Cement nanocrystallites constitute the binding phase in concrete, a material\nthat has been around for more than two thousand years and remains the most\nwidely used of manufactured materials. Thanks to their size, their disordered\nnature, their reprecipitation after combination with water, and their rapid\nevolution when the concrete sets, these nanostructures have only been subjected\nto careful investigation quite recently. Nanotechnology is now able to\ncontrol their formation and exploit their evolution (shrinking and swelling)\nduring the setting phase to produce a concrete with a strength and ductility\nclose to those of steels. Furthermore, the analysis of basic nanoscopic reactions\noccurring during setting, and their modification by polymer additives\nacting at the interfaces, numerical modelling techniques are potentially able to\npredict big evolutions and properties of nanocrystallites. Here we discuss the\nfuture of these nanocrystallites in new applications.
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