Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs) are the next generation advanced material. They have 5,100 and 60 times higher young’s modulus, tensile strength and strain capacity respectively. These excellent physical properties make them attractive for incorporating in cementitious composites. A hindrance associated with use of CNTs in cementitious composites is their dispersion in matrix. CNTs form bundles or agglomerates, firmly stick with each other due to the way they are produced. Due to poor dispersion of CNTs it is impossible to achieve desired characteristics. In this study Gum Arabic was used as surfactant for dispersion of multiwalled CNTs in aqueous solution along with sonication. Base on trials 60 seconds sonication regime was selected.40x40x160 mm mortar prisms were prepared and testes at 3, 7,14 and 28 days. An increase of 10.57 and 20.4% was observed in flexure and compressive strength respectively. SEM images show many single filaments of CNTs. Which is indication of good dispersion. Results of this research will be beneficial for use of MWCNTs in cementitious composites.

1. R. Feynman, “There is plenty of room at the bottom: An invitation to enter a new field of physics,” in Lecture at American Physical Society Meeting, Pasadena, CA, 1959.
2. A. Khitab and M. Tausif Arshad, “Nano construction materials,” Reviews on Advanced Materials
   Science, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 181–189, 2014.
   
3.  M. A. Broekmans and H. Poellmann, Applied Mineralogy of Cement & Concrete. Boston, MA: De Gruyter, 2018.
   
4. E. Worrell, L. Price, and M. Ruth, “Policy modeling for energy efficiency improvement in US industry,” Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 117–143, 2001. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0301-4215(01)00069-6
   
5. A. M. Neville, Properties of concrete. Dehli, India: Pearson Education India, 1963.
   
6. F. Sanchez and K. Sobolev, “Nanotechnology in concrete–a review,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 2060–2071, 2010. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.03.014
   
7. A. Khitab, M. T. Arshad, N. Hussain, K. Tariq, S. A. Ali, S. Kazmi, and M. Munir, “Concrete reinforced with 0.1 vol% of different synthetic fibers,” Life Science Journal, vol. 10, pp. 934–939, 2013.
   
8. P. J. Bartos, “Nanotechnology in construction: A roadmap for development,” in Nanotechnology in Construction 3. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 2009, pp. 15–26.
   
9. K. L. Scrivener and R. J. Kirkpatrick, “Innovation in use and research on cementitious material,” Cement and Concrete Research, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 128–136, 2008. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2007.09.025
   
10.  A. Sobolkina, V. Mechtcherine, V. Khavrus, D. Maier, M. Mende, M. Ritschel, and A. Leonhardt, “Dispersion of carbon nanotubes and its influence on the mechanical properties of the cement matrix,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 34, no. 10, pp. 1104–1113, 2012. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2012.07.008
    
11.  M. S. Konsta-Gdoutos, Z. S. Metaxa, and S. P. Shah, “Highly dispersed carbon nanotube reinforced cement based materials,” Cement and Concrete Research, vol. 40, no. 7, pp. 1052–1059, 2010.
    
12.  J. Makar, J. Margeson, and J. Luh, “Carbon nanotube/cement composites-early results and potential applications,” in Conference on Construction Materials, Vancouver, Canada, 2005.
    
13.  G. Y. Li, P. M. Wang, and X. Zhao, “Mechanical behavior and microstructure of cement composites incorporating surface-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes,” Carbon, vol. 43, no. 6, pp. 1239–1245, 2005. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2004.12.017
    
14. G. Y. Li, P. M. Wang, and X. Zhao, “Pressuresensitive properties and microstructure of carbon nanotube reinforced cement composites,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 29, no. 5,  pp. 377–382, 2007. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2006.12.011
    
15.  Y. Saez de Ibarra, J. J. Gaitero, E. Erkizia, and I. Campillo, “Atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation of cement pastes with nanotube dispersions,” Physica Status Solidi (a), vol. 203, no. 6 pp. 1076–1081, 2006. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.200566166
    
16.  S. Wansom, N. Kidner, L. Woo, and T. Mason, “Ac-impedance response of MWCNTS/cement
    composites,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 509–519, 2006. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2006.01.014
    
17.  A. Cwirzen, K. Habermehl-Cwirzen, and V. Penttala, “Surface decoration of carbon nanotubes
    and mechanical properties of cement/carbon nanotube composites,” Advances in Cement Research, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 65–73, 2008. doi: https://doi.org/10.1680/adcr.2008.20.2.65
    
18.  C. Sanchez, M. Nigen, V. M. Tamayo, T. Doco, P. Williams, C. Amine, and D. Renard, “Acacia
    gum: History of the future,” Food Hydrocolloids, vol. 78, pp. 140–160, 2018. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2017.04.008
    
19.  A. U. Elinwa and M. Umar, “X-ray diffraction and microstructure studies of gum arabic-cement concrete,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 156, pp. 632–638, 2017. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.08.162
    
20.  Z. C., Z. Q., Z. Y., and Z. M., “Thee effect of gum arabic on dispersion of cement paste,” in Proceedings of the 11th International Congress for Applied Mineralogy (ICAM), Cham, Switzerland, 2015.
    
21.  R. Mbugua, R. Wanjala, and J. Ndambuki, “Influence of gum acacia karroo on some mechanical properties of cement mortars and concrete,” International Journal of Civil, Environmental, Structural, Construction and Architectural Engineering, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 1369–1372, 2015.
    
22.  A. U. Elinwa, G. Abdulbasir, and G. Abdulkadir, “Gum arabic as an admixture for cement concrete production,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 176, pp. 201–212, 2018.
    
23.  B. S. Sindu and S. Sasmal, “Properties of carbon nanotube reinforced cement composite synthesized using different types of surfactants,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 155, pp. 389–399, 2017. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.08.059

M. T. Arshad, A. Hanif, A. Khitab, A. Iftikhar, A. Raza, and J. Liaqat “Cementitious composites reinforced with multiwalled carbon nano tubes dispersed in gum Arabic,” International Journal of Technology and Engineering Studies, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 227-232, 2018.