Applications of Nano Technology in Civil Engineering: A Review

Nanotechnology For Concrete Improvements

Concrete is the most abundantly used construction material around the globe (Mehta & Monteiro, 2006; Rizwan, Ahmad, & Bier, 2012). Concrete is produced by mixing natural or artificial aggregates of various sizes i.e. fine and coarse with cement and water. Among all above ingredients, cement is the most costly, energy intensive and environmentally unsafe product. As an estimate, only cement industry produces about 5.0% of anthropogenic CO₂ in the atmosphere (Ferro, Ahmad, Khushnood, Restuccia, & Tulliani, 2014; Worrell, Price, Martin, Hendriks, & Meida, 2001). Therefore, in the construction industry, researchers have been investigating the new ways and technologies for improving the mechanical efficiency and serviceability of the concrete structures. The performance improvements achieved in the concrete performance by incorporating nano-technological advancements can be broadly classified as; (i) the incorporation of nanoparticles, (ii) addition of carbon nano structures, (iii) inclusion of industrial waste products in the concrete.