Comparison of thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity of carbon-based cementitious composites

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to produce the multifunctional cementitious composites with advanced thermal and electrical performance considering that these composites having high conductivity serve for the purpose of de-icing, electromagnetic shielding, anti-static, anti-corrosion, and so on. Carbon fiber (CF), and carbon powder (CP) were used singly or together to develop cementitious composites having high conductivity. The electrical resistance and thermal conductivity tests were performed to measure the conductivity of the cementitious composites. While mini-spreading test was applied to assess the consistency of the fresh-state cementitious composites containing conductive materials, in order to determine the distribution of the conductive material incorporated, SEM images were analyzed. In addition, compressive strength tests were carried out to determine the mechanical properties. According to the test results, the highest electrical conductivity result (197 Ω on the 1 st day) were obtained from the binary mixtures, while the highest thermal conductivity result (1250 mW/m.K on the 7 st day) were obtained from the mixtures containing only CP (by volume %0.6). 0.5% carbon fiber by volume mixture performed the worst in terms of mechanical and workability, with 20.5 MPa lower compressive strength and 16 cm lower mini-spread diameter values when compared to the control mixture.