From labs at Purdue, Caltech and the University of Missouri here in the USA to the University of Manchester and University College London in the UK, researchers are developing new and better materials that could shape the future of construction. This article from EcoBuilding Pulse highlights five of those innovations.
The building blocks of the future are being developed in research labs today. From graphene production en masse to metamaterials that rethink the form and function of conventional construction mediums, here are five innovations with the potential to change architecture today, tomorrow, and beyond.
At Purdue University, researchers are developing a better, stronger concrete, by adding cellulose nanocrystals derived from wood fiber. Nano-reinforced materials typically outperform conventional alternatives across a range of mechanical and chemical properties – among them strength, impact resistance, and flexibility. When applied to construction materials like concrete, they help to reduce a structure’s environmental footprint by requiring less material to achieve a similar effect.
The nanocrystal additive can be extracted as a byproduct of industrial agriculture, bioenergy, and paper production. Its addition enhances the concrete-curing process, the researchers say, allowing the concrete to use water more efficiently and without impacting its weight or density significantly.
Construction materials are among the target applications for the additive, Purdue associate professor Jeffrey Youngblood says, but the team is still working to scale it up from current dimensions of 1 foot tall by 6 inches in diameter, assessing data to standardize and optimize the material’s behavior.
“We hope to be at a large test scale in a few years,” he says.
