Bio-augmented Concrete

This exciting research project is focused on developing a new generation of selfhealing materials by utilising natural cellulose and bio-polymers recovered from biodegradable wastes (by-products). Both materials will be formulated and functionalised with bacterial spores and healing agents to act as smart materials. Novel encapsulating technologies will be adopted to tailor to ensure the successful encapsulation of the spores into these materials. The innovations are expected to lower down the manufacturing cost of novel self-healing materials and reduce carbon emission in addition to enhancing the healing capacity and restoring the material structural integrity.The increasing environmental and ecological concerns have led to extensive development of fine chemicals and functional materials from natural resources. Brunel 'Grow2Build' European Centre of Excellence works on the transition of an oil based economy towards a biobased economy focusing on the integration of local sustainable cultivation of resources. Nanocellulose from natural resources is becoming one of the most promising green materials of modern times due to its intrinsic properties, renewability and abundance. Nanocellulose participates in the fabrication of a large range of nanomaterials and nanocomposites, and the applications potentially include functional paper, antibacterial coatings, mechanically reinforced polymer composites, tissue scaffolds, drug delivery, optoelectronics, biosensors, energy storage, catalysis, environmental remediation, and electrochemically controlled separation. However, the properties and functionalities of nanocellulose are yet to be explored, even though surface modifications have been attempted to introduce either charged or hydrophobic moieties, and include amidation, esterification, etherification, silylation, polymerization, urethanization, sulfonation and phosphorylation.

This project aims at functionalising nanocelluloses to create a 3D skeleton and in combination with polymers create highly structured composites. The project will be extended from our preliminary studies at 'Grow2build', which have shown the potential of cellulose to have reducing capabilities and indicating a path towards low energy nano synthesis process. The reducing process can be coupled with grafting capability allowing for a potential composite with ordered clusters of nanoparticles. Investigation of the reducing and grafting conditions and their optimisation will be followed by analyses with X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope, Fourier Transform Infra Red and Atomic Force Microscopy to fully characterise the nano-particles and their bonding to the cellulose with the aim of optimising the distribution of the nanoparticles on the cellulose. Highly functionalised nanocellulose will be produced and most functional composites synthesized.