Study of Rheological Properties of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Ultrafine Cement Grouting Materials

In this study, three different diameters of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) dispersed by polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) were used to reinforce superfine cement grouting materials. The effect of MWCNTs and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) on the rheological properties of grouting material were accordingly studied. It was found that the yield stress (τ0) and plastic viscosity (η) were slightly decreased when PVP content was low and increased when the PVP content increased. The effect of MWCNT diameter on τ0 was not found to be clear but was more significant on η. The smaller MWCNT diameter was, the more quickly η increase. It was also found that the thixotropic ring area was increased as the MWCNTs content increased. The addition of PVP and MWCNTs caused an increase in the number of entanglement points in different scales, which was the main reason for the viscosity and thixotropy increase. Therefore, the rheological properties of superfine cement grouting material should be adjusted when MWCNTs were added as a reinforcing component. Due to the wrapping of PVP on cement particles which isolates the contacting part between the water and the cement particles, it slows down the cement's hydration rate thus slows down the fluidity loss of the slurry.