Preparation and piezoresistivity of carbon nanotube-coated sand reinforced cement mortar

Water and sand were used as the medium of multiwall carbon nanotube (MCNT) and prepared MCNT aqueous suspension and MCNT suspension-coated sand, respectively; afterwards, they were introduced into cement mortar (MNT/CM, MNTSM), respectively. Next, mechanical strengths and piezoresistive properties (DC resistivities (ρ v), AC impedances (Z r)) under cyclic loadings (σ c) of two types of MNT/CM and MNTSM nanocomposites were investigated to explore the intrinsic and self-sensing behaviors. Results reveal that MCNT can be evenly and well-coated on sand, which favors to achieve its intrinsic self-sensing property. Although the fraction changes in ρ v and Z r under the same σ c of MNTSM are both lower than those of MNT/CM, the stress sensitivity of MNTSM is only −1.16%/MPa (DC resistivity), −1.55%/MPa (AC impedance); its sensing linearity and stability (2.53, 2.45%; 2.73, 2.67%) are superior to those of MNT/CM (4.94, 2.57%; 3.78, 2.96%). Piezoresistivity using AC impedance technique is helpful to acquire balanced sensing sensitivity and stability while applied as intrinsic sensors in infrastructure.