Electrical conductivity and piezo-resistive characteristics of CNT and CNF incorporated cementitious nanocomposites under static and dynamic loading

The present study deals with the conductivity of carbon nano fiber (CNF) or nano tube (CNT) incorporated cement composite under static and dynamic conditions. Since, microstructure of cement matrix changes during hydration process, the influence of the conduction path on the conductive properties of composite is required to be evaluated. Role of the synthesis process using ultrasonication, type of fiber, % of fiber, etc. to develop the piezo sensitive CNT/CNF composite is investigated. The influence of external voltage to overcome the threshold resistance of the nanocomposite matrix is also investigated. Gauge factors of the developed conductive cement based composites are evaluated. Further, dynamic load sensitive CNT cement nanocomposite is developed, using the developed material with consistent piezo-resistive properties, for measuring the acceleration response of the structures. It is found that the cement based nanocomposite sensors as developed in the present study are good candidate for real time health monitoring of structures. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.