Experimental Investigation on Chloride Penetration Properties of Cement-based Materials Containing Graphene Nanoplatelets

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), as new candidates for nano-sized additives, are potential to improve the mechanical and durability performance of concrete. On the other hand, GNPs will act as conductive fillers to lower the conductivity of concrete, which may induce corrosion problem due to high ions transportation rate. To grasp which effect plays a key role in ions transportation, rapid chloride penetration experiments were conducted to find the influence of GNPs concentration, including 0%, 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.2% by the amount of cement, on the chloride penetration depth. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) was used to detect the porosity characteristics for understanding the enhancing mechanism. Results show that the chloride penetration depths of mortar specimens decrease as the increasing of GNPs concentrations. The addition of GNPs in mortar can minimize the pores' size and quantity according to MIP analysis, which contributes to better durability on chloride penetration.