Abstract

Nanoconcrete is one of the most active research areas

that encompass a number of disciplines including civil
engineering and construction materials, Currently, the
most active research areas dealing with cement and
concrete are: understanding of the hydration of cement
particles and the use of nano-size ingredients such as
titanium oxide, silica, carbon nanojubes, and nano-
sensors. if cement with nano-size particles can be
manufactured and processed, it will open up a large
number of opportunities in the field of ceramics, high
strength composites etc. it will elevate the status of
Portland cement to a high tech material in addition to its
current status of most widely used construction material.
The main objective of this paper is to outline some of the
applications of nanotechnology in concrete and
comparing this concrete with the ordinary concrete
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Applications Of Nanotechnology
3. Cuore Concrete Nano Silica
4. Titanium Dioxide
5. Carbon Nano Tubes
6. Polycarboxylates
7. Nano Sensors
8. Benefits Of Nanotechnology
9. Results And Proof
10. Conclusions
11. References





INTRODUCTION:
"Nano technology is the study of the control of matter on
an atomic and molecular scale. It deals with the size 100
nanometers or smaller, and involves developing materials
or devices within that size".
A long time used material m concrete is for the first
time fully replaced by a nano maternal. lt is well known m
physics and chemistry that a well designed and developed
nano material produces better and cheaper cost results than
traditional materials.
Micro silica has been one of the world's most widely
used products for concrete for over eighty years. Its
properties allowed high compressive strength concretes;
water and chemical resistant concretes, and they have been
part of many concrete buildings that we see nowadays. Its
disadvantage, though, has been its relatively high cost and
contamination, which affects the environment and the
operators' health. As micro si lica, as a powder, is thousand
fold thinner than cigarette smoke. Operators must take
special precautions to avoid inhaling micro silica and not to
acquire silicosis, an irreversible d.sease.hcnce to over come
all tese above ill-effects of micro silica, nanotechnology
was introduced in the world of concrete.

Nanotechnology and Concrete
Concrete is probably unique in construction in that it is
the only material exclusive to the business and therefore is
the beneficiary of a fa.r proportion of the research and
development money from industry. The following section
describes some of the most promising applications of
nanotechnology in construction that are being developed or
are even available today.

Some of the applications of nanotechnology are:
Cuore concrete- nano silica
Titanium dioxide
Carbon nanotubes
polycarboxylates
Nano-sensors
CUORE CONCRETE NANO-SILICA
NANO CONCRETE







Fig Showing the mixing of nano silica in concrete
physics, chemistry and recent nanotechnology advances,
the challenge was fulfilled.Lab tests and production tests
proved that the nano silica did not contaminate (because its
state), but it also produced better results than micro silica,
and a litre bottle of the product was equivalent to a barrel full
of micro silica, extra cement and super plasticizing
additives.Silica (SiCte) is present in conventional concrete
as part of the normal mix. However, one of the advancements
made by the study of concrete at the nanoscale is that particle
packing in concrete can be improved by using nano-silica
which leads to a densifying of the micro and nanostructure
resulting in improved mechanical properties. Nano-silica
addition to cement based materials can also control
the degradation of the fundamental C-S-H (calcium-
silicatehydrate) reaction of concrete caused by calcium
leaching in water as well as block water penetration and
therefore lead to improvements in durability. Related to
improved particle packing, high energy milling of ordinary
Portland cement (OPC) clinker and standard sand, produces a
greater particle size diminution with respect to conventional
OPC and, as a result, the compressive strength of the refined
material is also 3 to 6 times higher (at different ages). Fly ash
not only improves concrete durability, strength and,
importantly for sustainability, reduces the requirement for
cement, however, the curing process of concrete is slowed by
the addition of fly ash and early stage strength is also
low in comparison to normal concrete. With the
addition of SiCh nanoparticles part of the cement is replaced
but the density and strength of the fly-ash concrete improves
particularly in the early stages. Research into hematite
(Fe20;,) nanoparticles added to concrete has shown that they
also increase strength as well as offering the benefit
of monitoring stress levels through the measurement of
section electrical resistance.
Because of its innovation the nano silica was tested for over
a year in the world's largest subterranean copper mine to
prove its long term characteristics. Cuore concrete takes
care of the environment, the concrete and the operators'
health. It is the first nano product that replaced the micro
sihca.Cuore concrete surpassed the expectations of its
design and gave concrete not only the high initial and final
resistance but in addition, plasticity, impermeability, minor
final cost of work, and cement savings of up to 40%. Also,
it lowered the levels of environmental contamination
In high compressive strengths concretes (H-70), Cuore
concrete is 88% more efficient than micro silica, added to
concrete and super plasticizers. ( For an average 9,43 Kg. of
Cuore concrete Nanosilica, 73Kg. of all the others additives
are used).
The production cost of is drastically lower than using the
traditional production method or formulas.
The cone test shows that It preserves the cone shape for
more than one hour, (with a relation of H2O/Cement=0.5,
adding 0.5% of Nano sil ica of the metric volume of the
cement used, it conserved a its circle shape of 60 cm l or
two hours, with a lost of only 5%). The nano silica has a
plasticity that has been compared to the pohcarboxilate
technology. Therefore the use of super plasticizing additives
is unnecessary.
High workability with reduced water/concrete levels, for
example: 0,2.
Easy homogenization. The reduction of mixing times
allows concrete plants to increase their production
Depending on the cement and the formulations used for
concrete (tests from value H-30 to H-70), shows that the
material provides compressive strengths between 15 MPa
and 75 MPa at 1 day; 40 MPa and 90 MPa at 28 days and 48
MPa and 120 MPa at 120 days.
Nano silica fully complies with ISO 14001 regulations
regarding the environment and health. It preserves operators
of the danger of being contaminated with silicosis and does
not contaminate the environment.
It successfully passed all the tests and since the beginning of
this year it is being commercialized in different parts of the
world.
TITANIUM DIOXIDE
Titanium dioxide i t sel f has no toxicity to microbe and
the cell. Only after the irradiation of light such as fluorescent
or UV light, natural mineral Ti02 activates its unique photo
catalytic properties. In the presence of light and humid in the
air, titanium dioxide oxidizes, converts complex organic
molecules into water and carbon dioxide. Photo catalytic
power of titanium dioxide successfully destroys bacteria
cell's wall and its membrane, and reacts with cell' s
components, which i nhi bi t s bacteria's activity and
ultimately results in the death and decomposition of bacteria,
thus el i mi nat i ng bad odours created by a living or
decomposing bacteria and also reduces risk of bacteria
spread.
The increase in patents during the l ast decade indicates a
huge interest, especi al l y from Japan and Europe, in the
application of Ti02 as photocatalyst in buildmu materials
Regarding the reduction of air pollution due to traffic in
urban areas, the application on pavement surfaces or on the
building surfaces in cementations materials gives optimal
solutions. To increase the efficiency of the photocatalyst, its
presence at the surface of the material is crucial. It has to be
accessible by sunlight to be activated. Consequently, the
pollutant has to be absorbed on the surface and oxidized or
reduced to a less harmful element. The goal is to have as
much TiC>2 as possible at the surface of the material,
without the risk of loosing it by abrasion or weathering. Up
till now, the most efficient way to apply the TiC>2 is in a
thin layer cementations material, which is placed on the
surface. Application in concrete tiles is therefore very
suitable: the TiOa can be added to the weathering layer. If the
layer is slightly used, new Ti02-particles will be present at
the surface. Other applications can be found in architectural
concrete. The use of white cement with TiCh at the surface of
buildings and construction attribute to the durability of the
visual aspect of the building. Due to the photocatalytic
action, the whiteness of the building will remain and dirt will
be washed away more easily due to the hydrophilic properties
or will be decomposed.
CARBON NANOTUBES
Carbon nanotubes can be visualized as a modified form of
graphite. Graphite is formed from many layers of carbon
atoms that are bonded in a hexagonal pattern in fiat sheets,
with weak bonds between the sheets and strong bonds within
them. A CNT can be thought of as a sheet or sheets of
graphite that have been rolled up into a tube structure. CNT
can be single walled nanotubes (SWNT), as if a single sheet
had been rolled up, or multiwalled (MWNT), similar in
appearance to a number of sheets rolled together.




Schematic of a Single Walled Nanotube
A further type of nanoparticle, which has remarkable
properties, is the carbon nanotube (CNT) and current
research is being carried out to investigate the benefits of
adding CNT's to concrete. The addition of small amounts (1
% wt) of CNT's can improve the mechanical properties of
samples consisting of the main portland cement phase and
water.Oxidized multi-walled nanotubes (MWNT's) show
the best improvements both in compresstve strength (+ 25
N/rnrm) and flexural strength (+ 8 N/mm
2
) compared to the
reference samples without the reinforcement. It is theorized
the high defect concentration on the surface of the oxidized
MWNTs could lead to a better linkage between the
nanostructures and the binder thus improving the
mechanical properties of the composite rather like the
deformations on reinforcing bars. However, two problems
with the addition of carbon nanotubes to any material are
the clumping together of the tubes and the lack of cohesion
between them and the matrix bulk material. Due to the
interaction between the graphene sheets of nanotubes,
the tubes tend to aggregate to form bundles or "ropes" and
the ropes can even be entangled with one another. To
achieve uniform dispersion they must be disentangled.
Furthermore, due to their graphitic nature, there is not a
proper adhesion between the nanotube and the matrix
causing what it is called sliding. However, when pre-
dispersing the nanotubes with gum arable an increase in the
mechanical properties is achieved, above all in the case of
single walled nanotubes (SWNT's). Additional work is
needed in order to establish the optimum values of carbon
nanotubes and dispersing agents in the mix design
parameters.
The cost of adding CNT's to concrete may be prohibitive at
the moment, but work is being done to reduce their price
and at such time the benefits offered by t hei r addi t i on to
Lementitious materials may become more palatable.

NANO-SENSORS
Strain sensors are an integral part of mueh of the l ab work
completed in structuralengineering. Sensors monitor and
quantify the behavior of a test specimen, and provide insight
into the reasons behind the behavior. In concrete, strain
sensors can be broken down into three main categories
External strain sensor
Strain gage sensor
Embedded strain gage sensor

The most basic category is external strain sensors. These are
attached to the exterior of the specimen and typically record
the strain at that location very accurately. The disadvantage
of these sensors is that the majority of the time the critical
location of the specimen is not on the exterior of the
specimen, and therefore, the readings provided by these
gages are only marginally beneficial.
The second type of strain gage typically used in concrete is a
strain gage that is Placed on the steel reinforcement inside
the concrete. These gages can be placed insidethe concrete,
so for many applications they are more useful. However,
they can only be placed in regions where there is steel
reinforcement. Also, these gages provide the strain the steel,
not the strain in the concrete.
The third type of strain gage is an embedded strain sensor.
These are gages that are cast into the concrete and provide
readings of the strain in the concrete at their location.
They must be anchored or bonded to the concrete in order to
function properly. They are capable of providing the strain
in the concrete at any location and in any direction. There
arc embedded strain gages that already exist, but they are
typically large and expensi A new material has been
developed that has the potential to be used in tins applicat
and this study examines the effectiveness of this material.
This experimental material is produced using a process
called electrostatic self-assembly. The process is completed
by building up alternating layers of positive and negatively
charged particles. The material is formed into a l/8-in.-thick
flexible sheet that exhibits the conductance properties of a
metal. This includes changing resistance as the length is
changed. It is this property that makes the material
potentially useful as a strain sensor. If the sensor can be
anchored to a specimen and the resistance of the sensor can
be accurately measured, the change in resistance of the
sensor should correspond to the strain in the specimen. The
experimental material is also very durable. It can withstand
large strains and is unaffected by the high pH that occurs in
concrete. It is also produced in sheets, so the sensors can be
cut to any size or shape that is required. These properties
give this new material an advantage over existing embedded
strain gages.
IMMEDIATE BENEFITS FOR THE USER
1) Cessation of contamination caused by micro silica solid
particles.
2) Lower cost per building site.
3) Concrete with high initial and final compressive and
tensile strengths.
4) Concrete with good workability.
5) Cessation of super plasticizing utilization.
6) Cessation of silicosis risk.
7) High impermeability.
8 ) Reduction of cement using Cuore concrete Nanosilice
9) Cuore concrete nano silica on itself produces nano
cement.
10) During the moisturizing reaction of the cement, the
si l i ca produces CSIl particles, the "glue" of the
concrete ensuring the cohesion of all the particles.
11) Cuore concrete has a specific surface near to l,000m2/gr
(micro silica has only 20m2/gr) and a particle size of 5nm to
250 nm.
As a consequence of its size, Cuore concrete produces nano
cristals of CSH, filling up all the micro pores and micro
spaces which where left empty in traditional concrete
production. Former described function reinforces the
concrete structure on levels, thousand times smaller then in
the ease of traditional concrete production. This allows the
reduction of the cement used and gives the compression
needed to reduce over 90 % of the additives used in the
production of H-70 concrete.
Cuore concrete allows to save in between 35% and 50% of
the used cement.We do stress that we recommend to change
the formula of the concrete in order to take advantage of the
characteristics of the Cuore concrete Nano silica particle.

THE RESULTS ARE THE PROOF

1) Resistance to compression from 40 to 90MPa in 1 day.
2) Resistance to compression from 70 a 10Q MPa (or more)
in 28 days.
3) Versatile: produces high resistance even with low addition
(1 to 1,5 % of the cements weight) and gives self compacting
characteristics with higher proportions (2.5 %).
4) Meets the norms of environmental protection (ISO
14001).
5) 70% less use of additives as traditional silica, super
plast.cizers or traditional Fibres.
6) Equal or minor raw material cost as in traditional
production with super plasucizers, and or fibres.

CONCLUSIONS
Well-dispersed nanoparticies increase the viscosity of the liquid phase,
which helps to suspend the cement grains and aggregates, which, in turn,
improves the segregation resistance and workability of the system.
Nanoparticies fill the voids between cement grains, which results in
immobilization of free water (filler effect).
Well-dispersed nanoparticies act as centers of crystallization of the
cement hydrates, which accelerates the hydration.
Nanoparticies favor the fomiation of small-sized crystals (such as
calcium hydroxide)
Nanosilica participates in the pozzolanic reactions, which results in the
consumption of calcium hydroxide and formation of an additional C-S-H.
Nanoparticies improve the structure of the aggregate contact zone,
which results in better bond between aggregates and cement paste.
Nanoprticles improve the toughness, shear, t ens i l e strength and
(lexural strength of concrete.



REFERENCE:
R.Z.MA J.WU, B.Q. WEI, LIANG, AND D.H. WU, Journal Of
Materials Science, 1998, 33, 5243.
24, G.D., Zhan, J.D. Kuntz, J. Wan and A.K. Mukherjee, Nature
Materials, 2003, 2,38.
Li, G (2004) Properties of High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete
Incorporating Nano-Si02 Cement and Concrete Research,
Vol.34, p.1043-1049