Study On electrical and structure properties of Metakaolin Geopolymer/Carbon Nanofibers (CNFs) Nanocomposite

• Main Author: Saturi Baco
• Format: Research Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sabah 2015
• Subjects: TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/22887/1/Study%20On%20electrical%20and%20structure%20properties%20of.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/22887/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Geopolymer based nanocomposites have received much attention from scientists and researchers due to their superior properties to conventional materials, and it can be produced by incorporating nanosized particle into a standard matrix material. To create a novel nanocomposite, metakaolin-geopolymer reinforced with different percent of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were prepared and characterized by using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The metakaolin geopolymers were produced by mixing the alkaline activator contains of 10M of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and 8M of sodium silicate (Na2Si03) and subsequently reinforced with 1.0% and 2.0%. Samples without CNFs (0.0%) also prepared as a control. The CNFs I Metakaolin Geopolymer based nanocomposites sintered at temperature of 700°C, 800 DC, 900°C and 1000 DC. The conductivities of nanocomposites were found in the range of 2.60x10-5 n-1.cm-1 to 2.91 x1 0-5 n-1.cm-1 and the highest conductivity was at 2.0% of CNFs which sintered at 800°C. Results from XRD showed that nepheline phases formed at temperature of 900°C and 1000 DC. The crystallite size of CNF/metakaolin nanocomposite decreases when the sintering temperature rises from 800-1000°C. FTIR analysis has exhibited strong bands of IR in range of 723 cm-1 to 1010 cm-1 which are ascribed to symmetric stretching of Si-O-Si and Si-O-AI. Based on SEM observation, the carbon nanofibers were not well dispersed within the geopolymer and this is probably due to the agglomeration of CNFs itself.