What is nanotechnology? It is the term used to describe various methods and techniques for designing and manufacturing nano-sized structures (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter). This innovative field of science is developing extremely rapidly, including in the architectural and construction industry.
Nano-sized objects are sized at the molecular (molecular) level, so they are heavily influenced by quantum effects, and this means they behave differently than normal-sized materials, explains Anita Stryjewska at Nafalinauki.pl.
In architecture and construction, material properties are extremely important. We are constantly looking for more and more new solutions that guarantee greater durability, strength and safety, which at the same time are as cheap and easy to use as possible. Do nanomaterials have the potential to become the answer to these needs?
[...] thanks to the fact that nanomaterials behave differently from their larger counterparts, using them to create structural materials gives them new, desirable properties. Thus, they are added to concrete, steel, plastics, glass, etc., so that they can gain, among other things, "mechanical or thermal strength, fire resistance, abrasion resistance, electrical or thermal conductivity." [...] In addition to the possibility of modifying materials, nanotechnology in many cases also reduces production costs and facilitates the construction process itself, e.g. by reducing the weight of composites or changing their physicality (they can be softer, gain flexibility or resistance to damage)," Stryjewska continues.
It is the popularization of knowledge about nanotechnology and nanomaterials in architecture and construction that the Business-Science Forum will be dedicated to. NANO-inspirations in the construction and architecture industry, which will be held on May 25 at the Silesian Inter-University Center for Education and Interdisciplinary Research in Chorzow.
Organized by the University of Silesia in Katowice, the meeting is aimed primarily at designers, students, academics and entrepreneurs interested in the practical use of nanotechnology. The program will include presentations on, among other things, the use of a new generation of steel with a nanocrystalline structure and the use of photocatalytic nanomaterials in air and surface cleaning.
A detailed program can be found on the meeting's website. You must register your participation in the event by Friday, May 20.
