Carbonized nano/microparticles for enhanced mechanical properties and electromagnetic interference shielding of cementitious materials

In the present work, carbon nano/microparticles obtained by controlled pyrolysis of peanut (PS) and hazelnut (HS) shells are presented. These materials were characterized by Raman spectroscopy and field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). When added to cement paste, up to 1 wt%, these materials led to an increase of the cement matrix flexural strength and of toughness. Moreover, with respect to plain cement, the total increase in electromagnetic radiation shielding effect when adding 0.5 wt% of PS or HS in cement composites is much higher in comparison to the ones reported in the literature for CNTs used in the same content.