Preparation of thermally stable cementitious mortar incorporating multiwall carbon Nano- tube and carbon waste from aluminium production industry

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to carry out a comparative investigation into the performance of multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and carbon wastes that are derived from the production of aluminum in the creation of thermally stable cementitious mortar. In Egypt, carbon waste is produced as a by-product of the aluminum industry and it is identified by its nano-scale dimensions. The cement mortar is produced by using a combination of blended cement (CEMIII) and sand that passes through a 1 mm sieve, with different ratios of both MWCNT and C-waste ranging from 0.1% to 0.7%. The addition of MWCNT and c-waste leads to an enhancement in compressive strength values up to 0.1%, resulting in values of approximately 70MPa and 75 MPa at 90 days, respectively. The findings validate the superior physical and mechanical properties of c-waste as compared to MWCNT, in addition to its lower production cost in comparison to precious MWCNT. The cement mortar demonstrates increased resistance to high temperatures when exposed to firing temperatures up to 700 degrees, achieving measurements of about 60 MPa and 63 MPa for MWCNT and carbon waste, respectively. The results also confirm the higher thermal stability of carbon waste when compared to MWCNT, despite both exceeding the limits specified for thermal resistance in mortar, which is 60 MPa.