Sustainability of nanomaterials based self-healing concrete: An all-inclusive insight

Abstract

Presently, the construction industries worldwide are looking for materials with low carbon footprint and environment friendliness. Yet, ordinary Portland cements (OPC) based materials are widely used in building sectors and remain majorly responsible for carbon pollution. The deterioration that happens in such concretes from the very beginning of the service not only life reduces their lifespan but also demands more OPC. Furthermore, the continuation and repairing are mostly laboured intensive and too expensive. Thus, self-recovery of the damaged concretes is significant concerning environmental mitigation and energy saving. Lately, nanomaterials based concretes have been exploited diversely in the construction engineering owing to their enhanced mechanical and durable attributes. The design as well as production of self-healing and sustainable concrete is an intensely research topic in nanotechnology. In this view, this article provides a comprehensive assessment on nanomaterials based self-healing concretes. The past development, recent trends, environmental impact, sustainability, merits and demerits of several methods of self-healing concrete production are discussed.