Research Article Open Access Karagöz et al., J Material Sci Eng 2019, 8:2 Short Communication Open Access Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering J o u r n a l o f M a t e r i a l S c i e n c e s & E n g i n e e r i n g ISSN: 2169-0022 Volume 8 • Issue 2 • 1000519 J Material Sci Eng, an open access journal ISSN: 2169-0022 The Electrical Heating Performance of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) Reinforced Mortar Adar Karagöz 1 *, Erman Demircilioğlu 1 and Karademir C 2 1 The Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey 2 Construction Technology, University of Kavram Vocational School, Izmir, Turkey Abstract Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) have been investigated in this research as being an electrical heating material in mortar. This research studies the self-heating of conductive mortar pastes with MWCNT materials by the application of an electric current. The main parameters studied are: percentage of MWCNT materials, electrical resistance, power consumption, increased temperature per minute and maximum temperature rise. Three MWCNT reinforced cement based mixtures and reference mortar were designed. Four samples were cast and cured. Afterwards, tests were run under equal currents and the temperature of the specimens was registered. During this time, temperature increase per minute and maximum temperature rise was calculated. *Corresponding author: Adar Karagöz, The Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey, Tel: +33 665469802; E-mail: adarkaragoz@gmail.com Received April 13, 2019; Accepted April 23, 2019; Published April 30, 2019 Citation: Karagöz A, Demircilioğlu E, Karademir C (2019) The Electrical Heating Performance of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) Reinforced Mortar. J Material Sci Eng 8: 519. Copyright: © 2019 Karagöz A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Self-heating; Multifunctional smart material; Electrical heating; Cement; Multi-wall carbon nanotube Introduction In our big cities, natural gas and electric energy are mostly used for heating purposes. Natural gas has limited reserves. Te installation of a central heating requires a furnace, water pipes and radiators which is labor intensive, costly and time consuming. Besides natural gas and coal, central heating system uses electricity also to pump water. In the life time of the structure, the service, repair costs of central heating are great. In this study, “Electrical heating mortar” will be manufactured to heat buildings. Te basic application of concrete is a structural material. Non-conductive cement, conductive additives (carbon fbers, nanofbers or nanotubes, graphite dust, steel fbers, etc.) are becoming a good electrical conductor [1]. Self-heating cement directly relates to the increase in thermal and electrical conductivity of the composite [1]. Carbonaceous materials have a high thermal conductivity and are highly resistant to corrosion. Tis allows them to make good practices for thermal applications of multifunctional cementitious composites, such as heating buildings or preventing the freezing of highways and airports [2]. Recently, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have demonstrated very good mechanical, thermal and electrical performance. Carbon materials have a high thermal conductivity (but not as much as metal) and are very resistant to wear at the same time. All these properties are desirable in multifunctional cement composites, and as a result, carbon materials are suitable as conductive additives. Te new generations of carbon nano-flaments has excellent mechanical, electrical and thermal properties and are successfully used in polymer matrices [3]. Materials and Methods Cem II 42,5R type cement and the fne aggregate (0-5 mm) were used. In the mixtures, plasticiser and silica fume were used. Pure copper wire mesh was used as electrode. Brass fber was used as conductive additive. Multi-walled carbon nanotube was also used as conductive additive. According to the information given by the producer, MWCNT was manufactured using catalytically carbon vapour deposition method. Characteristic properties of MWCNT are presented in Table 1, as obtained from the producer and SEM image is shown in Figure 1. Property Unit Value Measurement method Average diameter nanometer 9.5 TEM Average length micrometer 1.5 TEM Purity of carbon % 90 TGA Metal oxide % 10 TGA Unit weight g/cm 3 0.2-0.35 HRTEM Surface area m 2 /g 250-300 BET Table 1: Multi-walled carbon nanotube characteristic properties (supplier data). Figure 1: SEM image of MWCNT.