Review of nanocarbon-engineered multifunctional cementitious composites

As structural materials, cementitious materials are quasi-brittle and susceptible to cracking, and have no functional properties. Nanotechnology is introduced into cementitious materials to address these issues. Nano materials, especially nano carbon materials (NCMs) were found to be able to improve/modify the mechanical property, durability and functional properties of cementitious materials due to their excellent intrinsic properties and composite effects. Here, this review focuses on the recent progress of fabrication, properties, and structural applications of high-performance and multifunctional cementitious composites with NCMs including carbon nanofibers, carbon nanotubes and nano graphite platelets. The improvement/modification mechanisms of these NCMs to composites are also discussed. Crown Copyright (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.