Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–17

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Journal of Building Engineering

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

insight
Ghasan Fahim Huseiena,⁎, Kwok Wei Shahb,⁎, Abdul Rahman Mohd Sama
a
UTM Construction Research Centre, Institute for Smart Infrastructure and Innovative Construction, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
b
Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117566, Singapore

ARTI CLE IN F O AB STRACT

Keywords: 1. Presently, the construction industries worldwide are looking for materials with low carbon footprint and environment
Sustainability friendliness. Yet, ordinary Portland cements (OPC) based materials are widely used in building sectors and remain
Nanomaterials majorly responsible for carbon pollution. The deterioration that happens in such concretes from the very beginning of the
Self-healing concrete service not only life reduces their lifespan but also demands more OPC. Furthermore, the continuation and repairing are
Environment pollution mostly laboured intensive and too expensive. Thus, self-recovery of the damaged concretes is signifcant concerning
High performance 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.

Cement industries that produce the main constituent of concrete remain the foremost concern to the world in terms of contributor for
climate change and hindrance towards sustainability. Apart from USA, the fast-developing nations such as China, Indonesia, India, and
Turkey are also causing major environmental pollution. According to Robert Hutchinson (2016), above 4 billion metric tons of OPC that is
produced annually from numerous cement industries worldwide as basic constituent of concrete are primarily responsible for the major CO 2
footprint [1–4]. Identifcation satisfactory and realistic alternatives are challenging task. In the civil engineering sector, OPC is broadly used
as efcient binder in concrete and other construction materials. Meanwhile, OPC manufacturing is commonly accepted as the main provider
of emitted greenhouse gases in the atmosphere [5–8]. International Energy Agency (IEA) reports suggest that it amounts to 6–7% of total
CO2 emissions [8–11]. By the year 2050, the worldwide demand of OPC is expected boost to nearly 200% [8]. Mitigation of CO2 emissions
from OPC related activities requires new types of sustainable, smart and environmental afable self-healing materials [12,13].
It is known that cement materials have very low resistance to aggressive environment and that is one of the most severe problems
afecting the durability and service life of concrete structures in the natural climate. The efect of aggressive environment can manifest in the
form of expansion and cracking of concrete. Sometimes the cracking of concrete may cause serious structural problems [14,15]. In this
sense, the continuous increase in the durability requirements of the concrete structures led to the development of smart concretes (using self-
healing technology) where excellent durability is mandatory [16]. Generally, self-healing is benefcial for the materials’ durability.
Particularly, it is advantageous when human interference is difcult such as in construction purposes in the midst of harsh physical and
chemical environments. Self-healing is also required to protect material characteristics especially in kinetic and thermodynamic conditions
that support large defects density like nanostructures. Nanomaterials invariably reveal excellent functional attributes. Compared to ordinary
materials, nanomaterials degrade faster due to the presence of numerous interfacial atoms. Many functional nanostructures can be combined
to fabricate diverse nanosystems, wherein some components can also be incorporated to ofer self-healing actions. In fact, this strategy is
simplistic compared to the design of a more robust nanosystem [17]. Of late, due to the rapid advancement of nanoscience and
nanotechnology the design and fabrication of self-healing materials has taken new frontiers, wherein materials with particle size below 500
nm is termed as nanomaterials. Self-healing materials can recover from the damages autonomously. In many circumstances, the self-healing
action can also be prompted via temperature as external stimuli, systems with this capacity are called non-autonomic self-healing materials
[18].
Looking at the future prospects self-healing concrete, this communication revisits the ongoing research activities on nanomaterials based
self-healing concrete benefcial for future sustainable developments. Present paper is organized in three main sections. Section 1 discusses

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: fhghasan@utm.my (G.F. Huseien), bdgskw@nus.edu.sg (K.W. Shah).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2019.01.032
Received 18 September 2018; Received in revised form 25 January 2019; Accepted 25 January 2019 Available
online 26 January 2019
2352-7102/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
G.F. Huseien et al. Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
the importance of self-healing concrete towards more sustainable and smarter growth in the building sectors than the existing traditional
concretes in terms of enhanced environmental friendliness and pollution reduction. Second section highlights some undertaken strategies of
self-healing processes that disclosed repairing mechanisms with sophistication, elegancy and efciency. Various mechanisms of selfhealing,
benefts and drawbacks of every strategy are emphasized and compared. Section 3 deals with based self-healing systems as feasible solution
of self-recovery mechanisms when active concretes are exposed to corrosion, deterioration, degradation and cracking.

2. Sustainability of Traditional OPC based concrete

2.1. Cement generated environmental problems

Universally, OPC has been continually exploited as concrete binder and diferent building substances. It is known that production of
OPC based concretes needs huge amount of fuel and raw ingredients that are acquired via resource mining and energy exhaustive processing
[9]. This in turn causes great quantities of greenhouse gases (essentially CO 2 and NOX) emission into the atmosphere. Per ton of OPC
manufacturing, almost one ton of CO 2 is created by consuming 2.5 t of raw materials and fuel [19–22]. Some estimates revealed that
approximately 1.35 billion tons of CO2 is emitted per annum from the OPC production industries alone, accounting nearly 7% of the total
greenhouse gases released to the environment [8,23]. Compared to CO2 levels in 2010, the CO2 emissions from OPC industries on the earth's
atmosphere is going to be a major environmental concern because the global demand of OPC is predicted to grow nearly to 200% by 2050
[8]. Over the years, numerous strategies were adopted to reduce OPC manufacturing including the durability enhancement of concrete and
elongation of service lifespan. In this standpoint, self-healing concrete is emerged as one of the gifted solutions to mitigate the OPC
generated environmental pollution. 2.2. Concrete durability

Characteristically, the serviceability of construction materials has considerable economic signifcance, particularly with modern
infrastructures and components. For urbanization, concrete materials that are greatly exploited must meet the standard codes of practices
requisites’ related to strength and durability [24]. For instance, poor plan, low capacity or over-load, faulty material design and structures,
wrong construction practices or unsatisfactory maintenance, and lack of engineering knowledge can often diminish the service life span of
concrete under operation [25]. In the construction industries fast declination of concrete structures being a major setback necessitates
additional improvement. Varieties of physical, chemical, thermal and biological processes are responsible for the progressive deterioration
concrete structures during their service [7,26]. Several studies [27–29] revealed that the concrete performance is greatly afected by
improper usage, physical and chemical conditions of environments. It is verifed that both external and internal factors involving physical,
chemical, or mechanical actions are often responsible for the deterioration of the concrete structures.
Mechanical damage of concrete structure occurs due to diferent reasons such as impact, abrasion, cracking, erosion, cavitation, or
contraction. Chemical actions that cause the declination of concretes are carbonation, reaction associated with alkali and silica, alkali and
carbonate as well as eforescence. Moreover, outside attacks of chemicals happen primarily due to CO 2, Cl2, SO4 as well as several other
liquids and gases generated by the industries. Physical causes of deterioration include the efects of high temperature or diferences in the
thermal expansion of aggregate and of the hardened cement paste. Other reason of deterioration is the occurrence of alternating freezing and
thawing of concrete and the associated action of the de-icing salts. Physical and chemical processes of deterioration often act in a synergistic
way including the infuence of sea water on concrete. Poor durability performance of OPC in aggressive acidic or sulphate (especially in
marine) environment is caused due the existence of calcium complexes. These calcium complexes are very easily dissolved in acidic
atmosphere, leading to enhanced porosity and thus fast deterioration [30].
In many places worldwide, OPC structures that are existing for many decades are facing rapid deterioration [31]. Defnitely, the
permanence of OPC is linked with the nature of concretes’ constituents, where CaO of 60–65% and the hydration product of Ca(OH)2 nearly
25% is responsible for fast structural decay. Several studies indicated that occurrence of fast reaction of Ca(OH) 2 in the acidic surroundings
allows OPC to be deprived of water, leading to acid fusion and weakening of resistance against aggressive attacks. On the top, the intense
reaction of evolved CO2 with Ca(OH)2 contribute to rapid corrosion of the concretes containing OPC [31]. The safety, service life,
permanence, and life span of the mix design of concretes are considerably infuenced by the cracks development and subsequent erosion.
These distinguished drawbacks of OPC based concretes drove researchers to enhance properties of conventional OPC by adding pozolanic
materials, polymer and nanomaterials so that it becomes more sustainable and endurable. The immediate consequence for a fected concrete
structures is the anticipated need of maintenance and execution of repairing [32]. Thus, there is a renewed interest for the development of
sustainable concrete to solve all these existing shortcomings involving harsh environmental conditioning and durability.

2.3. Energy problems in cement industries

Nowadays, cement is the primary workhorse in the construction sectors worldwide. Cement is processed at high temperature ( ≈1450 °C)
in a rotary kiln by mixing limestone or chalks with clay. Next, the yielded hard nodules of clinker are crushed with low amount of gypsum
using ball milling technique. Firing of such cement constituents at higher temperature needs substantial amounts of energy to be consumed
(burning of coal or petroleum coke). Rapid decay of land setting, generation of dust during transport, creation of noise all over quarrying and
processing of raw materials are regarded as major environmental concerns in OPC production. According to previous publications [28,33],
OPC manufacturing devoid of considerable amounts of CO 2 release is impossible. Actually, the CO 2 emission occurs in two phases including
fuel burning (to achieve very high temperatures of klin) and calcining (a chemical reaction occurs during limestone fring). Until now, even
the most efcient cement production plant emits 60% or more of CO 2 from various inevitable chemical pathways. The consumption of a
considerable quantity of energy during crushing of cementitious raw materials in the clinker phase remains the foremost ecological distress
in the OPC industries [34,35]. Undeniably, developing autonomic self-healing cement-based materials must be realized as a practical
solution to the existing problems.

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3. Self-healing concrete

3.1. Sustainability of smart concrete

Low carbon emission and energy saving building material incorporated with smart material (in self-healing technology) is a wellknown
candidate energy technology in enhancing energy efciency and sustainability of building. The major aim of sustainable development is to
keep livelihood on earth in the predictable future with absolute support or care so that ecological balance is not disturbed [36]. Sustainability
is founded on three basic elements such as the economic security, environmental safety and societal bene fts. Sustainable advancement must
preserve these factors to protect the biodiversity with balanced ecosystem. In the present industrial uprising era, engineers, scientists,
policymakers and architects are attempting to use resourcefully the sustainable model to reduce the negative impact on our ecosystem.
Therefore, in the perspective of building materials the phrase sustainability used synonymously with robust or friendly and green
environment [37,38]. In this viewpoint, self-healing materials have attracted increasing interest due to their potential to lessen the
degradation, prolong the functional lifespan, and suppress the maintenance costs of materials [39,40]. However, the self-healing technology
contributions directly to enhance the environment and reduction the pollution from increasing concrete life-span and reduction the demand
and consumed of OPC as well ‘as afecting to saving energy and increase the sustainability of concrete.

3.2. Life cycle analysis of self-healing concrete

During the past decade, the self-healing technique extensively studied and introduce as an innovative technique for concrete crack
selfrepair. However, several innovative strategies to self-healing for cementitious materials have been proposed and developed. Nowadays, it
is known as the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology which has been standardized in ISO 14040–14044. Thus far, it has been used for
assessing the environmental impact of all kinds of products and services preferably from the cradle to the grave. The goal of this LCA was a
quantifcation of the environmental impact reduction that could be achieved by using the proposed self-healing concrete instead of a more
traditional concrete. Some direct benefts of concrete self-healing include the reduction of the rate of deterioration, extension of service life,
and reduction of repair frequency and cost over the life cycle of a concrete infrastructure. These direct benefts may be expected to lead to
enhanced environmental sustainability since fewer repairs implies lower rate of material resource usage and reduction in energy
consumption and pollutant emission in material production and transport, as well as that associated with tra fc alterations in transportation
infrastructure during repair/reconstruction events [41]. Van Belleghem et al. [42] has reported the Self-healing of cracks with encapsulated
polyurethane precursor formed a partial barrier against immediate ingress of chlorides through the cracks. Application of self-healing
concrete was able to reduce the chloride concentration in a cracked zone by 75% or more. Service life of self-healing concrete in marine
environments could amount to 60–94 years as opposed to only 7 years for ordinary (cracked) concrete. However, life cycle assessment
calculations indicated important environmental benefts (56–75%) and mainly induced by the achievable service life extension.

3.3. Mechanism of self-healing in cementitious materials

In human body, injured surfaces (skins) and tissues are self-recovered due to the assimilation of nutrients that creates new substitutes to
repair the injured parts. Likewise, in the self-healing of cements based materials essential products (acts as nutrients) are supplied to heal the
cracks in damaged concretes. In the past few decades, intensive investigations have been performed to explore novel strategies for ef fcient
self-healing with durability. Fig. 1 provides a schematic presentation involving the developed self-healing strategies for cementious
materials.

3.3.1. Hollow fbres

Fig. 2 schematically displays the hollow fbres enabled self-healing processes. Hollow fbres store some functional materials’
components (acts as healing agent) inside of the empty spaces that form a composite network matrix [43,44]. When concrete structure is
damaged and develops cracks under certain external stress or stimuli these functional elements so called healing agents fow out of these
hollow spaces to repair the cracks instantly. Analogous to the arteries in living system, self-healing processes use hollow fbres implanted
with the engineering materials of varying length scales depending on the damaged structures to be repaired [44,45]. For instance bulk
polymers used in polymeric composites for self-healing purposes [46–49]. It has been shown that these hollow fbres or tubular structures
are greatly efective for discharging the healing agents upon encapsulation [50,51]. To identify easily and speedily the internal damages in
composite structures, Pang and Bond proposed a method called damage visual enhancement [49]. It was demonstrated that (Fig. 3) fbres
packed with engineered healing materials and tagged with fuorescent dye can easily monitor the repairing progression.
The idea of biological self-healing mechanism such as bleeding can now be applied to repair the cracks of cementitious materials [52,53]
appropriate. Using this concept, the functional components (healing elements) can be packed inside the fragile fbrous vessels dispersed
inside the concretes network. Upon sustained damages these fragile fbres are broken and functional repair materials are released to initiate
the self-repairing. Liquid methyl methacrylate in short MMA (is a methyl ester of methacrylic acid and a reactive resin) was embedded
within hollow polypropylene fbres and then encapsulated inside the concrete [53], which could release MMA and reduced the concrete
porosity. Some studies were conducted on the release of crack holding cementitious glue from hollow pipettes of glass inside the concrete
immediately following the fexural test. Such concrete structures packed with glue/adhesive components were found to display about 20%
more load carrying capacity than the one without glue following the fexural testing.
Several researchers [52,54,55] independently clarifed the buoyant process involving self-healing. To get a basic insight of the self-
healing processes, hollow fbres (pipettes) were positioned within cementitious network matrix, where one terminal was connected to the
self-healing mediator and another end was fastened. In this study, concrete mixes were designed [54] and glass tubes with respective

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external and internal diameter of 2 mm and 0.8 mm was positioned within the specimens. Both dilute (27%) non-dilute alkali-silicate
mixture and 2 components combined epoxy resin of low viscosity were utilized for selfhealing component. Subsequently, this complex
solution was loaded until the Crack Mouth Opening Displacement (CMOD) reached to 0.03 –2 mm after the elimination of the load. Next,
these cracked samples were again cured to examine the improvement of self-healing ability. Compared to normal specimens (without
healing agent) specimens that contained the dilute and non-dilute alkaline silica solution as the healing component correspondingly revealed
a mean ratio of the strength recovery of 1.1 and 1.5. Conversely, specimens in the presence of epoxy resin displayed little improvement in
the strength recovery ratio, which was much below the value that was obtained by direct mixing of resin and manual injection into the
cracked regions (about three times better recovery). This observation was majorly ascribed to the inadequate blending and stirring of the two
constituents, which produced the low healing ratio due to less hardening of resin. It could also be due to the presence of some residual epoxy
that remained inside the pipes because of the sealing of one end.
According Joseph [55], the testing regime was analogous except some insignifcant distinctions. Bent plastic tubes with respective
external and internal diameter of 4 mm and 3 mm were employed as the vehicle of healing mediator (Ethylcyanoacrylate). It was concluded
that supply of such healing component externally could achieve self-healing successfully. After healing of the damaged area the stifness
after crack, the peak load and the ductility were enhanced considerably. Results during and after test revealed that, ethyl cyanoacrylate as
adhesive could penetrate a large area of the fractured surfaces due to the

Fig. 1. Developed strategies for self-healing in cement based materials.

capillary suction and gravitational efects.

3.3.2. Microencapsulation
With the time, the man-made materials for encapsulation were developed from natural examples spanning from macro- to nano- scale.
Birds’ egg or seeds are the simplest illustration of natural encapsulation on a macroscopic scale and a cell within it is an example on
microscopic scale [57–59]. The growth of microencapsulation started with the synthesis of capsules comprised of dyes, which was then
included in paper for the copying and replacing the carbon-paper [60]. Over the passage of time, several novel technologies have been
developed in diverse areas. Microencapsulation is not considered as disconnected product or part of it, which is rather de fned as the
development of including micrometer size solid granules or liquid drops or gases within the inert shell, isolating and protecting them from
unnecessary reactions in the outside surroundings [61,62]. The implementations of microencapsulation with self-healing products were
established [61,63]. Fig. 3a explains the self-healing idea, where the crack ruptures the implanted microcapsules, resulting in the release of
healing agent into the crack surfaces via capillary action. Thereafter, the healing agent comes in contact with the embedded catalyst,
inducing polymerization and thus closing of the surrounding cracks. Fig. 3b displays a typical cracked microcapsule image.
Nishiwaki [64] reported the flling of microcapsules using epoxy resin as healing material where the shell of urea–formaldehyde
formalin in the size range of 20–70 µm was incorporated. These microcapsules plus acrylic-resin (an hardener in the form of gelatin shell of
size range of 125–297 µm) were employed. It was shown that

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Fig. 2. Schematic representation of self-healing processes using hollow fbres [56].
Fig. 3. (a) The microcapsulation approach and (b) typical ESEM micrograph of a cracked microcapsule [61].
microcapsules incorporated with sodium silicate were efective for
selfhealing [65]. In this work, concrete was frst stacked to almost
the breaking point before the load was removed and then cured for
1 week. Results revealed the concrete with 2% sodium silicate
microencapsulation could recover as much as 26% of its actual
strength compared to the reference sample (recovery of 10% only).
It was concluded that by growing the healing material's amount
even upper strength recovery ratio could be attained. Jianying Yu
et. al [66] inspected the one-component microcapsules were
prepared with toluenedi-isocyanate (TDI) as the healing agent and
parafn as the shell. The results indicted d that the TDI was
successfully encapsulated in the parafn shell and The mortars with
the microcapsules showed more favorable self-healing capacity.
3.3.3. Expansive agents and mineral admixtures
Kishi et al. [67] reported the creation of cementitious materials
such as Al2O3–Fe2O3-tri (AFt), Al2O3–Fe2O3-mono (AFm) and
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the cracked concrete and air voids of
Ca(OH)2 crystals. It was assumed that such hydration yields could
leached out and re-crystallize in the fown water through the
fractures. According to this idea, Kishi and co-workers [67–69]
evaluated the self-healing concrete performance with diferent
healing agents. Expansive agent, geo-materials and chemical
mixtures together with their blends were included in the
Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
investigation of agents [69,70]. A comparison of the reference
specimen was made with the specimen containing 10% cement
substituted by expansive materials comprised of C 4A3S, CaSO4 and
CaO (lime) was conducted. It was revealed that for concrete beams
containing expansive agents could almost heal the presence of an
early crack of 0.22 mm later than 1 month, in which rehydration
yield among cracks was identifed. Nevertheless, for the ordinary
concrete structure these cracks were partially healed during the the
same time period. Therefore, re-crystallization of expansive agents
in air voids for selfrecovery was extra efcient compared to normal
concrete [67]. Tanvir Qureshi et. al [29] reported that the expansive
minerals improved the self-healing capacity of concrete mixes. The
autogenous self-healing performance of any particular cement mix
could be numerically predicted based on their hydration degree
which is an indicator of cement mix state at any particular age.
It was also demonstrated that a geo-material containing SiO 2
(71.3%) and Al2O3 (15.4%) when added to the expansive material
could form a geo-polymer via polymerization of aluminate and
silicate compleaxes individually [68]. Subsequently, these were
dissolved at high pH due to the existence of alkali metals.
Thorough investigation revealed that the size geo-polymer gel
particles were below 2 µm and the cracked interfacial phases of the
original ruptured zone generated numerous hydro-garnet or AFt
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phases (Fig. 5). Thus presence of expansive agent played a decisive
role to bridge those cracks.
Fig. 4. Typical crack-healing processes via immobilized bacteria in concretes
[71].
Furthermore, EDX spectra displayed that majority of the modifed
geopolymer gel was existed in dense phase than the hydro-garnet
one. Further study on chemical additives [68] indicated that the
inclusion of NaHCO3, Na2CO3 and Li2CO3 to the standard concrete
could enhance by cementitious re-crystallization and precipitation
of particles in concrete. It was concluded that using proper amounts
of carbonates and expansive agents, the self-healing attributes of
cracks could considerably be improved.
3.3.4. Bacteria as self-healing agent
In recent years, the utilization of biological techniques for
repairing were proposed by introducing bacteria inside the concrete
[71–75]. In the mid-1990s Gollapudi et al. [76] conducted a study
and introduced an environmental friendly approach to repair
concrete cracks, where ureolytic bacteria was incorporated to
accelerate the precipitation of CaCO 3 in the micro-crack areas in
concrete. The microbes assisted precipitation of CaCO 3 was
characterized using several parameters such as the dissolved
inorganic carbon contents, materials pH, calcium ions
concentration, and accessibility of nucleation sites (accessible
localized areas of reaction). The bacterial cell walls acted as
nucleation sites and bacterial metabolism controlled the other
factors [72].
Tittelboom and coworkers [72] used bacteria in concrete to
generate an enzyme called urease that could catalyze urea
(CO(NH2)2) into ammonium ions (NH4+) and carbonate radicals
(CO3−2). In the chemical reactions 1 mol of urea underwent
intracellular hydrolyses to 1 mol of carbonate and 1 mol of
ammonia following Path I. Then, carbamate was hydrolysed
spontaneously to form one extra mole of ammonia and carbonic
acid via path II. These products later formed 1 mol of bi-carbonate
(HCO−3) and 2 mol of ammonium (NH+4) and hydroxide (OH−1)
Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
ions (Path III and IV). Path IV and V was responsible for the
enhancement of pH, drifting the bicarbonate equilibrium to form
carbonate ions.
CO(NH2)2+H2O → NH2COOH+NH3 Path I
NH2COOH + H2O → NH3 + H2CO3 Path II
H2CO3 + H2O → HCO−3 + H+1 Path III
2NH3 + 2H2O → 2NH+4 + 2OH−1 Path IV
HCO−3 + H+1+ 2NH+4 + 2OH−1 → CO3−2 + 2NH+4 + 2H2O Path V
The bacteria could accept cations (with Ca+2 deposited on the
surface of cell-wall) from the surroundings because of their
negatively charged cell walls. Then, the Ca+2 could react with the
CO3−2 and led to precipitate CaCO3 at the cell wall surfaces which
ofer the active nucleation site (Path VI and VII). Using this
approach of localized precipitation of CaCO3 via bacteria, the
cracked surfaces could be repaired. Fig. 4 depicts the crack-healing
mechanism using bacteria assisted concrete immobilization.
Ca+2 + Cell → Cell-Ca+2 Path VI
Cell-Ca+2 + CO3−2 → Cell-CaCO3 Path VII
3.3.5. Shape memory materials as self-healer
Several researchers [77–80] revealed the usefulness of
functional materials incorporation in cementitious concrete
structures to achieve efcient self-healing. These candidates
include shape memory alloys (SMAs) or shape memory polymers.
The fundamental idea is that when cracks are formed then such
materials with short predefned memory shape could shrink in a
controlled condition, thereby generating a contraction to optimally
act as cracks closure agent. Chang and Read (1932) identifed a
reversible phase change in gold–cadmium (Au-Cd) alloy which
was referred as frst observation on shape memory efect [80]. Over
the years, several SMAs have been realized with excellent thermo-
mechanical and thermo-electrical features [81]. For instance,
Nitinol reveals super-elasticity together with shape memory efect
refers by returning back to their predetermined shapes under heat
treatment. In super-elasticity it undergoes an exceedingly large
inelastic deformation and recovers the shape soon after unloading
[82]. Wires of SMAs was used by Song and Mo [83] to get
intelligent reinforced concrete (IRC). The post-tension efects in
IRC were achieved by utilizing stranded martensite wires of SMA.
The alteration in the electrical resistance of SMA wires was
monitored to get the strain distribution within the concrete. Any
cracks development due to explosions or earthquakes could be
identifed, wherein electrical heating of the SMA wires could reveal
Fig. 5. Applications of nanomaterials in concrete.
contraction and reduce the cracks, there could handle macro-cracks
via self-rehabilitation. The concrete structure was intelligent
enough to detect the self-rehabilitation and thus the name was
coined.
Sakai et al. [77] examined the self-restoration process in concrete
beam by super-elastic wires made of SMAs. Results showed that
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the mortar beam containing SMA wires could recover about totally
after sustaining a very huge crack. Likewise, shape memory
polymers (SMPs) have been developed by Jeferson et al. to
incorporate into cementitious materials [79]. When crack arises in
the cementitious matrix because of early age shrinkage, thermal
infuences and/or mechanical loading then the shrinking process in
the included SMA tendons can be stimulated by heating. This in
turn can repair the cracks by developing a measurable compressive
stresses across the closed crack surfaces. Such cracks closing
mechanism can improve the natural self-healing processes and the
durability performance of the structural elements in concrete. It
was concluded that post-tensioned mortar beams via aligned
shrinked polymer tendons could be efective for crack closing and
weak prestressing. Results from several screening tests revealed
that the most efcient tendons were polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) Shrinktite with a shrinking potential of about 34 MPa at
controlled situations with 90 °C heating and subsequent cooling
down to room temperature. The infuence of heating together with
extra curing could enhance the mortar's strength around 25%.
3.3.6. Coating
Recent developments in materials’ technology provide extra
functionalities leading to the term of “intelligent material” which
are characterized via desired response to some external stimuli
such as temperature, light, humidity, etc. Innovative materials for
buildings (coatings) have been developed and tested successfully
[84,85]. Amongst these materials we may fnd coatings for self-
healing concrete with specifc durability properties. The technical
of self-healing coating used with reinforcement concrete for steel
bar self-healing and reduction the corrosion damaged. Self-healing
coatings are a recent avenue of research that could provide a way
to fght the deterioration of modern infrastructure. Conventional
anti-corrosive coatings have limited effectiveness if even a small
portion of the coating is damaged [86]. Selfhealing coatings,
however, can continue to function due to their ability to heal after
fracture [87]. In efect, this self-repair is anticipated to be able to
greatly prolong the life of steel rebar structures. Initial
investigation into application on steel rebar was conducted by Chen
et al. [88]. This technology could be applied to rebar structures that
are typically coated with epoxy coatings in the highly corrosive
areas of the Northeast to combat rapid corrosion rates.
In the past, many studies have been conducted [12,13,26] to
determine the mechanism of protecting the concrete roads, bridges
and other structures against tiny cracks development. Yet, no
conclusive remark has been made and thus remained as major
issue. Cracks allow water, salt used for deicing and air to enter the
concrete. During winter season, frozen water inside the cracks
expands and made them bigger, speeding up concrete's
deterioration in the presence of road salt. Many investigations have
been conducted on self-healing anticorrosive coatings for
protection of metals but no work is performed on self-healing
protective coating for concrete. Self-healing coatings that initiate
selfhealing through external cracking or damaging has seen
substantial research. These coatings often have micro containers
mixed in that can rupture easily when acted upon. The containers
hold healing agents that then seal the crack and prolong the
functionality of the coating. Containers that hold these healing
agents can vary from polyurethane microcapsules to microflament
tubes and often have little efect on the mechanical properties of
the coating. Research in this area has provided good results and
application in real world environments can be further investigated
[87,89,90].
Many types of organic and inorganic materials used for this
purpose. Epoxy coatings are widely used to prevent corrosive
Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
agents such as water and salts from coming in contact with rebar.
The development of polymer coatings that react to environmental
stimuli such as heat or pH changes to initiate crack healing has also
been investigated [91,92]. Coatings that react to heat have achieved
success, with some retaining all of their mechanical properties after
multiple healing cycles [93]. As polyelectrolyte nanocontainer
coatings, changes in the pH of the solution have been able to set a
response within seconds [94]. Full recovery of the mechanical
properties of the coatings were also achieved, making it a
promising option for research in the future [94]. Drying oils such
as tung oil and linseed oil have received signifcant investigation
regarding their healing properties and encapsulation [95–97]. When
exposed to air, tung oil will polymerize into a tough, glossy,
waterproof coating. These characteristics have made drying oils a
valuable component in paints, varnishes, and printing inks. Tung
oil encapsulation was frst achieved by Samadzadeh et al. [98].
These urea-formaldehyde microcapsules displayed good adhesion
to the epoxy matrix, compared to industry standards, by testing the
microcapsules pull-of strength following ASTM D4541-09.
Testing of damaged samples to measure service life through
immersion in sodium chloride solutions was conducted. Results
were promising, as the tung oil microcapsules extended service life
up to nine times that of epoxy coatings after damage.
3.3.7. Engineered cementitious composite
In the early 1990s, the special class of concrete called ultra-
ductile fbre reinforced cementitious composites was designed.
Originally, it is known as Engineered Cementitious Composite
(ECC) [99], which is constantly improved over the last two decade
[16,99]. This material possesses high ductility (3–7%), tight crack
size (about 60 µm) and comparatively low fbre content (roughly
2% or lesser by volume) [100]. Actually, metal-like feature is the
signifcant mechanical character of ECC. It can sustain elevated
loads after initial crack during auxiliary distortions. Li et al. [101]
examined the self-repairing idea of Dry [52] related to bleeding
which was used to discharge chemicals that could close the tensile
cracks with subsequent air curing. This mechanism led to regain
the mechanical properties of the un-cracked composites. It was
acknowledged that the self-healing process was inefective for
usual concrete, cement or concrete reinforced with fbre. It is due
the difculty in controlling the size of the tensile cracks in these
materials. Local breakages could multiply continuously inside the
crack width under declining tensile load and exhaust quickly the
accessible chemicals responsible for crack closure and re-healing.
Therefore, effective self-recovery requires the control of the tensile
crack width which must be restricted within tens of micros. Else,
very large glass pipes are needed to modify the mechanical
characteristics of composites. This argument was consistent with
several other reports, that emphasized the role of cracks width
[102–104].
The tightly controlled crack size being one inherent
characteristics of ECC can ofer advantages for applying the self-
healing idea to ECC. Later, two diferent experiments were
conducted [30] to examine the viability of the proposed bleeding
notion. In the frst experiment, the ECC materials with a single
empty glass fbre free of any healing chemical were tested in situ at
a loading stage under an FESEM. The idea was to confrm the
sensing and actuation properties of ECC. The other experiment was
performed to measure the fexural strength of ECC containing the
glass fbres packed with sealing material (ethyl cyanoacrylate).
Both studies were performed under MTS load-frames to ascertain
the re-healing efectiveness of the sealing mediator after sustaining
damage (fracture) in the load-cycles. The sensing and actuation
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processes were authenticated using FESEM images and the
infuences of revitalization were authenticated via fexural stifness
regain. It was also acknowledged that several other issues need
further investigation before practical applications could be made.
Li et al. [50,105,106] also examined the self-healing phenomena of
cementitious materials in addition to the inclusion of external
chemical as healing glue in concrete. The concrete matrix and its
interaction with the exposed surroundings were examined. The
ECC specimens were precracked and exposed to various
environments such as water permeation and submersion, cycles
related to wetting and drying, and chloride ions attack. Results
revealed that the mechanical and transport characteristics was
principally recovered, particularly for ECC preloaded with tensile
strain below 1%. Apart from the tiny cracks, the small water/
binder ratio and the presence of great quantity of FA in the mixture
could support the self-recovery action through hydration and
pozzolanic mechanisms.
The ECC materials was locally developed from waste matters
and/or by-products [107]. Several mixtures were designed using
powders of blast furnace slag (BFS) as well as limestone (LS) and
subsequently analyzed by measuring the tensile strain (2–3%) as
well stif cracks (with typical size < 60 µm). It was found that [108]
the mixes designed by Zhou et al. [107] were dissimilar from the
one casted by Li et al. [50] in terms of basic constituents (high
proportion of BFS and LS instead of FA) and very high water to
binder ratio in the range of 0.45–0.60 against 0.23. This indicated
that the quantity of un-hydrated cementitious materials cured later
than 28 days was much below the one used by Li et al. [101]. It
was shown that ECC specimens made from great quantity of BFS,
LP and reasonably high ratio of water to binder that could restore
comparable self-repairing properties than ECC materials analyzed
by high proportion of FA and low water to binder ratio. This
observation was ascribed to the presence of tight crack width,
wherein the self-healing of ECC was decided by the availability of
un-hydrated cement and other complementary products including
BFS. Therefore, low ratio of water to cementitious material ratio
and high fraction of cementitious specimen were useful to support
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the self-recovery process. The signifcance of crack size was
underscored in the context of constant hydration dependent self-
recovery because it consumed very low amount of healing
materials to close the cracks and was easy for the healing
specimens to develop from both faces of the cracks for joining.
Commonly, the micro-crack behaviour and the cracking chance
of ECC in the presence of micro-encapsulated modules were found
to improve, wherein healing materials were released. This assured
the efciency of the sensing and actuation processesthrough micro-
encapsulation. The tight crack size in ECC is greatly signifcant
because it needs low quantities of healing products for cracks
flling and efcient for the healing products to develop from both
facades for connecting these cracks. In short, ECC possesses higher
fraction of cementitious materials and lesser water to binder ratio
than conventional cements, thus more efective self-healer. Table 1
enlists the benefts and drawbacks of various self-healing concrete
strategies developed in the past.
4. Nanomaterials
4.1. Production of nanomaterials
It is well known that nanoparticles produce superior efect on
fller than micron-sized materials. Guterrez [123] acknowledged
that all materials can be converted into nanoparticles via crushing
or chemical treatment. The production accuracy of nanoparticle is
decided by the purity and the chemical constituents of the parent
materials. Two routes are followed for the large scale production of
nanomaterials including the top-down approach [124] and bottom-
up approach [125]. These approaches are chosen based on the
appropriateness, price and knowledge of the nanoscale properties
of the material under consideration [126]. Milling technique fall in
the category of top-down approach, wherein the selection of
milling machine is favoured due to its accessibility,
inexpensiveness and feasibility of easy modifcation without
requiring any chemical reagents or complex electronic equipments.
In the top-down approach, big structures (bulk) are transformed
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Table1
Comparisonofvariousself-healingconcretestrategies.

Ref. Strategy Mechanism Meritsand Demerits

Precursors Products

[48,49,53][109,110] Internalencapsulationand Epoxy/polymer ResinhardenedHealingsystemsaredischargedwhenneeded.Complexityincasting.

Hollow fbre hardened Intermediatequantityofealingmaterials.Negativein fuenceonthemechanicalcharacteristicsofhecementmatrixin
thepresenceofargenumberofollow fbers.
Efcientundermultipledamages. Probableintricacyinthereleaseofealingmaterials.
[111] ExternalsupplysystemEpoxy/polymer ResinhardenedHealingmaterialsaredischargedwhenneeded.Lowrecoveryratio,whichwasmuchbelowthandirectmixingofresinand
hardened Adaptablehighquantityofealingmaterial. manualinjectionintothecracks.Lateronerevealedthreetimesbeterhealing.
[39,69] Microcapsule SiO2 C-S-Hgelcalcium Healingmaterialsaredischargedwhenneeded.Complexityforcapsulesmakingandcasting
Al2O3 nitrate
TiO2
Fe2O3 Responseformultipledamagessimultaneously.Inadequatehealingsystem.
Possibleefectivenessundermultipledamage Thebondingamongcapsulesandmatrixisuncertain
events. Negativeinfuenceonthemechanicalcharacteristicsofhecementmatrixin
thepresenceofseveralcapsules.
[112–114] Expansiveagentandmineral CSH2,CH,C 4A3SC-(A)-S-HgelsSuperiore fciencyinhealingUnwantedgrowthunderill-treatment
admixtures Excellentcompatibilityofheproducedhealing Formationofealingproductsisuncertain.
productswiththecementitiousmatrix Notveryusefulinthepresenceofseveraldamages.
[72,111,115,116] BacteriaCO 2,Ca(OH) 2 CaCO3 Goodbiologicalefectiveness,afreeofpollution Needseveralprerequisites.

163
andnatural Measuresmustbetakentoshieldbacteriainconcrete
Mechanicalfeaturesrecoveryandefcacyformanydamagesmaybea
concern.
[117–119] ShapememorymaterialsEnhancedtheetringite C-S-HgelMacro-crackscanbetackled.Expensive
formation StrongrecoveryinthemechanicalbehaviourInductionofealingviaheatreatmentleadstouncertainties.
Efectivenesstowardsmanydamagesevents
[120] CoatingMethodPolymerReductionthe EasyMaintenanceManyprerequisitestobemet.
EpoxyCheap porosity
DecreasethecorrosionproblemsE fciencytowardsnumerousdamagesmaybeasetback
Forexternalhealing.
[121,122] NanomaterialsSiO 2,Al 2O3 C-(A)-S-HgelsStrongrecoveryinthemechanicalbehaviourHighsafetyrequirements.
TiO2,Fe 2O3 EfectivenesstowardsmanydamagesForinternal
andexternalapplication
Cheapandsavingenergy.
Excellenthealingefcacy.
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G.F. Huseien et al.
to small one (nanodimension) while keeping their actual physical
or chemical behaviour intact via atomic level control [127], which
has been applied at industrial level. Using milling technique, high
volume of nanoparticles can be produced. Though top-down
approach is contemporary for nanofabrication, the consistency and
superiority of the yields are often unpredictable. To overcome such
drawbacks, the milling techniques (a top-down approach) can
further be improved by increasing the number of balls, ball types,
milling speed, and nature of the jar, where the quality of
nanoparticles become better [128].
High energy ball milling technique has been widely used to
fabricate diverse nanomaterials such as nanoparticles, nanograins,
nanoalloy, nanocomposites and nano quasicrystals. John Benjamin
introduced this technique to produce oxide particles inside the
matrix of nickel superalloys (1970). Utilizing milling technique the
properties of alloy component efective for high thermal structure
was altered and mechanical strengths were improved. Factors
including fractures, plastic distortions/deformations, and cold
welds during the milling process afect the materials conversion
into the desired morphology. Milling not only crushes the material
into tinier fragments but also blends numerous particles or
materials to transform into new phases with diferent compositions.
Usually, the fnal yields of milling technique are in the form of
fakes where refnements are performed based on the selected ball
and milling standard. Most of the nanomaterials (nanosilica, nano
alumina, nanoclay) utilized in concrete can be obtained via bottom-
up approach, which is adopted for materials engineering at atomic
or molecular levels via the self-assembling process so called
molecular- nanotechnology or molecular-level processing. It is
applied indirectly in nanomaterials and chemical production [32].
Varied morphology of nanoparticles obtained via bottom-up
strategy is often customized through chemical synthesis technique.
In comparison to top-down strategy, the bottom-up strategy can
generate nanomorphology with more uniformity and
reproducibility. Besides, using bottom-up approach one can
produce novel nanocrystals with perfect atomic or molecular
ordering. Bottom-up approach based production of nanomaterials
are useful for achieving high electronic conductivity, optical
absorption and chemical reactivity [129]. Through bottom-up
strategy, one can get tinier size and formation of consistent surface
atoms with modifed surface energies and morphologies. Usually,
bottom-up technique is exploited to prepare self-healing and
selfcleaning nanomaterials with improved catalytic properties,
sensing capacity and novel pigments characteristics. Moreover, the
main drawbacks of bottom-up scheme is related to high running
cost, need of experts for chemical synthesis and limitation to
laboratory orientation only [130]. The nanoparticles produced
using bottom-up approach is excellent for advance applications
including electronic components and biotechnology.
4.2. Nanomaterials based concretes
In recent years, the growth in nanotechnology and the
accessibility of nanomaterials suited for construction usage
including nanosilica, nanoalumina, Polycarboxylates and
nanokaolin have improved the concrete properties remarkably
[126,131,132]. Intensive researches revealed that the mechanical
properties such as compressive strength, splitting tensile and
fexural strength of cement pastes [133,134], mortars [131,135],
and concretes [136] can be improved via a tiny quantity of
nanomaterials. Early strengths of pastes, mortars [131,135] and
concrete [136] in the presence of nanomaterials were reported to be
much higher than those formulated with conventional OPC.
Development of such higher strengths were ascribed to the faster
Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
cement hydration process and pozzolanic reaction, reduction of
pores density, and enhanced interfacial bonding amid hardened
cement paste and constituents (aggregates). Nanomaterials were
also exploited to reduce the porosity and enhance the durability
properties of concrete [137,138]. With developing the concrete
technology, the nanomaterials were used in many applications (Fig.
5) and the self-healing technology one of the important application
to produce sustainable and smart concrete.
4.3. Production of nanoconcrete
Using materials with a particle size less than 500 nm in
concrete production as admixture or part cement replacement
called nanoconcrete. It was shown that the strength of normal
concrete tend to enhance with the inclusion of nanoparticles. The
bulk properties and packing model structure of concrete can
remarkably be improved via the incorporation of nanoparticle.
Nanoparticles act as excellent flling agents through the refnement
of intersection zones in cementitious materials and production of
high density concrete. The manipulation or modifcation of these
nanoparticles in the cement matrix can render a new-fangled
nanostructures [139–141]. General defciencies in the
microstructures of concretes including voids, micro-porosity and
corrosion originated from the reaction of alkaline silica can be
discarded. The advancement of nanomaterials occurred due to their
characteristics as new binding agent with particles sizes much
tinier than traditional OPC. This property enhances the hydration
gel product by imparting a neat and solid structure. Besides, using
a blend of fller and extra chemical reaction in the hydration
scheme, high performing novel nanoconcrete with enhanced
durability can be achieved.
The application of nanotechnology in concrete is still in its
infancy. Ever-growing demand for ultra-high performance concrete
(UHPC) and recurring environmental pollution caused by OPC
enforced the engineers to exploit nanotechnology in construction
materials. Classical blends of UHPC with incorporated silica fumes
can achieve enhanced strength and high durability. However,
limited accessibility and highpricing of nanomaterials not only
slowed down the growth of UHPC technology but also made it less
demanding compared to conventional high strength concrete
(HSC). To overcome these limitations, nanotechnology enrouted
production of UHPC emerged in its own right wherein an
alternative to silica fume has been developed. Exploiting the
nanoproduction idea, a typical nanomaterial mimicking the
attributes of silica fume was designed. Nanosilica is certainly the
newest material in nanotechnology based processing that has been
used as substitute to silica fume [142]. Using this celebrated
nanosilica component, several types of nanoparticles have been
synthesized which are efective for concrete production [143],
Nanoalumina [144],titanium oxide nanoparticles [145], carbon
nanotube [146] and nanopolycarboxylates [147] are the emergent
nanomaterials in the new nanoconcrete era. It is now customary to
discuss about the production and possible applications of
nanomaterials.
4.4. Signifcance of nanomaterials as self-healer
The contribution of nanomaterials in enhancing the workability,
strength and durability of building materials can afect the
hydration kinetics of cement. Furthermore, the addition of
nanomaterials can improve the performance of cement appreciably.
The high performance of nanomaterials attracted the researchers to
apply nanomaterials to create sustainable concrete by self-healing
technology. The demerits of preceding methods are used for self-
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healing such as tricky to harden the bi-components healing system.
The amount of healing materials packed inside the microcapsules
was little. Strength of bonds amid the microcapsules and the
cement network required to be stronger than that of the former. It
led the researchers to resolve these problems and fnd another way
to produce sustainable concrete with performance. In order to solve
these problems, the merits of nanomaterials are presented in a
nowadays, make the researchers in this feld believe to these
materials will be the best way for sustainable concrete.
5. Nanomaterials based self-healing concrete
Advancement of self-healing materials in concrete industries is an
emerging trend. The generic term self-healing concrete is used for
cement-based materials that repair themselves after the material or
structure gets damaged via diverse deterioration mechanism.
Nowadays, using nanomaterials for sustainable concrete also gets a
lot of attention around the world. Compound the two technologies
(selfhealing and nanomaterials) together contributed to enhancing
the durability of concrete and successfully led to producing
sustainable concrete [148,149]. Most application of nanomaterials
in self-healing has been used to control the corrosion of steel bars
in reinforcement concrete. Koleva [148] have been reported the
ability to Improving reinforced concrete performance by
incorporating nanoscale materials with tailored properties i.e. core-
shell polymer vesicles or micelles in the cement-based system. Few
researches have been conducted to using nanomaterials for self-
healing concrete.
Qian et al. [150] studied the curing situations in the presence of
air, CO2, and water in the wet-state as well as dry-state.
Furthermore, the efects of nanoclay with water (used as inner
water furnishing agent for hydration) on the micro-cracks were
determined. Results revealed that the healing extent could be
considerably superior with the inclusion of nanoclay and better
cementitious materials concentration for mixes. It was stated that
for all studied air cured mixtures, the fnal crack did not occur at
the new location, indicating good healing. Despite the interior
water supply from nanoclay it revealed comparatively weak
strengthening, enabling it hard to relocate the fnal crack-sites from
pre-existing one to another positions. This unproductive recovery
with air curing was also reported by Hua [63]. It was shown that
the self-healing behaviour of ECC with Super Absorbent Polymer
(SAP) capsules with water as the interior pool for extra hydration
was efective. Meanwhile, various repairing products were
recognized across the cracked facades. However, noticeable healed
cracks were absent completely. It was acknowledged that the
cracks could very likely undergo via the self-recovery mechanism
without much efectiveness. The signifcance of enough water or
moisture accessibility was highlighted that acted as the reactant for
additional hydration as well as the ions transportation media.
5.1. Nanosilica
In sustainable concrete development, nanosilica (SiO 2) is a
gifted nanomaterials broadly utilized in ultra-high performance
concrete (UHPC). In general, nanosilica (Fig. 6) was manufactured
from micron sized silica. Strong reactions produced by nanosilica
in UHPC are comparable to silica fume or micro-silica involving
their strength, performance and durability improvement [151–153].
Qing and Zenan [152] demonstrated that concrete with nanosilica
can gain early strength than that of silica-fume. It was shown that
the incorporation of nanosilica in concrete could enhance its
workability when the inclusion of super-plasticizers amount was
lowest. Besides, nanosilica particles size could act as ultra-fller
Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
inside the concrete, leading to dense and refned micro-voids to
impart smart microstructures [154]. Other benefts involving
nanosilica is the better control of water to cement ratio, wherein the
strength can be customized easily. Quercia. et al. [155] reported the
incorporation of nanosilica at certain dosage improved the strength
of concrete and performed as cement substitution component.
Nearly 20–30% of cement could be lowered via the
implementation of nanosilica, thereby it can be a good substitute to
cement. In self-healing application, the capacity of nanosilica to
react with available Ca(OH)2 in concrete and formulate (CSH gel)
was examined [156–159]. Using nanosilica the self-healing
concrete technology as additional mineral admixtures or in
nanoencapsulation method has been studied. However, the
disadvantage of nanosilica is the cost and availability in certain
nations where nanosilica need to be imported for usage in the
concrete industries [32].
5.2. Nanoalumina
In the cement hydration, it is known that the silica and alumina
are two main components involved to formulate C-(A)-S-H gels
with calcium. The role of silica inside cement was to alter strength
whereas alumina controlled the setting-time. Nanoalumina is
produced from alumina, where the use of nanoalumina in concrete
is seldom reported. The inclusion of nanoalumina in concrete
particularly high performance concrete can enormously afect
concrete characteristics because it regulates the setting-time of
cement [161,162]. Presence of nanoalumina within cement can
accelerate the early setting-time for high performance concrete,
which in turn diminishes the segregation and focculation. In high
performance concrete mixes, any disturbance in the cement creates
inhomogeneity and afects the working performance. Nanoalumina
in high performance concrete functions as dispersive mediator in
cement particulates [163,164]. Besides, nanoalumina can refne the
porosity of hydration-gel product as nanofller because the cement
proportion in high performing concrete is high. Therefore, grains
size distribution in such concrete is essential simultaneously with
silica mediated hydration. Without nanoalumina mediated
refnement, the hydration mechanism is weaker since the silica
component cannot penetrate the interior structure of the gel.
Incorporation of nanoalumina can create a path for easy injection
of the silica or binding materials into the interior microstructures of
the hydration gel to start the refnement [165,166]. All these merits
are mentioned above make the nanoalumina one of the important
materials can use in future to produce smart and sustainable
concrete by using self-healing and nanotechnology.
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5.3. Carbon nanotube
Carbon nanotube (CNT) is a carbon
allotrope having cylinder shaped nanostructure.
NTs can be produced with length to diameter (aspect) ratio of up to
132,000,000:1, considerably above any other material. They
possess atypical properties, which are precious for applications in
diverse felds of materials science and nanotechnology [32,123].
Particularly, due to their unusual thermal conductivity, mechanical
and electrical characteristics CNTs can be used as additives for
diverse structural applications. NTs are afliated to the fullerene
family, in which the long and hollow construction with the walls
created by one-atom-thick sheets of carbon so called grapheme
makes them diferent. Such sheets can be rolled at defnite
orientations, where the revolving angle and radius together
determines the attributes of CNTs [146]. Nanotubes are divided
into single-walled NT (SWNT) and multiwalled NT (MWNT).
Individual NTs are aligned in the form of ‘‘ropes” that holds them
mutually by van der Waals forces or via pi-stacking [167,168].
Fig. 6. FSSEM nanosilica image [160].
These ropes make chemical bonds in the CNT structure, where the
bonds of NTs are comprised alike the graphite. These bonds are
much stronger than the one formed in alkanes and diamond,
making CNTs exceptionally strong.
Flexibility is one of the signifcant merits of CNT to produce
sustainable concrete. Using CNT, the sustainable concrete design
may be changed into distinctive or rigid type. Flexible nature of
CNT is advantageous for enhancing the sustainable concrete
strength. Compared to other nanomaterials, CNT is superior in
terms of fexibility improvement and strength enhancement of
sustainable concrete [146]. Predominantly, the dimension of CNT
is tinier than other nanomaterials. The major function of CNT in
sustainable concrete is to advance the stress and compressive
strength [69]. CNT can use in self-healing concrete technical using
Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) method and that will
contributed to produce sustainable and smart concrete for future
construction industry. Nevertheless, defciency of CNT resources
may trim down the attention towards potential concrete application
of this material.
5.4. Polycarboxylates
In the past, polycarboxylates (PCE) nanomaterials has been
utilized in concrete [169]. PCE is a polymer based compound that
is obtained from methoxy-polyethylene glycol co-polymer. It
functions in the secondary or side reactions which are reinforced to
methacrylic acid copolymer as the major element. Usually, the
carboxylate group is comprised of water molecule, rendering a
negative charge alongside the backbone of PCE. The polyethylene
Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
oxide group provides a non-uniform electron cloud distribution and
chemical polarities to the secondary or side reactions. The number
and the length of secondary or side groups are can easily be
changed. In case the secondary or side reactions possess numerous
electrons it lowers the large molar mass and alters the polymer
density, resulting in reduced performance of cement suspensions
[32,170]. For both chains to combine and paired simultaneously,
longer side groups and strong charge density from one to other
reaction end must form. Usually, polycarboxylate is used in
concrete as high range water reducer (HRWR). Inclusion of PCE
allows in controlling the concrete workability better at lower water
to cement ratios.
The characteristics of PCE in concrete rely on its amount,
where elevated amount may cause in false setting without any
hydration incidence in the concrete [171]. Aside, addition of PCE
at required level can create Self Compacting Concrete (SCC)
which enhances the workability of concrete. It also cxreates a fow
concrete with enormous effects at small and elevated intensity
region. Other beneft of PCE inclusion in UHPC or concrete is
related to its capacity to be applied in marine atmosphere. Pores or
voids in UHPC can remarkably be reduced to get more compact
structure in the presence of PCE because it can eliminate air bubble
and improves the concrete density. Furthermore, refnement of
UHPC microstructure can avoid or reduce the permeability rate
under marine condition, lowering the attack from sea-water
containing sulphate and chloride ions. On top, the usage of
polycarboxylate is regarded as relatively green strategy than the
use of silica fume and other stabilizers in the UHPC
microstructures refnement.
Birgisson et al. [172] used PCE in HSC instead of silica fume
to improve the workability and performance of UHPC.
Additionally, approximately 70% of constituent materials in UHPC
including silica fume, superplasticizer and fbre were reduced.
Ultimately, it was shown that the incorporation of PCE within
UHPC could improve the overall performance compared to pure
UHPC or HSC. It was acknowledged that PCE addition of 2.5% of
cement weight in HSC could rapidly enhance the early age
strength. Consequently, on the frst day the HSC strength was
enhanced from 40 to 80 MPa. Meanwhile, at 28 days, obtained
strength was about 70–100 MPa at low PCE level, which proved
that PCE can act as a good substitute to improve the concrete
performance. In short, simple management with least parameters or
protocols of PCE makes it celebrated nanomaterials to be
incorporated in UHPC.
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5.5. Titanium oxide
Titania or titanium oxide (TiO2) has widely been used as
pigment in foods colouring, paints, photocatalyses, implants, solar
cells, and many other applications. Normally, it is resourced from
ilmenite, rutile and anatase phases and exists in nature as minerals’
phases such as rutile, anatase and brookite. At high pressure, TiO 2
is transformed to monoclinic baddeleyite and an orthorhombic
structures, recently discovered at the Ries crater in Bavaria
[167,173]. Ilmenite and rutile form are the most abundant form of
titanium dioxide-containing ore worldwide (98%). Heating above
temperatures 600° to 800 °C one achieves the metastable anatase
and brookite phases [174].
Incorporation of TiO2 into UHPC and other concretes revealed
remarkable infuence on self-cleaning capability and contributed as
green material implementation in engineering construction [173].
Jubilee Church in Rome (Italy) exploited this self-cleaning
attribute of TiO2 in buildings, materials’ paving and product
fnishing [126]. TiO2 provides accelerated strength of concrete at
early age, wherein the concretes performance and abrasion
resistance both are enhanced [175]. TiO2 acting as glassy layer
(extreme porosity) or pigment in the exterior of the particles in
UHPC and concrete modifes their microstructure and thus the
performance. Moreover, such layers can react with the hydration
gel products in mixing by producing protective layers, thereby
imparts self-cleaning capacity to the surface of concrete. This
selfcleaning action of titania in the exterior and coated concrete
surface make them extremely durable with permeability. This
enhanced activity of titania incorporated concrete is regarded as
fbre reinforced system that mimics the glassy fbre efect. It is
realized that refnement and tailoring of the hydration gel via such
fbres can be useful for the production of concrete with improved
strength and prolonged durability [176]. Yet, health safety is a
major concern related to the usage of TiO 2 because of its dusty
nature where small dosage can result in notable environmental
impact especially to workers during packaging and manufacturing.
Some reports exhibited that TiO2 generates infammation and
causes cancer to factory workers [175]. Consequently, it must be
handled with care, particularly during mixing and process of TiO2.
5.6. Nanokaolin
Nanokaolin is a by-product of kaolin also called kaolinite, a
very important industrial clay mineral with the chemical formula of
Al2Si2O5(OH)4 [177,178]. This is a silicate mineral with many
layers, where one tetrahedral layer is connected via oxygen atoms
to another octahedral layer of alumina [179]. Kaolinite enriched
rocks are generally called kaolin or china clay [180]. This clay
encloses white mineral that called dioctahedral phyllosilicate that is
formed by chemical changes of aluminium silicate minerals
including feldspar [181]. For ceramic applications, kaolin is heat
treated and altered into Al2O3.2SiO2·2H2O. After treatment or
endothermic dehydration crystalline phase of kaolin is transformed
to amorphous structures [182], where the new phase is known as
metakaolin. IT contains amorphous silica and alumina with some
hexagonal layering [183], which is very reactive pozzolan and
reveals comparable reaction as silica fume. Furthermore, by
refning the microstructure of metakaolin both strength can
durability can be improved, thereby allows consistent water
penetration. This properties make kaolin strong and cost efective
than silica fume [32,184].
Nanokaolin is generated following either top-down or bottom-
up approach, where the fnal product is infuence by the processing
conditions. Usually, the generation of nanokaolin comprised of
Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
layering or stacking fakes. Apparently, the kaolin particles are
identical to the nanokaolin, where the morphologies after the size
conversion from microparticles to nanoparticles ofer wider surface
area. In the concrete, nanokaolin is treated to form extra reactive or
stable product called nanometakaolin. Being a newly used
supplementary ingredient in concrete, presence of nanometakaolin
improves the concrete properties unexpectedly [32]. The positive
efects of metakaolin in UHPC and other kinds of concretes are
demonstrated [138]. Morsy et al. [185] showed that
nanometakaolin inclusion in concrete could improve the mortars’
compressive strength by about 8–10%. Interestingly, the tensile and
fexural strength enhancement of mortar containing
nanometakaolin was discerned to be nearly 10–15% compared to
plain OPC [185,186]. Despite the advantages of nanometakaolin
incorporation into mortars to improving the performance some
shortcomings on the application of in UHPC were identifed.
Actually, lacking of raw kaolin in certain nations makes
nanometakaolin unpopular than celebrated silica fume. Thus,
standard guidelines and commercial protocols must be developed
for large scale production of nanokaolin and nanometakaolin as
useful nanomaterial alternative to concrete for serving the
construction industries.
5.7. Nanoclay
Nanoparticles of layered mineral silicates are called nanoclay.
Based on these nanoparticles chemical compositions and
morphologies, nanoclays are categorized into many classes
including montmorillonite, bentonite, kaolinite, hectorite, and
halloysite. It is one of the most inexpensive materials with
benefcial outcomes in polymers. It is prepared from deposits of
montmorillonite mineral having platelet structures of average
thickness of 1 nm thick and width of 70–150 nm. It possesses many
good qualities and an outstanding base material for nanotechnology
manoeuvring. These notable attributes are the stability, interlayer
spacing, elevated hydration and swelling capacity as well as strong
chemical reactivity. Clays and their improved organic products can
be analyzed via simple and modern instruments that can evaluate
the chemical compositions. These tools include gravimetric
analyser, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) or X-ray fuorescence
(XRF) spectroscopy, cation exchange capacity (CEC) using
standard ammonium acetate technique, surface area determination,
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powdered X-ray
difraction (PXRD) and so on [58,88–90]. These clays are also
distinguished via cation exchange capacity that can difer broadly
based on the source and nature of clay. The clay purity can
infuence the nanocomposite behaviours. Therefore, it is signifcant
to obtain montmorillonite with minimal impurities such as
crystalline silica (quartz), amorphous silica, calcite and kaolin
[187]. For the clays purifcation, several techniques have been
developed such as hydrocyclone, centrifugation, sedimentation
technique and chemical treatment [183].
Clays are regarded as economical and easily accessible
materials. Despite their abundance worldwide, the guideline and
methods for transforming clay to nanomaterials is not well
documented yet. It is thus important to explore the constructional
benefts and disadvantages of nanoclay as potential materials,
although it has been diversely employed in the polymeric system.
Nonetheless, the proof on the improvement in the material
hardness, thermal stability, barrier coating, and solvents together
with the enhancement in the electronic and novel types of materials
are required. In the construction process, nanoclay is used as an
additive to improve the mechanical and binding concrete
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G.F. Huseien et al. Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
characteristics. Morsy et al. [185] acknowledged that the nowadays, as nanomaterials become incorporated into concrete
enhancement in the compressive and tensile strength of mortar products in rising amounts it may help to develop an understanding
cement in the presence of nanoclay as additive. Furthermore, the of their interaction with the environment. Nanotechnology has the
thermal properties of concretes can be enhanced via the inclusion potential to dramatically change the strength, sustainability, and
of nanoclay as cement additive in the paste [188,189]. Qian et al. whole properties of concrete. Hamers [192] have
[150] studied the inclusion of nanoclay with water (worked as the
inner water provider to promote hydration alongside the
microcracks). It was shown that the recovery level could be
considerably improved with the incorporation of nanoclay in the
mixtures. The mechanism of healing depended on the reaction
between calcium hydroxide and nanoclay to formulate CSH gel led
to healing the crack.

5.8. Nanoiron

Copper, cobalt and nickel are ferromagnetic materials with very

limited applications due to their toxicity and susceptibility to
oxidation. Unlike these, iron oxide nanoparticles are attractive
owing to their super paramagnetic properties and their potential
applications in many felds. They have many applications in
construction industry, but of particular interest is as a colouring and
as a anti-corrosion agent in construction materials and coatings.
Iron oxide nanoparticles have very good UV blocking capabilities
making these nanoparticles ideal for glass applications ranging
from glass coatings to cunglasses. They also allow for better
dispersion in paints and coatings, especially in high gloss and
automotive applications [190,191]. The possibility and quick
reaction between Ca(OH) 2 and Fe2O3 nanoparticles led to high
amounts of reaction products are formed and close the cracks.

5.9. Nanosilver

The nanosilver is now well known for anti- bacterial, viruses

and fungal efcancy as well as forcellular metabolism in inhibiting
cells growth. The nanosilver can slow down growth multiplication
of bacterial and fungal infections that causes bad odour, itching and
sores. Using nanotechnology tools it is possible now to produce
silver nanoparticles of accurate morphology (size and shape) with
very uniform distribution. Surface coating of nanoparticles from
diverse material can enhance the surface area by several orders of
magnitude than their bulk counterpart. Particularly, silver is
attractive metal because of its extraordinary size and shape
dependent optical characteristics, efcient plasmon excitation, and
high electrical and thermal conductivity in the bulk among all
metals. These unique features allow silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs)
for potential applications in catalysis, selective oxidation of
styrene, antimicrobial coatings, optical sensing, printed electronics
and photonics. Ag NPs of dimension in the range of 1–100 nm fnd
several applications in the feld of catalytic processes, photonic
devices, electronics, optoelectronic, etc due to their distinct
physical, structural, morphological, chemical, electrical, optical,
and magnetic attributes. On top, Ag NPs have widely been used as
antibacterial and antifungal agents in biomedical feld, in textile
engineering, for water treatment, and several other consumer
products [190,191].
6. Sustainability of nanomaterials based self-healing concrete
Presently, nanotechnology is one of the most signifcant
scientifc and industrial breakthroughs of the twenty-frst century.
Nanomaterials ofer great advantages towards concrete
sustainability in construction felds such as energy storing, high
performance, corrosion resistance, environmental remediation, and
self-healing applications. Sustainability is a celebrated topic
Fig. 7. The C-S-H clusters (a) TEM image and (b) molecular model generated
[175].
reported the broad range of complex nanomaterials required to
understand the molecular-level design rules. Eventually, it is
challenging to exploit the power of chemistry to guarantee that
nanosystems incorporated technologies can make better
environmentally friendly products.
7. Merits and demerits of nanomaterials for self-healing
concrete
In general, sustainable energy and the environment are one of
the central priorities for researchers; triggering a massive capital
investment on research to defne new trajectories in construction
materials sustainability and consequent pollution abatement. The
attempt researchers to solve self-healing problems by using
nanomaterials as the healing agent contributed to achieving many
advantages. Moreover, deployment of nanomaterials in the self-
healing concrete is an emergent concept. High performance of
nanomaterials afects positively towards the enhancement and
development the self-healing concrete. The applied
nanotechnology led to develop a molecular model for the hydration
products (C-S-H gels) of OPC [175] as shown in Fig. 7. As well as
enhance of strength and sustainability of self-healing concrete
using nanomaterials the controlled self-healing be better and the
price of the material is considerably below epoxy-based materials.
168
G.F. Huseien et al.
The cost of self-healing concrete compared to conventional
concrete still high even with using nanomaterials. Thus, self-
healing concrete is a probable product for several civil engineering
structures where the concrete cost is much higher due to better
quality. For instance, in tunnel linings and marine structures
wherein the security is a major issue or in structures in which there
is limited accessibility for repairing and maintaining. In such
special circumstances, even if the self-healing agents incorporated
concretes cost higher it should not be too burdensome looking at
the safety and future benefts.
8. Economy of nanomaterials based self-healing concretes
Generally, concrete is the distinct construction material
exploited worldwide. It has been documented that over 2.6 billion
tons of OPC was manufactured in the year 2007 [156] worldwide,
amounting to above 17 billion tons. OPC was used in varieties of
products such as building basement, walls, footpaths, lamp posts,
bridges, dams, tall towers, skyscrapers, etc. to cite a few. Usually,
concrete goods are proposed to achieve long lifetime and tolerant
against local aggressive atmospheric conditions. Eventually, these
concrete structures are mostly demolished and recycled at
occasions upon reaching the fnal stage of their service life.
Besides, in the building sector is such it is easy to apply process
innovations instead of modernizations of disruptive goods.
Manufacturing combines the products from varieties of supplies
and skilfulness in a broad array of trading into a solitary completed
structure. An alteration in the built structure can be evaluated by
the construction corporation itself. Moreover, a considerably novel
product produced by the supplier needs understanding and
approval by the architects, engineers and the client before being
applied by the skilled and trained on-site workers.
Several factors must be accounted to develop nanotechnology
enrouted concretes. Firstly, concrete and related products must be
manufactured at large scale. Even if the cost of expensive concrete
structures becomes lower it must be capable of handling massive
material in a safer and environmental friendly way. Secondly,
innovations required to be methodically developed with feld
testing to achieve the understanding and assurance in the
construction sector. Lastly, structures of concrete are hard to
destroy and need explosives or high-energies for breaking up.
Thus, nanotechnology based concrete production should be
compatible to these conventional practices. With these
constrictions, the early nanomaterials implementations in self-
healing purposes must render notable benefts in terms of extra
functions with comparatively low quantities of nanomaterials. This
low amount can be ofered via standard construction practices and
must not infuence the the materials’ performance. Innovative
products (smart self-healing concrete) must be able to advance the
delivery of the traditional materials including the control of
released admixtures in order to likely penetrating the marketplace.
9. Environmental suitability and safety features of
nanomaterialsbased concretes
Commonly, gaseous CO2 is released from OPC concrete during
the cement clinker's de-carbonation of lime and calcination
reactions. Using nanomaterials based self-healing technology
emission of CO2 can remarkably be reduced. Currently, world's
development exclusive of concrete is beyond imagination [193].
History tells us that without concrete the wonderful structures like
Sydney Opera House, the Chrysler Building, or Taj Mahal could
not have existed. Furthermore, the skyscrapers in metropolis all
over the world would have reached to such striking altitudes
without the usage of celebrated concretes. In every aspect,
Journal of Building Engineering 23 (2019) 155–171
durability of concrete played a remarkable role to erect those
historic buildings centuries ago without modern technology and
qualifed engineers. Defnitely, concrete in its own right is an
integrated part of everyday life. Briefy, the manufacturing of smart
and new concrete demands much money where billions tons of raw
materials are wasted annually because inefcient production
processes of concrete. Moreover, the production of OPC (primary
concrete binder) adds to over 5% of the totally released greenhouse
gases annually worldwide. It enforces threat to our environment
where world development is striving for sustainable and green
building deployment [194]. Therefore, the future aim is targeted to
build cleaner, safer, efcient, reliable, and stronger smart materials
alternative to concrete than the conventional OPC based concretes.
In this spirit, the notion of nanomaterials based smart concrete and
self-healing technology has been coined.
10. Summary
In recent times, production of sustainable concrete via self-
healing technology became useful in the construction industries
worldwide. Exponential increase in the usage of OPC caused
severe environmental damages. The immense benefts and
usefulness of self-healing concrete technology were demonstrated
in terms of its sustainability, energy saving traits and environmental
afability. The foremost challenges, current progress and future
trends of nanotechnology enrouted selfhealing concretes potential
were emphasized. An all-inclusive overview of the appropriate
literature on nanomaterials based self-healing concrete allowed us
to draw the following conclusions:
i. Self-healing concretes are characterized by many signifcant
traits such as less pollution, cheap, eco-friendly, and elevated
durability performance in harsh environment. These properties
make them efective sustainable materials in the construction
industries. ii. The design of nanomaterials based self-healing
concretes with improved performances and endurance useful for
several appications is a new avenue in nanoscience and
nanotechnology.
iii. The environmental pollution can considerably be reduced by
im-plementing high strength and durable cementitious
composites fabricated using diverse nanoparticles, carbon
nanotubes and nanofbers.
iv. In the domain of building and construction the production of
ma-terials via nanotechnology route is going to play a vital role
towards sustainable development in the near future.
v. Use of nanomaterials in concrete is advantageous in terms of
im-proved engineering properties of cementitious materials,
especially for the generation of self-healing and sustainable
concretes.
vi. This comprehensive review is believed to provide taxonomy to
na-vigate and underscore the research progress toward
nanomaterials based self-healing concrete technology.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported and funded by the Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia Centre of Excellence (UTM COE) research
grant Q.J130000.2409.04G00 and Fundamental Research Grant
Scheme (FRGS) grant R.J130000.7822.4F722. The authors would
like to thanks the grants provider, namely Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia and Ministry of Higher Education, staf from Material
and Structure Laboratory, School of Civil Engineering, Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia, and the EM Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. and EMRO
Japan for their support and cooperation in conducting this research.
169
G.F. Huseien et al.
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