# Experimental Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Clay-Cement Slurry Containing Graphene Oxide
## 4 Conclusions  
The purpose of this study was to utilize industrial-grade oxidized graphene as an additive in clay-cement slurry materials for reinforcing bound gravel and developing a high-quality engineering injection material to ensure the stability of underground structures. The main conclusions drawn from the research are as follows:  
1. The addition of just 0.08 wt% of industrial-grade oxidized graphene to reinforce fragmented gravel can increase the uniaxial compressive strength by 7.2% to 32.5% compared with traditional clay-cement slurries. This trend is observed across different mixing ratios. Increasing the content of oxidized graphene leads to higher uniaxial compressive and shear strengths, reaching a maximum near a 0.03% growth rate. Plastic strength slightly increases with the rise in oxidized graphene content within 12 h, but after 14 h, plastic strength is significantly enhanced. Industrial-grade oxidized graphene demonstrates a substantial effect on improving the mechanical properties of low-strength bound gravel, thus ensuring the safety of injection reinforcement.
2. Through orthogonal experiments, range analysis, variance analysis, and multiple regression analysis, it was determined that there is a strong correlation between the injection reinforcement body and three factors: OPC content, oxidized graphene (GO) content, and geological conditions. Among these factors, OPC content has the most significant impact on the permeability coefficient of the injection reinforcement body, followed by GO content, while geological conditions have the least influence. Industrial-grade oxidized graphene enhances the anti-seepage performance of the injection reinforcement body, contributes to early strength improvements, and ensures structural stability.
3. SEM image characterization of the fractured surface further validates that the addition of oxidized graphene stimulates the formation of large-volume clay-cement particle aggregates, resulting in a dense aggregate skeleton, a mesh-like structure filled with clay particles, and a compact mineral structure. The GO-5 reinforcement exhibits advantages such as rational mineral composition, compact structure, and high interface bond strength compared with the GO-0 reinforcement. It guarantees excellent mechanical properties and long-term stability in water-rich environments. Calculation of the fractal box dimension shows that incorporating oxidized graphene into cement-based bonded materials can reduce the fractal box dimension of the fractured surface by 3% to 5%, confirming its role in enhancing the load-bearing capacity of specimens.  
[PERSON] proposed the idea and designed the scheme; [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] assisted with the experimental operation; [PERSON] analyzed the data; [PERSON] wrote and submitted the paper; [PERSON] and [PERSON] provided funding support; [PERSON] and [PERSON] reviewed and edited the paper. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51804157) and the Bingtuan Financial Science and Technology Project (Grant No. 20237189), which are all gratefully acknowledged.  
Not applicable.  
The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.