 103 (BSI
1983) and ACI 211.3 (Neville and Brooks 1987)] was performed
on the SFRC mixtures to investigate their workability under the
construction environment where the reinforced rebars exist. The
compaction factor tests were conducted after the sixth reading of
the slump test. The compaction factor test apparatus was custom-
ized for this study based on the total energy conservation concept
(equivalent volume of hoppers and dropping height), and the ap-
paratus is shown in Fig. 5(a). Two different cube molds with the
same dimensions (150 × 150 × 150 mm) were used to measure
the compaction factor for two different cases: (1) without rebars
and (2) with double-layered #6 rebars, as shown in Fig. 5(b). The
purpose of using two different cube cases is to evaluate the ability
of fresh concrete to flow through rebars as a simulation of actual
concrete pouring conditions in construction fields.
The compaction factor test is conducted by placing the concrete
to fully fill the upper hopper without artificial compaction. Then,
the gate underneath the upper hopper is opened, so the concrete
naturally moves downward to the lower hopper by only the con-
crete weight. Next, the gate underneath the lower hopper is opened,
and the concrete also drops down only by its weight. Then, the
bottom cube mold is filled by the self-compacted concrete mixture.
The excess of concrete remaining above the level of the top of the
cube mold is cut off without any artificial compaction. The weight
of the bottom cube filled with concrete is recorded as a partially-
compacted concrete weight. Afterward, the bottom cube mold is
fully compacted by a hand vibrator, and the weight of the cube
mold is measured as a fully compacted concrete weight. The com-
paction factor can be computed by Eq. (1). Table 6 could be used to
evaluate the workability of concrete based on the compaction factor
value [BS-1881:Part103 (BSI 1983)]
Compaction factor ¼ ðW p − W e Þ=ðW f − W e Þ ð1Þ
where W p = weight of the cube mold with partially-compacted con-
crete (kg); W f = weight of the cube mold with fully compacted
concrete (kg); and W e = weight of the empty cube mold (kg).
Strength Tests
A universal testing machine (INSTRON-5594-E1-F4-G1) was used
for compressive and flexural strength tests in accordance with
ASTM C39 (ASTM 2016b) and ASTM C78 (ASTM 2018c),
respectively.
Compressive strength tests were performed on the cylinder
specimens cured for both 7 and 28 days. A four-point loading
flexural strength tests were performed on the concrete beam spec-
imens cured for 7 and 28 days, and the modulus of rupture (R) of
the samples was determined by Eq. (2)
R ¼ PL=bd2 ð2Þ
where R = modulus of rupture (MPa); P = maximum applied load
(N); L = span length (mm); b = average width of specimen at frac-
ture (mm); and d = average depth of specimen at fracture (mm).
Results and Discussion
Effects of EOGO on Normal PCC
Workability
Fig. 6 presents the results of the slump test for the EOGO mixed
normal PCC. It shows that the slump value of the concrete increases
as the EOGO content increases. Adding 0.01% of EOGO could
increase the concrete slump 26% compared to the control mixture.
Moreover, adding 0.05% and 0.10% of EOGO improves the con-
crete workability by about 36% and 42%, respectively. This in-
creased slump in concrete due to EOGO is opposite to our previous

© ASCE 04020028-5 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028

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Fig. 5. Schematic of compaction factor apparatus customization: (a) hoppers and bottom cube positions; and (b) different cube cases.

Table 6. Relationship between the compaction factor and the degree of 250
concrete workability [BS-1881 (BSI 1983)] 36% 42%
200 26%
Compaction factor value Degree of workability
Slump (mm)

∼0.78 Very low 150

0.78 ∼ 0.85 Low
0.85 ∼ 0.95 Medium 100
0.95∼ High
50

0
study of EOGO on cement paste and cement mortar (Alharbi et al. CONTROL EOGO-0.01% EOGO-0.05% EOGO-0.10%
2018). More discussion is present in later sections. Mix ID

Compressive and Flexural Strengths
Figs. 7(a and b) show the results of compressive and flexural
strength tests for the EOGO-concrete with 7 and 28 curing days,
respectively. The results show that the EOGO slightly enhances the
compressive strength for both the 7-day and 28-day cured speci-
mens. The improvement by adding the EOGO is clearer in 28 days
than in 7 days. In the 0.1% EOGO mixture, the compressive
strength is improved by about 16% for the 28-day cured specimen,
while 13% of increment is shown for the 7-day cured samples.
However, the relationship between the amount of EOGO and the
compressive strength is not clear in the EOGO-reinforced concrete.
The results of the flexural strength test show a small improvement
by adding the EOGO, particularly for the 28-day flexural strength.
For the 28-day cured sample, the EOGO gives a beneficial effect on
the flexural strength, whereas little enhancement was observed for
Fig. 6. Results of the slump test for EOGO-concrete.
the 7-day cured samples. In this study, the highest flexural strength
is shown at 0.05% of EOGO and a decreasing trend is shown,
exhibiting a 16% increment over the control mixture.
Discussion
Interestingly, the workability of concrete is enhanced by EOGO,
which is the opposite of previous studies that show the workability
of cement paste and mortar decreases with an increasing amount of
EOGO (An et al. 2018b). The only difference between concrete
mixture and cement paste and mortar mixtures is the presence
of coarse aggregate. Therefore, it could be logically assumed that
the coarse aggregate may influence the opposite phenomenon of

© ASCE 04020028-6 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028

 50 200
Compressive strength (MPa) 36%
7-day 28-day 1.14 1.11 1.16
40 150
1.00

Slump (mm)
1.13
30 1.08
1.00 1.08
100
20 20%
50
10

0 0
CONTROL EOGO-0.01% EOGO-0.05% EOGO-0.10% CONTROL EOGO BFRC EOGO-BFRC
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Mix ID
(a) Mix ID
Fig. 8. Slump test results for EOGO-BFRC mixtures.
10
7-day 28-day 1.16
Flexural Strength (MPa)

1.15
8
1.00
6 EOGO-BFRC. It is likely due to the high absorption characteristics
1.00 1.04 1.03
4
2 The compressive and flexural strength tests were conducted on
0 are shown in Figs. 9(a and b). For a given mix design and curing
CONTROL EOGO-0.01% EOGO-0.05%
(b) Mix ID
Fig. 7. Mechanical strength for EOGO-concrete with normalized
values: (a) compressive strength for 7 and 28 days; and (b) flexural
strength for 7 and 28 days.
the workability of the EOGO-concrete mixture compared with
paste and mortar mixtures. In this regard, it seems that EOGOs
are primarily positioned between coarse aggregates and other parts
of the cement mixture. A possible assumption is that EOGO re-
duces friction or adhesion between the coarse aggregates and ag-
glomerated cement mortar by coating the coarse aggregates. This
may result in a relatively smooth movement of the coarse aggre-
gates within the fresh EOGO-concrete mixture, exhibiting a more
flowable behavior than a normal PCC mixture. This observation of
the EOGO-concrete is also in contrast to the workability results that
GOs reduce the workability of the cement paste and mortar mixture
without coarse aggregate (An et al. 2018b; Lee et al. 2018a). The
testing results indicate that EOGOs produce minor improvement of
mechanical strength. Although it has been reported that GOs and
EOGOs improve the mechanical properties in cement paste and
mortar mixtures due to bridging and filling effects (An et al. 2018a;
Li et al. 2017c), the EOGO seems not highly effective in concrete
mixtures. The possible reason might be the presence of a coarse
aggregate that results in a more heterogeneous matrix. Despite
overall enhancement in the workability and strength of the EOGO-
concrete, adding 0.1% of EOGO caused a slight decrease in flexu-
ral strength. Based on the testing results of the EOGO-concrete,
adding 0.05% of EOGO was recommended for the BFRC mix
design because 0.05% of EOGO provides the best performance
considering both workability and strength aspects.
Effects of EOGO on BFRC
1.04 illustrating about a 20% increase of the workability at 0.05% of
1.03 of BFRC in the concrete mixture.
Compressive and Flexural Strength
the EOGO-BFRC with the curing of 7 and 28 days. The test results
EOGO-0.10% conditions, the BFRC and EOGO-BFRC show similar or lower
strength levels for both compressive and flexural strength for the
7-day and 28-day cured specimens, whereas EOGO slightly im-
proves the strengths of normal PCC. In particular, it is interesting
to note that the EOGO-BFRC illustrates even lower compressive
strength than the BFRC. In this aspect, the interaction between
EOGO and BF seems not to positively affect strength.
Discussion
Unlike the EOGO-concrete, adding EOGO in the BFRC mixtures
does not significantly improve the performance of BFRC. This may
be attributed to the high absorption capacity of BFs (11%). The
absorption capacity of a typical granite coarse aggregate used in
this study is 0.6%. This high absorption of BF may absorb the
EOGO with water and limits the dispersion of EOGO inside the
BFRC mixtures. Therefore, the EOGO may not work properly
for the BFRC mixtures. Moreover, although all aggregates were
first mixed with BF followed by cement with EOGO, and well
dispersion of BF in the dry mixture was confirmed, it was some-
what observed that the BF strands were clumped, known as balling
of fibers, by adding and mixing the water. It has been reported that
BF is more susceptible to the balling effect than other types of fiber
like SF (Iyer 2014) and thus, it may negatively influence on the
mechanical properties of concrete mixtures (Branston et al. 2016).
Based on the fresh and hardened properties of BFRC mixtures, the
actual benefit of adding EOGO in BFRC is quite limited. For the
next step, therefore, a steel fiber with zero water absorption was
selected, and the effects of EOGO on SFRC mixtures are investi-
gated in aspects of the fresh and hardened properties. The results of
the prior two testing tasks indicate that EOGOs mainly contribute
to concrete’s workability but not mechanical properties. Therefore,
in the SFRC design, 0.10% of EOGO was selected to maximize the
workability enhancement benefit of EOGO in the SFRC mixtures.
In addition, sufficient enhancement of mechanical properties can be
contributed by SFs in the mixture.

Workability Effects of EOGO on SFRC

The result of the slump test for the EOGO-BFRC is shown in Fig. 8.
As seen in Fig. 8, the effect of EOGO in the workability of normal
PCC was clear, exhibiting a 36% increase by 0.05% of EOGO com-
pared with the control mixture. In contrast, the EOGO shows less
increase of the workability of BFRC mixture than the normal PCC,
Workability
The slump tests were performed and compared on the four different
concrete mixtures (control, EOGO, SFRC, and EOGO-SFRC) to
identify the effect of EOGO on low-workable concrete mixtures.

© ASCE 04020028-7 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028

 60 200
Compressive strength (MPa) 7-day 28-day 1.10 1.13 CONTROL EOGO
1.11
50
1.00 SFRC EOGO-SFRC
150
1.23
40

Slump (mm)
1.13 1.15
1.00
30 100

20
50
10

0 0
CONTROL EOGO BFRC EOGO-BFRC 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
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(a) Mix ID Elapsed Time (min.)

8
7-day 28-day 1.11 Fig. 11. Consecutive slump readings for different concrete mixtures.
1.09 1.11
Flexural strength (MPa)

1.00 1.00 1.06 1.09 1.05

6

4 Table 7. Compaction factor results of EOGO-SFRC mixtures

Bottom cube
2
Mix ID Without rebars (%) Longitudinal rebars (%)
CONTROL 94.8 83.9
0 EOGO 98.1 88.1
CONTROL EOGO BFRC EOGO-BFRC
(b) Mix ID SFRC 90.8 70.1
EOGO-SFRC 91.5 65.9
Fig. 9. Mechanical strength test results of 7 and 28 curing days for
EOGO-BFRC: (a) compressive strength for 7 and 28 days; and (b) flex-
ural strength for 7 and 28 days. repeated experiments. The results show that the slump readings
slowly decreased for the EOGO mixed SFRC mixture than other
types of concrete. Previous research has shown that slump values
are highly affected by water evaporation, cement hydration process,
150 and aggregate absorption of the concrete mixture during the mixing
42%
and delivering process (Alhozaimy 2009). In this respect, it could be
assumed that the simultaneous presence of EOGO and SF might
100 60% have a greater effect on the workability of the concrete mixture than
Slump (mm)

103% only the existence of EOGO.

50
0 rebars for the SFRC mixture. In this experiment, the compaction
CONTROL
Fig. 10. Slump test results of EOGO-SFRC.
The test results presented in Fig. 10 clearly show that the EOGO
dramatically improves the slump values for both normal concrete
and SFRC. Regarding the EOGO-SFRC mixtures, EOGO enhances
almost the same amount of the slump by an absolute value of 40 mm
for the control and SFRC mixtures in this study. These are 42% and
103% increments of the slump value by ratio for the control and
SFRC mixtures, respectively. Although 1.00% of steel fiber de-
creases the workability of concrete by 60% compared to the control
mixture, 0.10% of EOGO by weight of cement considerably recov-
ers the workability of SFRC mixture.
The slump tests were repeated consecutively six (6) times for
30 min after mixing all the concrete mixtures, the change of the
slump values with time is presented in Fig. 11. The slump reading
decreases as time passes, which is expected for all mixtures. About a
10-mm drop of the slump value was observed for the EOGO-SFRC
mixture during the testing time, whereas more than 30-mm decre-
ments were measured during the testing for the control, EOGO-
concrete, and SFRC mixtures. These trends were observed in
For further investigation of concrete workability, the compac-
tion factor test was conducted, and the results are summarized
in Table 7. The results indicate that the EOGO enhances the con-
crete workability except for the case of double-layered longitudinal
EOGO SFRC EOGO-SFRC factor test method was modified by considering 25 mm SFs and
Mix ID
double-layered #6 rebars simultaneously, although it was originally
designed for normal cement concrete without rebars. These size var-
iables may seem to affect the results for the case of the longitudinal
rebar placed SFRC mixture. Nonetheless, all other cases show con-
sistent results that EOGO can help to enhance the flowability of the
concrete mixtures. Therefore, EOGO has meaningful potential for
applications in the construction field because EOGO improves the
workability in low fluidity, concrete-like SFRC mixtures.
Compressive and Flexural Strength
The results of compressive and flexural strength tests are presented
in Fig. 12. Fig. 12(a) shows the compressive strength of the four
(4) mixtures for both 7-day and 28-day cured samples. Although
about 30% enhancement of compressive strength was measured by
adding EOGO in the 7-day cured SFRC mixture, almost the same
level of compressive strength was recorded for the 28-day cured
specimens. Previous research has shown that EOGO can motivate
accelerating a rate of cement hydration process due to reactive oxy-
gen groups around the EOGO. The functionalized oxygen group
could trigger forming calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) gel in the
cement composites. It is defined as the nucleation effect of EOGO,
and this may contribute to the enhanced early strength of the

© ASCE 04020028-8 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028

 50 25
Compressive Strength (MPa) 7-day 28-day 1.19 1.21 CONTROL EOGO
1.09 1.58
40 1.00 20 SFRC EOGO-SFRC

1.22
30

Load (kN)
1.09 15
1.00
20
10
L/600
10
5
0 L/150
CONTROL EOGO SFRC EOGO-SFRC 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
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(a) Mix ID
Displacement (mm)
8
7-day 28-day 1.38 Fig. 13. Load-displacement curves for four different concrete mixes.
Flexural Strength (MPa)

1.39
1.32 1.22
6
1.00 1.05
1.00 1.00
4 Table 8. Energy-absorption related parameters derived from the flexural
load-deflection curve
2 Mixture
Parameter SFRC EOGO-SFRC
0
CONTROL EOGO SFRC EOGO-SFRC P1 (d1 ) 16.91 (0.083) 20.69 (0.101)
(b) Mix ID PP (dP ) 18.66 (0.491) 20.69 (0.101)
TD
d1 0.76 1.00
Fig. 12. Mechanical strength test results of 7 and 28 curing days
PD
600 18.58 18.80
for EOGO-SFRC: (a) compressive strength for 7 and 28 days; and
TD
600 8.16 9.21
(b) flexural strength for 7 and 28 days.
PD
150 14.58 7.41
TD
150 34.80 28.29

cementitious matrix (Li et al. 2017a; Yang et al. 2017). In the SFRC
mixture, the initially hydrated cement component by the nucleation
effect of EOGO helped to increase the compressive strength of the
mixture with steel fiber at an early age. However, the results doe not
show that the EOGO can improve compressive strength in terms of
long-term performance from the experimental results. The flexural
strength test results of the four different mix designs are plotted in
Fig. 12(b). The results show a trend that the EOGO slightly enhan-
ces the flexural strength of SFRC in comparison with the normal
concrete. About 13% enhancement of the flexural strength of SFRC
was recorded by mixing with EOGO for 28-day cured specimens.
Flexural Behavior of EOGO-SFRC
The effect of EOGO in the flexural behavior of concrete was
further investigated based on the load-displacement curves of
the four (4) mixtures (Fig. 13). Distinguishable behaviors are
observed in the EOGO-SFRC mixture associated with ductility
and/or brittleness, while these behaviors are hardly identified in the
EOGO-concrete. The load-displacement curve of the EOGO-SFRC
specimen shows one peak at a maximum loading point, whereas
multiple peaks are shown in the curve of the SFRC specimen that
is well known (Abbass et al. 2018; Hu et al. 2018; Lim et al. 2018;
Yoo et al. 2015). The single peak trend on the curve could be lim-
ited since the EOGO of only 0.1% was adopted in this experiment,
and there are possibilities to change the trend in accordance with
different amounts of EOGO. Nonetheless, the trend could be iden-
tified that the roof of the EOGO-SFRC curve almost covers the top
of the SFRC curve. This infers that the EOGO-SFRC could absorb
more energy during the loading stage and extend the elastic range
in the mixture. The flexural tests were repeatedly performed with
three (3) samples per mixture ID, and an identical trend was ob-
served in all cases. The peaks of the load-displacement curves
are highly correlated with cracks generation and their propagation.
The presence of multiple peaks in the SFRC indicates that the steel
fibers transfer and redistribute flexural stress after initial cracking in
the concrete, and this process is repeated until failure of the speci-
men (jun Li et al. 2017). In the EOGO-SFRC, however, this
multiple-peak phenomenon is not clearly observed in that only a
single peak is recorded (Fig. 13). This difference could be due
to the presence of EOGO in the mixture.
The flexural performance of the SFRC and EOGO-SFRC
mixtures were further investigated using the energy-absorption re-
lated parameters derived from the load-deflection curve (shown in
Fig. 13) in accordance with ASTM C1609 (ASTM 2005). Toughness
was determined by calculating the area under the load-deflection
curve. Table 8 summarizes the parameters related to the energy-
absorption capacity of SFRC and EOGO-SFRC, and the parameters
are P1 = first-peak load (kN); d1 = deflection at first-peak load (mm);
PP = Peak load (kN); dP = deflection at peak load (mm); T D d1 = area
under the load-deflection curve 0 to d1 (J); PD 600 = residual load at
deflection of L=600 (kN); T D 600 = area under the load-deflection
curve 0 to L=600 (J); PD 150 = residual load at deflection of L=150
(kN); T D150 = area under the load-deflection curve 0 to L=150 (J);
and L = span length (mm).
The capability of energy absorption in the range of elastic
behavior (T D d1 ) improved by more than 30% by EOGOs in the
SFRC mixture. EOGO-SFRC also shows about 13% higher tough-
ness value than SFRC at the deflection of 0.5 mm (¼ L=600).
However, the results show that the absorbed energy is rapidly dis-
sipated in EOGO-SFRC than SFRC after the deflection of L=600.
It could be postulated that the rapid energy dissipation of EOGO-
SFRC is related to the fact that more energy was absorbed in
EOGO-SFRC than in the SFRC composite. As more energy is
stored, more energy should be dissipated, which could be expressed
by a phenomenon in which the energy dissipates rapidly at a thresh-
old value of displacement. In this respect, it could be presumed that
there is a combination effect of EOGO and SF to play a pivotal role
in preventing and delaying initial cracks in the mixture, resulting in

© ASCE 04020028-9 J. Mater. Civ. Eng.

J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028

 storing more energy. Finally, at the deflection of L=150, SFRC
presents a higher residual load (PD D
150 ) and toughness (T 150 ) than
EOGO-SFRC.
Discussion
Discussions are presented with respect to the three performance
criteria of workability, mechanical strength, and flexural behavior.
First, regarding the workability, the effect of EOGO is more sig-
nificant in the SFRC than normal PCC. It could be assumed that
EOGOs interact at the interface between the coarse aggregate and
cement matrix and between the SFs and cement matrix. The mobil-
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ity of the cement paste at those interfaces seems increased by the
presence of EOGO, thus resulting in improved workability. Second,
a slight improvement of flexural strength was observed for 28-day
cured EOGO-SFRC samples. However, it is barely recognized that
EOGOs significantly improve the overall mechanical properties of
concrete mixtures for both normal PCC and SFRC. Conventional
GO nanosheets show beneficial effects on the mechanical strength
of cement paste and mortar mixtures alone not for concrete
(Al-Muhit et al. 2015; Chuah et al. 2018; Gong et al. 2015; Li et al.
2017b; Lu and Ouyang 2017; Lv et al. 2014; Mohammed et al.
2016; Mokhtar et al. 2017; Pan et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2015).
One of the reasons can be the decreased concentration of function-
alized oxygen groups in EOGO (5%–10%) compared with conven-
tional GOs (30%) by the Hummers method. It is reported that
oxygen groups promote the process of cement hydration (Li et al.
2017a; Yang et al. 2017). However, the interaction at those inter-
faces of GO and other ingredients can be a critical factor in strength
development. Lastly, the enhanced resistance of crack generation
and propagation by EOGOs is an encouraging finding because
the benefit of GOs can be extended to FRC. EOGOs are beneficial
in the SFRC with two mechanisms: (1) to delay the initiation of
cracks, resulting in the extended range of elastic behavior and
(2) to resist slippage of SF from the concrete matrix, increasing the
maximum loading of the EOGO-SFRC. According to the results of
the tests, the EOGO contributes to the flexural behavior of concrete
composites, particularly in the range of elastic behavior and in the
range of small deflection after the first crack of the specimen.
The existing study focused on the effect of EOGO in normal
PCC and FRCs but with a limited scope to workability, strength,
and flexural behavior. Broader characterizations of EOGO-
reinforced concretes such as durability and long-term performance
are necessary. In addition, further investigation is necessary in the
areas of absorption and surface (e.g., area, charge, and texture)
characteristics of ingredients (e.g., cement, sand, coarse aggregate,
admixtures) in the concrete mixture. The mechanism of enhanced
crack resistance can be further investigated in the scales of nano-
structure or microstructure of the SFRC matrix.
Conclusions
This paper presents the effects of EOGO, which is a low-cost
carbon-based nanomaterial on different types of concrete: normal
PCC, BFRC, and SFRC. The concrete mixtures were tested and
analyzed with the various performance criteria of workability, com-
pressive and flexural strengths, and flexural behavior (only for
SFRC). The following conclusions are drawn.
• Adding a small amount of EOGO in the concrete mixture sig-
nificantly increases the workability of the concrete as opposed
to the effects on cement paste and mortar. Adding 0.01%–0.10%
of EOGO by the weight of cement improves the workability of
the normal PCC by 26%–42%, respectively.
• 0.1% EOGO provides about 16% improvement of compressive
strength on the normal PCC mixtures. However, for the flexural
© ASCE 04020028-10
J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2020, 32(4): 04020028
strength, 0.05% EOGO shows the best performance of about an
increase of 16%; afterward, the effect of EOGO then decreases.
• For the BFRC mixture, the effects of EOGO could not be sig-
nificantly observed on both fresh and hardened properties. This
might be because of the high-water absorption ratio of BFs and
its balling effect inside the concrete matrix.
• For the SFRC mixture, the workability is significantly enhanced
by more than 100% by mixing 0.10% of EOGO by weight of
cement, and it was observed that EOGO delays the slump loss of
EOGO-SFRC mixture compared with SFRC.
• Although a minor improvement of flexural strength was re-
corded for 28-day cured EOGO-SFRC samples than SFRC,
it could be hardly concluded that EOGO provides beneficial
effects for the mechanical strengths of SFRC mixture.
• EOGO-SFRC exhibits a 30% higher energy-absorption capabil-
ity in the range of elastic behavior under the flexural loading
condition than the SFRC matrix. This can infer that EOGO
plays a role in delaying the initial crack generation and propa-
gation in the nanostructure or microstructure in the SFRC
matrix.
In conclusion, the beneficial effects of EOGO on the concept of
workability for different types of concrete mixtures are clearly
identified in this study, and this is quite the opposite phenomenon
onto cement paste or mortar composites. However, the advantage of
EOGO on mechanical properties are still controversial and need
more verification. Nevertheless, considering EOGO’s economic
competitiveness, it seems to have an important potential as an
additive to improve the workability of cement concrete or low-
workable concrete mixtures in the construction industry.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the
study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge Garmor, Inc. for their supply
of EOGO to this research.
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