Mechanical and fracture properties of sugar beetroot-based nanosheets (SNS) doped cementitious composites

Huang, B. and Chi, Y. and Wang, J. and Wang, G. and Ye, J. and Whale, E. and Hepworth, D. and Saafi, M. (2023) Mechanical and fracture properties of sugar beetroot-based nanosheets (SNS) doped cementitious composites. Construction and Building Materials, 409: 133926. ISSN 0950-0618

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Abstract

This paper examines the mechanical and fracture properties of cementitious composites doped with a new type of 2D bio-nanoplatelets sheets, synthesized from sugar beet pulp waste. The sugar beetroot nanosheets (SNS) were added to the cement pastes at different concentrations. The influence of SNS treatment and water-to-cement (w/c) ratio on the performance of the cementitious composites was elucidated. The experimental results showed that 0.2- wt% and 0.35 were the optimal SNS concentration and w/c ratio for increasing the compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strength, flexural modulus, fracture energy and fracture toughness. These properties were enhanced by as much as 12.15%, 36.87%, 39.91%, 32.69%, 69.01% and 49.06%, respectively. This enhancement was due to crack deflection and crack bridging mechanisms in the cementitious composites as a result of the high specific surface area of SNS and the strong chemical and physical bonding of SNS with the hydration phases. The SNS materials offers strong advantages over graphene-based materials on improving the engineering properties of cementitious materials and reducing their cost and CO2 emissions.