3-Aminopropyl-Triethoxysilane Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Silane-Based Consolidation Treatments to Increase Mortar Performances

The influence of chemically converted GO (graphene oxide) functionalized with APTES (3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane) and unfunctionalized GO, dispersed in ethanolic solution of TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate), on the performances of the mortar samples, such as capillary water absorption and compressive strength was evaluated. The effect of the GO based nanomaterials (GO and GO functionalized with APTES) on the mortar microstructure was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The multifunctionality of the mortar brushed with GO based nanomaterials consolidation suspension was proved by the results (i) of the mechanical tests which show an improvement of the compressive strength and (ii) the capillary water absorption results which indicate the decreasing of the water penetration speed. For the mortar samples brushed with GO consolidation suspension, an increase value for the compressive strength of approximately twice compared to the untreated control samples and a decreased value for the capillary absorption water coefficient with one order of magnitude in comparison with the untreated control samples were obtained.

Mixture of Graphene Oxide/Phosphoric Acid/Melamine as Coating for Improved Fire Protective Performance and Enhancement of Surface Electrical Properties on Wood Chipboard

Looking for multifunctional materials, an assessment of the performances both as fire retardant and generator of electrically conductive surfaces for a three component mixture of graphene oxide, phosphoric acid and melamine applied on wood chipboard was performed. A simple approach was used to investigate the intumescent char formation and quantify the loss mass during vertical burning tests, in which the prepared samples were exposed for a certain time interval to a flame generated by an ethanol lamp in ambient conditions. Moreover, mass loss evolution and structural changes that occur during the burning process were more comprehensive investigated by differential thermal and thermogravimetric (DTA/TGA) techniques. By comparing the performances between the wood chipboard samples without any coverage and those covered with one or multiple component mixture, an increase of protection against the fire action was noticed when the three component mixture was used. Also, an improvement of the electrical properties was observed, after flame exposure of the samples covered with multiple layers (i.e., two and three), when the three component mixture was used. Morphological and structural investigations by microscopy (optical and electronic-SEMEDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and spectral (Raman, FTIR) methods are described. An assessment of market potential is also discussed.