Development of eco-friendly silicate-based nanoparticles for sustainable concrete infrastructure

混凝土生产主要依赖于波特兰水泥的消费，而波特兰水泥是一个巨大的二氧化碳排放者。此外，严酷的环境条件，如冰冻和解冻循环以及除冰盐的使用，对艾伯塔省的混凝土基础设施造成了重大破坏和维修费用。因此，为了保护我们的星球，减少与土木工程基础设施的维修和建设相关的成本，开发环保和耐用的混凝土材料是必不可少的。该项目致力于开发和设计与水泥基基质兼容的天然硅酸盐基易生产纳米颗粒。纳米颗粒将经过精心设计，以满足混凝土中最佳功能所需的特性，如表面化学、颗粒大小和形态。然后，将它们以适当的比例整合到混凝土混合料中，以较少的硅酸盐水泥用量获得坚固耐用的混凝土。这项工作将由卡尔加里大学化学和石油教授纳萨尔博士和土木工程助理教授霍什纳扎尔博士密切合作进行，纳萨尔博士的专长是纳米颗粒开发和表征，霍什纳扎尔博士的专长是水泥和混凝土生产。这项技术将通过对环境无害、高效和成本效益高的方式为水泥和混凝土行业带来革命性的变化。还将培训高素质的人员，以解决与建筑业及其环境影响有关的“现实世界”问题。

Concrete production mainly relies on the consumption of Portland cement that is a huge CO2 emitter. In addition, harsh environmental conditions such as freezing and thawing cycles and the use of de-icing salts cause significant damage and repair cost to concrete infrastructure in Alberta. Development of eco-friendly and long-lasting concrete materials is therefore essentially needed to protect our planet, and to reduce the costs associated with repair and construction of civil engineering infrastructure. This project focuses on the development and design of naturally-derived silicate-based and easy-to-produce nanoparticles that are compatible with cement-based matrix. The nanoparticles will be carefully designed to meet the required properties such as surface chemistry, particle size and morphology for optimum functionality in concrete. Then, they will be integrated in the concrete mixtures in appropriate proportions to obtain strong and durable concrete, with less amount of Portland cement. The work will be conducted through close collaboration between Dr. Nassar, Professor of Chemical and Petroleum whose expertise is on nanoparticle development and characterization, and Dr. Khoshnazar, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering whose expertise is on cement and concrete production, at the University of Calgary. This technology would revolutionize the cement and concrete industry through being environmentally sound, highly efficient, and cost effective. Highly qualified personnel will also be trained to solve "real world" problems related to construction industry and its environmental impacts.