Nanocomposites for Civil Engineering Applications

The degradation of concrete structures is a major issue faced by many countries around the world. Existing coating materials for surface protection and FRP for rehabilitation are less effective in prolonging the service life of concrete structures under severe environments. Available data on polymer- organoclay nanocomposites indicates the potential of this new kind of material to be employed as high performance coating and as matrix material of durable FRP to effectively enhance the durability of concrete structures under harsh environments. This book provides an in-depth assessment of the applicability of polymer-organoclay nanocomposites in civil engineering. The synthesis, testing and characterization of epoxy-organoclay nanocomposite as well as GFRP made with nanocomposite matrix are presented. And, the effects of organoclay addition on improving the performance of epoxy coating and GFRP are discussed. This study should help shed some light on the applications of nanocomposites in civil engineering, and should be especially useful to professionals in Nanocomposites, FRP and Construction Materials fileds, or anyone else who are interested in above fields.

Autorentext

Honggang Zhu, Ph.D: Studied Nanocomposites at Hong Kong Univ. of Science and Technology (HKUST). Post-doctoral Fellow in the Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering at HKUST; Contributing Editor: Journal of Electronic Components & Materials (China). Research Interests: Nanocomposites, Construction Materials, Engineering Materials etc.