CREATE
  • Technology
    • BIOTECH
    • COMMUNICATIONS
    • COMPUTING
    • IMAGING
    • MATERIALS
    • ROBOTICS
    • SOFTWARE
  • Industry
    • DEFENCE
    • INFRASTRUCTURE
    • INNOVATION
    • MANUFACTURING
    • POLICY
    • PROJECTS
    • TRANSPORT
  • Sustainability
    • ENERGY
    • ENVIRONMENT
    • RESOURCES
  • Community
    • CULTURE
    • PEOPLE
  • Career
    • EDUCATION
    • INSPIRATION
    • LEADERSHIP
    • TRENDS
  • About
    • CONTACT
    • SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
CREATE
  • Technology
    • BIOTECH
    • COMMUNICATIONS
    • COMPUTING
    • IMAGING
    • MATERIALS
    • ROBOTICS
    • SOFTWARE
  • Industry
    • DEFENCE
    • INFRASTRUCTURE
    • INNOVATION
    • MANUFACTURING
    • POLICY
    • PROJECTS
    • TRANSPORT
  • Sustainability
    • ENERGY
    • ENVIRONMENT
    • RESOURCES
  • Community
    • CULTURE
    • PEOPLE
  • Career
    • EDUCATION
    • INSPIRATION
    • LEADERSHIP
    • TRENDS
  • About
    • CONTACT
    • SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
CREATE
No Result
View All Result
Home Technology Materials

The world’s most used synthetic material is getting a makeover

Shannon Thompson by Shannon Thompson
16 October 2018
in Materials
3 min read
0
The world’s most used synthetic material is getting a makeover

A team of civil and materials engineers has developed nano-sized calcium silicate spheres they say could lead to stronger and greener concrete.

The engineers behind the material are Assistant Professor Rouzbeh Shahsavari and graduate student Sung Hoon Hwang from Rice University in the US. They developed the spheres as a low cost and less energy intensive alternative to cement, the most common binder in concrete.

Ranging in size from 100 to 500 nanometers in diameter, the spheres were formed in a solution around nanoscale seeds of a common detergent-like surfactant. The spheres can be prompted to self-assemble into solids that are stronger, harder, more elastic and more durable than traditional cement.

“Sphere shapes are important because they are far easier to synthesise, self-assemble and scale up from chemistry and large-scale manufacturing standpoints” said Shahsavari, who holds joint appointments between the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering at Rice University.

Spheres of influence

These developments come off the back of a 2017 project in which Shahsavari and Hwang worked with microscopic calcium silicate spheres to create a porous, self-healing material.

Although the new material isn’t porous, learnings from that project helped inform this recent development, outlined in their paper published in the American Chemical Society journal Langmuir. The pair also took inspiration from how nature coordinates interfaces between dissimilar materials, particularly in nacre (aka mother of pearl – the material of seashells), to overcome the amorphous and disorganised structure of cement. 

Nacre’s strength is a result of alternating stiff inorganic and soft organic platelets. Because the spheres imitate that structure, they are considered biomimetic.

“Previously, there were attempts to make platelet or fibre building blocks for composites, but this work uses spheres to create strong, tough and adaptable biomimetic materials,” Shahsavari said.

Material matters

The size and shape of particles can have a significant influence on the mechanical properties and durability of bulk materials like concrete. Developers paid special attention to the material’s structural limitations to accurately predict when and how it might fracture.

“With this material, we know what our limits are and we can channel polymers or other materials in between the spheres to control the structure from bottom to top and predict more accurately how it could fracture,” Shahsavari said.

“It is very beneficial to have something you can control as opposed to a material that is random by nature.

“One can mix spheres with different diameters to fill the gaps between the self-assembled structures, leading to higher packing densities.”

They tested two common surfactants and found DTAB-based pellets compacted better and were tougher, with a higher elastic modulus and electrical resistance than CTAB pellets or common cement. 

The spheres are able to be tuned for a variety of applications by manipulating factors such as surfactants, solutions, concentrations and temperatures during manufacture.

Sustainability is another potential improvement, according to the developers, as the resulting material is more resistant to damage from water and other contaminants due to the shape of the particles. This means it should require less maintenance and less frequent replacement.

The spheres have also been deemed suitable for uses as diverse as bone tissue engineering, insulation, ceramic and composite applications, as well as cement.

Tags: composite materialsconcretenanotechnologybiomimicrybuilding materialscivil engineering
Previous Post

Engineering competition asks students how to save a world in peril

Next Post

Meet the winners of the 2018 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards

Shannon Thompson

Shannon Thompson

Shannon is currently finishing up her commerce degree where she majors in marketing and business information systems. She is a self-proclaimed ‘tech head’ and is excited about trying her hand at writing.

Next Post
Meet the winners of the 2018 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards

Meet the winners of the 2018 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    WANT CREATE DELIVERED DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX? SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER.

    By subscribing to create you are also subscribing to Engineers Australia content. Please find our Terms and conditions here

    create is brought to you by Engineers Australia, Australia's national body for engineers and the voice of more than 120,000 members. Backing today's problem-solvers so they can shape a better tomorrow.
    • ABOUT US
    • CONTACT US
    • SITEMAP
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS
    • SUBSCRIBE

    © 2024 Engineers Australia

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Technology
      • BIOTECH
      • COMMUNICATIONS
      • COMPUTING
      • IMAGING
      • MATERIALS
      • ROBOTICS
      • SOFTWARE
    • Industry
      • DEFENCE
      • INFRASTRUCTURE
      • INNOVATION
      • MANUFACTURING
      • POLICY
      • PROJECTS
      • TRANSPORT
    • Sustainability
      • ENERGY
      • ENVIRONMENT
      • RESOURCES
    • Community
      • CULTURE
      • PEOPLE
    • Career
      • EDUCATION
      • INSPIRATION
      • LEADERSHIP
      • TRENDS
    • About
      • CONTACT
      • SUBSCRIBE