Advancement of nano-based construction materials-A review

Nowadays, nanomaterials synthesis and its utilization in development in composite materials has become one of the trending research areas and have various practical applications that have increasingly received prominence. Researchers have tried various methods to introduce nanomaterials (NMs) into composite materials to improve their characteristics and structural performance. Around 240 peer-reviewed publications were studied, comprising a comprehensive database containing the critical characteristics of composite materials with various NMs and their outcomes presented in this review article. The impacts of different NMs on the fresh, hardened properties and microstructure features of conventional concrete (CC), geopolymer concrete (GPC), cement block (CB), geopolymer mortar (GPM), and self-compacting concrete (SCC) were studied, analysed, and discussed in the current review. Different NMs have different characteristics, improving one or more properties of composite materials. The attempt is made to identify their excellent performances in fresh and mechanical properties. The microstructure analysis such as SEM, XRD, and FTIR on composite materials was focused in the present study for different NMs. With the small dosage of NMs ranging from 0 to 3 %, with maximum slump, compressive, tensile and flexural strengths observed was 82 mm, 75 MPa, 5.8 MPa and 7.25 MPa in conventional concrete. The results of this study show that adding NMs to high-performance composites makes them stronger, more durable, and have a better microstructure property and it shows NMs are the future in the construction material industry.