| Summary: | Acid treatment is commonly used to improve the dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNT) in a cementitious matrix, but it causes undesired delay on cement hydration kinetics. This work reports a combined CNT functionalization method with H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub>/HNO<sub>3</sub> and Ca(OH)<sub>2</sub> for addition in a cementitious matrix. Results showed that the Ca(OH)<sub>2</sub> exposure neutralized the active sites generated by acid exposure, compensating the delay in hydration. As a result, CNT exposed to H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub>/HNO<sub>3</sub> for 9 h and further Ca(OH)<sub>2</sub> treatment led to equivalent hydration kinetics than un-treated CNT did with improved stability.
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