Nanotechnology and Construction

Report on Nanotechnology and Construction
The logical conclusion of the research being conducted on materials is that, as well as
buildings, the other areas of engineering structures and architecture likely to be affected in
the future are roads and bridges, and this was indicated by the respondents.
The survey also asked what the possible global market impact of the future applications of
nanotechnology in construction might be. Although difficult to predict, estimates ranged to
billions of euros and this is to be expected for the same reasons covered in the section above
on current work. One respondent commented that they thought the economic impact would
extend to the entire cementitious and polymer industries.
Most respondents (67%) believed that this future work would impact the construction
industry within 5-10 years and the timescale fits with the research intensive nature of the
technology. However, 10 years is close enough that the commercial implications for industry
cannot be ignored and the construction business should be looking at these changes sooner
rather than later. At the moment, 4 million tn/yr of TiO 2 pigment are produced globally and
there seems to be no reason for production not to increase to meet the demands of the ever
widening field of application in construction. In contrast, only 65 tn/yr of carbon nanotubes
are produced currently worldwide and only a 60% growth in production is predicted in the
next five years. It is believed that prices will remain too high for widespread use of carbon
nanotubes in construction, despite dropping significantly from their current 20€ to
1000€/gram. Expensive, small scale production of nanotubes as well as clumping, lack of
binding to the bulk material, and temperature effects are therefore key barriers to their
application in the industry. Barriers to further applications of nanotechnology to glass are the
lack of non-metallic CVD coating techniques mentioned above as well as a deficiency of
large scale nanoparticle deposition processes which can be integrated with existing ones at
atmospheric pressure.
Resources for Research
Respondents were asked about the level of research both in the industry as a whole and in
their own companies and the results are discussed below.
6a Is there adequate research funding for
Nanotechnology in Construction ?
28%
0%
Yes
No
Don't Know
72%
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