Title:
Increasing Performance of Limestone Calcined Clay Cements (LC3) Using Graphene
Author(s):
Huang
Publication:
Web Session
Volume:
ws_F24_Huang.pdf
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
DOI:
Date:
11/3/2024
Abstract:
Limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) can reduce carbon emissions up to 50% compared with traditional ordinary Portland cement. While LC3 shows great promise in decoupling concrete production from embodied carbon emissions, durability and mechanical performance is hindered by inconsistent feedstock material composition and the lack of long-term data. Since its discovery in 2004, the carbon nano-material graphene has been thought of as a supermaterial due to its high tensile strength and electrical conductivity. Its inclusion in cementitious composites has led to increases in compressive and flexural strength, which allows for reduced consumption of cement to achieve the same strength properties, lowering the embodied carbon emissions through the use of graphene. To that end, this work investigates how the addition of graphene to LC3 mortars and pastes affects hydration, strength, and durability properties, such as rapid chloride permeability and rapid chloride migration. It was found that the addition of 0.3% by weight of binder of graphene accelerates the hydration, increases the compressive strength, and decreases the permeability compared to a reference LC3 mix. These findings suggest that adding small amounts of graphene to LC3 composites could help overcome the issues presented by inconsistent feedstock material composition by improving the LC3 composite performance.