Construction Materials
Summary
Construction materials encompass the broad spectrum of substances used to form the built environment, from traditional aggregates, cements and metals to advanced composites, polymers and geopolymers. Their fundamental roles include providing load-bearing capacity, durability and stability, while specialised functions such as thermal insulation, moisture control, corrosion protection and acoustic damping complement structural performance. Materials science advances have yielded high-performance concretes, sustainable binders, lightweight aggregates and multifunctional coatings, each tailored by composition, microstructure and processing methods to meet exacting design criteria. Concurrently, growing emphasis on resource efficiency and environmental stewardship has driven the adoption of industrial by-products, recycled waste streams and life-cycle assessment (LCA) frameworks, ensuring that material choices minimise embodied energy, carbon emissions and ecological impact without compromising safety, service life or aesthetics.
Research from Nature Portfolio
New insights into corrosion protection have emerged from microscale studies of cathodic polarisation in porous electrolytes mimicking concrete pore solutions. In-situ characterisation demonstrates that applying a protective current induces local alkalinisation and deoxygenation, promotes the formation of adherent iron-oxide films on reinforcing steel and alters both anodic and cathodic kinetics, enabling more accurate prediction of current requirements for long-term structural protection.
Progress in sustainable lightweight concrete is illustrated by the development of epoxy-bonded polymer concretes incorporating waste-derived ceramic aggregates. By infiltrating nanotextured lightweight granules with resin and optimising fraction sizes, researchers achieved compressive strengths near 100 MPa and flexural strengths approaching 20 MPa, alongside thermal diffusivity almost half that of conventional concrete and water absorption below 0.4%, meeting frost-resistance criteria while valorising industrial by-waste.
Advances in geopolymer technology have produced low-carbon mortar mixes blending ground-granulated blast-furnace slag, fly ash and high bentonite contents. Ternary formulations containing up to 12 wt.% bentonite achieve superior mechanical performance at elevated temperatures and exhibit high thermal stability to 900 °C. These mortars also offer excellent dye adsorption capacity in aqueous media, demonstrating multifunctionality for thermal, mechanical and environmental applications.
Research from all publishers
Self-consolidating paste systems using binary and ternary blends of blast-furnace slag and limestone powder have shown that adding up to 20 % limestone refines microstructure, accelerates early hydration and raises 28-day compressive strength, while cutting CO₂ emissions by substituting cement. The synergy between slag and limestone also shortens setting times and improves packing density in self-compacting concretes.
High‐volume fly ash concretes with 65–80 % cement replacement augmented by nano-silica and hydrated lime have demonstrated enhanced long‐term resistance to sulphate and acid attack over two-year exposures. Optimal nano-silica dosages accelerate early strength gain and produce denser matrices, while high fly ash contents reduce embodied energy and carbon by up to 30 % per unit strength.
Comprehensive reviews of supplementary cementitious materials reveal that incorporating 5–20 % of natural or artificial pozzolans (fly ash, silica fume, volcanic ash, kaolinite) can achieve peak compressive and split‐tensile strengths, refine pore structure and bolster durability indices. These studies recommend tailored replacement levels—10 % silica fume or zeolite; 15–20 % clays—to balance mechanical performance with environmental benefit.
Construction Materials publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in construction materials across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM): An inorganic additive (e.g. fly ash, slag, silica fume) that reacts pozzolanically with calcium hydroxide to form binding phases and refine microstructure.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): A systematic methodology to quantify environmental impacts—energy, emissions, resource use—of a material or product over its full life cycle.
Cathodic Protection: An electrochemical technique applying a current to reinforcing steel to inhibit anodic dissolution and arrest corrosion.
High‐Volume Fly Ash (HVFA): Concrete in which fly ash replaces more than 50 % of the cementitious binder, reducing CO₂ emissions and enhancing durability.
Geopolymer Mortar: A binder system formed by alkali activation of aluminosilicate sources (e.g. slag, fly ash, bentonite) yielding high-performance, low-carbon materials.
Lightweight Polymer Concrete: A cementless composite using polymer resins and lightweight aggregates to achieve high strength, low density and improved thermal insulation.
References
- Cathodic protection mechanism of iron and steel in porous media. Communications Materials (2024).
- Utilization of lightweight ceramic aggregates based on waste materials in the production of lightweight polymer concrete as a component of sustainable architecture. Scientific Reports (2024).
- Development of an eco-friendly geopolymer mortar using slag and fly ash with high bentonite content for thermal and environmental applications. Scientific Reports (2024).
- Self-consolidating paste systems using ground granulated blast furnace slag and limestone powder mineral admixtures. Case Studies in Construction Materials (2024).
- Sulphate and acid resistance of HVFA concrete incorporating nano silica. Construction and Building Materials (2023).
- Effects of different supplementary cementitious materials on durability and mechanical properties of cement composite – Comprehensive review. Heliyon (2023).
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