Use of Nanotechnology in Construction Engineering - A Review

The term nanotechnology offers very much elaborate meaning and vast scope that may be changed from field to field. Generally it refers to the process of understanding, controlling and restructuring of matter on the basis of size (0.1 to 100nm) to develop materials with fresh (new) properties and functions. Nanotechnology has many folds and applications in almost all engineering fields. As far as its application concerned, civil engineering is very significant, since the branch itself deals with various types of construction materials. The properties of various materials may be enhanced by the applications of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology paves the path for getting most economical infrastructure and offers longer durability with low cost maintenance. The beginning of nanotechnology has revolutionized the growth of the civil engineering in the areas like application of protective coatings to prevent corrosion and salt water attacks to the pipes, reducing heat transfer (fire retarders). The application of nanotechnology has been proved successful in making insulators, nano sensors, smart and eco friendly materials. In fact nanotechnology is not either a new science or technology but an enhancement of existing technology. There are two approaches to the nano scale one is from the top down another is from the bottom up. The top down approach refers to reduction of size from large to smallest size where as bottom up approach refers to the construction of materials from atomic or molecular components.