Corrosion

Abstract

Over the past 10 years the word nano has become mainstream. Nano is being seen and heard in films, on the radio, on television, and in press. Nanomaterial, nanoscale, nanoscience, nanotechnology, and nanofabrication are the key words of this new paradigm. But how can nanotechnology be defined? Nanotechnology is all about the study and development of new functional artificial materials/systems whose structures and components exhibited novel and significantly improved physical, chemical, and biological properties, due to their nanoscale size.The civil engineering productive sector is traditionally conservative and fragmented, being mainly comprised by small- and medium-sized companies. This is one of the main factors why investigation and development of nanoproducts in civil engineering is still in its beginnings, when compared with pharmaceutical and medicinal sectors. Nevertheless, there are some new (or traditional improved) civil engineering nano-based materials onto the market, many still in development or testing’some case studies are presented here.