2.2.4. Mortar Mix Design with TX10 Treatment

When TX10 was added as an additive in preparing mortars, it was found that TX10 works as a plasticizer; the workability was greatly improved when Mix Ratio 1 (1:3:0.7) was used. Therefore, the slump test was carried out to determine a new mix ratio for TX10 contained samples. The results show that, when the water/cement ratio was 0.55, the slump test result was 54 mm, similar to that of plain mortar. Therefore, for TX10-treated mortar, the new Mix Ratio 2 of cement:sand:water was 1:3:0.55.

Following Mix Ratio 2, mix designs for TX10 added cement mortars were set. Table 8 shows the experiment groups of mortar with TX10 treatment, and the quantity of each materials. The quantity of TX10 was 2.75 g; as mentioned in Section 2.1.3, the mass of TX10 is 0.15 wt% by the mass of cement. The mixes were named according to: SWCNTXS, where SWCNT represents for the material SWCNT; X stands for the concentration of SWCNTs with 0, 2, 4, and 6 representing 0.00 wt%, 0.02 wt%, 0.04 wt%, and 0.06 wt%, respectively; and S means SAA was mixed. As mentioned above, less water was needed as the concentration of SWCNTs increased.


**Table 8.** Mix design of SWCNT-added mortars with treatment of TX10.

Table 9 shows the experimental mix design of MWCNT-added mortars without treatment of TX10 and the quantities of the materials. It should be noted that, for all mix designs, the quantity of each material was overprepared for the required three cubes and three prisms. As TX10 was 0.15 wt% by the mass of cement, 2.75 g of TX10 was needed for MWCNT-added mortar.


**Table 9.** Mix design of MWCNT-added mortar with treatment of TX10.
