Nanomaterials for Construction Engineering-A Review

Abstract

Abstract-Nanotechnology is not new and is known to exist for ages, be it in the sword of tipu sultan or in the windows of the medieval churches in Europe. A common question in the minds of all of us living in today's world is about how the mechanism of nanotechnology can be used in the healthy compatibility with the constructional structures like that of massive buildings and bridges, which have been thought to encroach upon huge masses of land, leading to the destroying of homes of wildlife and putting pressure in the limited reserves of energy. This review paper focuses on the sustainable usage of nano based materials like carbon nanotube, electrochromic windows, nanoclays, sandvik nanoflex™, nanowires, titanium dioxide, nanoceramic coating, nanocrystalline materials, nanosilica, nanocomposites, MMFX2 steel, nanometals, nanofibres, nanomyte™ mend MW, nanocement, which could be used for providing singular or multiple functions of potential reinforcement, corrosion resistance, insulation, fire protection, temperature resistance, reducing air conditioning loads, pollution control, UV ray absorption, lighting, when used as a part of building materials.Index Terms-Nanotechnology, construction, materials. I. INTRODUCTIONNanotechnology concerns with the usage of materials falling in range of few to less than 100 nanometers [1]. Constructional structures form a very important part while contributing to the GDP of any economy by rendering services ranging from transportation to living to producing useful products to earning livelihood, and at the same time also commanding a very dominant share of the energy produced for utilization, no wonder that it has been estimated by a certain source that construction industry involving nanotechnology will occupy the eighth position out of the ten, having an impact on the world's development [2]. The usage of nanotechnology materials while being incorporated in constructional structures would not only help in prolonging their lifetime, but would also keep a check on the energy spent by them and at the same time gauging their reactions and reacting to different agents like fire, corrosion, water penetration, fractures, cracks, etc. Hence the literature segment of this review paper provides a list of nano-materials that can be used for these varied tasks. II. CARBON NANOTUBESLaser ablation, chemical vapor deposition, electric arc processes are some of the methodologies employed for the Manuscript received June 4, 2013; revised August 6, 2013. B. B. Das is with National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR), Farmagudi (Ponda), Goa, India (e-mail:bibhutibhusan@gmail.com, bdas@nicmar.ac.in).Arkadeep Mitra was with KIIT Deemed University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India (e-mail:arkadeep123mitra@gmail.com).production of NT's (nanotubes) that exist as metals or semiconductors. Exhibiting sp 2 hybridization with walls of graphene held together in hexagonal arrays by van-der-waal force of a cylindrical honey comb like structure of an allotrope of carbon, gives a succinct d...

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