Synergistic effect of graphene oxide and hydroxylated graphene on the enhanced properties of cement composites.

Graphene oxide (GO) shows a remarkable reinforcing effect in the application of cement composite engineering while it also harms the workability of fresh cement slurry. Hydroxylated graphene (HO-G) can effectively avoid the severe adverse effects on the fluidity of cement slurry as happened in the case of GO, but the enhancement of the flexural strength of cement composites is not as good as that of GO. As such, considering the advantages and disadvantages of these two nanomaterials in cement-based composite applications, this study investigated the effect of hybrid GO/HO-G with various ratios on the macro-properties and microstructure of cement composites in comparison with that of individual GO and HO-G.