In-situ grown carbon nanotubes on waste glass powder: Resource-efficient preparation and machine-learning based dispersion evaluation

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the strongest candidates as reinforcing and functionalizing materials in civil engineering. However, CNTs have severely limited the application of carbon nanomaterials in civil engineering materials because of high-cost preparation and inhomogeneous dispersion. In this paper, a new method of direct in-situ grown CNTs on the surface of waste glass powder (WGP) by microwave pyrolysis is employed. It can control the particle size and growth of CNTs while effectively improving the CNTs dispersion and saving natural resources. The dispersibility of in-situ grown CNTs and MWCNT in aqueous and cement pore solutions is evaluated based on DLS and improved machine learning and image processing methods. The conductivity as well as the compressive strength of the electrically conductive cementitious materials increases linearly with increasing dispersion. This work facilitates further optimization of CNT-cement nanocomposite dispersion and has great potential for improving WGP utilization efficiency.