MagMats: Magnesia-bearing construction materials for future energy infrastructure

随着我们在全球范围内加强努力，以发展安全和可持续的未来能源格局，专注于交付和可持续性的材料创新是关键。由于需要（i）勘探用于风力发电的近海海洋环境，（ii）用于新的石油和天然气勘探的更深和更复杂的地下井筒系统，（iii）用于新的核电站的坚固的安全壳和屏蔽结构，以及（iv）用于未来水力发电的更大的水坝结构，因此出现了许多与基础设施相关的材料挑战。我们的愿景是在英国和中国的学术界之间建立一个世界领先的长期合作伙伴关系，与世界各地的工业合作伙伴和其他世界领先的学术团体相结合，共同解决一些建筑材料的挑战，重点是可持续性。该集团的共同点是我们对探索含镁建筑材料的潜力的兴趣和专业知识，通过提供全新的解决方案或现有材料系统的增强解决方案来解决其中一些新挑战。对于中国和英国来说，这是一个独特的领域，在氧化镁的不同等级和应用方面有着重要的互补专业知识。由剑桥大学、伦敦大学学院、重庆大学和南京工业大学组成的项目联盟拥有所需的跨学科材料、结构和岩土工程师组合，在氧化镁基建筑材料方面拥有世界领先的独特专业知识。其目的是分享和推进我们对这些拟议材料性能的全球理解，规划未来的研究和商业需求，并确定未来能源基础设施中最理想的应用，其中可以实现最大的性能影响和可持续性效益。首先是氧化镁可以为现有水泥系统提供的技术优势和益处。这包括（i）其作为大体积混凝土结构（例如水坝和核设施）的膨胀添加剂的用途，（ii）其在用于开发适合于核废料应用的低pH水泥的磷酸镁水泥中的作用，以及（iii）其通过提供低收缩和耐腐蚀性而在促进碱活化水泥的开发中的作用。第二是提供可持续的氧化镁生产工艺，重点是使用矿物和废弃盐水资源。该项目的一个组成部分将是知识转让活动以及与世界各地的工业和其他相关研究中心的合作。拟议研究的一个首要方面是规划团队的能力，整合专门知识和人员交流，以确保产生最大影响。这将确保研究处于全球追求可持续未来能源基础设施的最前沿，并确保实现最大影响。该联合会计划作为一个全球中心，提供一个国家和国际平台，促进对话和合作，以加强全球知识经济。

Material innovations focussing on delivery and sustainability are key as our global efforts intensify in the development of a secure and sustainable future energy landscape. Many infrastructure-related material challenges have emerged as a result of the need (i) to explore offshore marine environments for wind power generation, (ii) for deeper and more complex underground wellbore systems for new oil & gas explorations, (iii) for robust containment and shielding structures for new nuclear power plants and (iv) for larger dam structures for future hydropower generation. Our vision for this proposal is to build a world leading and long lasting partnership between academics in the UK and China, integrated with industrial partners and other world leading academic groups around the world, to collectively address some of those construction material challenges with a focus on sustainability. The commonality in the assembled group is our interest and expertise in exploring potentials for magnesia-bearing construction materials in solving some of those new challenges, by either providing completely new solutions or enhanced solutions to existing material systems. This is a unique area to China and the UK where there is significant complementary expertise in the different grades of and applications for magnesia. The project consortium from the University of Cambridge, University College London, Chongqing University and Nanjing Tech University has the required interdisciplinary mix of materials, structural and geotechnical engineers, with world leading unique expertise in magnesia-based construction materials. The intention is to share and advance our global understanding of the performance of those proposed materials, road map future research and commercial needs and identify the ideal applications in our future energy infrastructures where most performance impact and sustainability benefits can be achieved.The proposed focusses two main areas of research. The first is the technical advantages and benefits that magnesia can provide to existing cement systems. This includes (i) its use as an expansive additive for large mass concrete constructions e.g. dams and nuclear installations, (ii) its role in magnesium phosphate cements for the developing of low pH cements suitable for nuclear waste applications and (iii) its role in advancing the development of alkali activated cements by providing low shrinkage and corrosion resistance. The second is the delivery of sustainable MgO production processes that focus on the use of both mineral and reject brine resources. An integral part of this project will be the knowledge transfer activities and collaboration with industry and other relevant research centres around the world. An overarching aspect of the proposed research is the mapping out of the team's capabilities and the integration of expertise and personnel exchange to ensure maximum impact. This will ensure that the research is at the forefront of the global pursuit for a sustainable future energy infrastructure and will ensure that maximum impact is achieved. The consortium plans to act as a global hub to provide a national and international platform for facilitating dialogue and collaboration to enhance the global knowledge economy.