Fisrt EUCEET Association Conference: "New Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering Education", Patras 2011

INCORPORATION OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
IN THE CURRICULUM OF CIVIL ENGINEERING EDUCATION

T. E. KARAKASIDIS
Department of Civil Engineering,
School of Engineering, University of Thessaly, 38334 Volos, Greece
e-mail: [email protected]

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

Nanotechnology and nanoscience are scientific and technological fields that have
attracted considerable interest in the last decade. Both deal with the science and
technology at a scale smaller than 100nm (1nm=10-9m). Due to their reduced size,
nanomaterials properties vary considerably from those of bulk materials and thus they
present exceptional mechanical, optical, magnetic and electric properties (Schaefer
2010). Applications to everyday life are increasing as well as the domains of applications.

Civil Engineering is not excluded from applications of nanotechnology. Applications

include super-hydrophobic surface treatment in order to increase materials durability, self
healing materials in order to reduced crack propagation, Micro-Electro-Mechanical
Systems (MEMS) and Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS) for monitoring of
structures with non-destructive methods, nano-cement and nano-steel for increased
strength and durability, just to mention a few (Nanoforum Report 2006, Sobolev et al.
2006). Nanotechnology applications seem also very promising in environmental
applications, a field in which Civil Engineers are increasingly involved (Observatory Nano
2010). The financial interest is demonstrated by the increased amount of budgets
invested in nanotechnology research and development, a significant part of which is
directed to the domain of tailor-made materials properties, while the scientific interest is
demonstrated by the increasing rate of scientific publications, which originate from the
fields of physics, chemistry and materials science and seem to involve an increasing
number of civil engineers (Economidis 2010).

The need for better understanding of materials properties at the nanoscale and their use
in application in engineering and more specifically in Civil Engineering is a special
concern (ASCE 2007, Kim et al. 2006). It is also demonstrated by actions taken by the
National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States (US) for Civil Engineering
Departments to introduce nanotechnology courses in their curriculum (Zheng et al. 2010).

In the present paper we discuss the need for the introduction of nanoscience and
nanotechnology courses with relation to the syllabus as well as to pedagogical points
where attention should be paid in order to achieve the best output. Understanding the
difference of behaviour of nanomaterials and their importance on materials’ behaviour will
provide future Civil Engineers with advanced skills that will enable them to adopt
emerging technologies and formulate innovative solutions to complex problems. Such
skills will provide students with additional professional opportunities and competitiveness
in the international economic and scientific environment.

KEYWORDS

Nanoscience, Nanotechnology, Civil Engineering Education, Civil Engineering curriculum.

Fisrt EUCEET Association Conference: "New Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering Education", Patras 2011

1. INTRODUCTION

Nanotechnology and nanoscience deal with the science and technology at a scale
smaller than 100nm (1nm=10-9m). Due to their reduced size nanomaterials’ properties
vary considerably from that of bulk materials and thus they present exceptional
mechanical, optical, magnetic and electrical properties (Schafer 2010). Due to these
reasons these fields have attracted considerable interest in the last decade. The first
mention to the evolution that would come is attributed to the Nobel Laureate Richard
Feynman who mentioned “there is plenty of space at the bottom” in a lecture that gave on
December 29th 1959 at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society at the
California Institute of Technology (Feynman 1960).

The basic interest in nanotechnology was initially limited to research labs mainly of
physics and chemistry and more lately to that of materials science. However, applications
to everyday life are increasing as well as the domains of applications. Civil Engineering is
not excluded from applications of nanotechnology since many branches are involved
such as cement and concrete (Antonivic et al. 2010, Ge and Gao 2008), coating materials
for construction production, health monitoring of structures etc (Lynch et al. 2009).
Applications include super-hydrophobic surface treatment in order to increase materials
durability, self healing materials in order to reduced crack propagation, Micro-Electro-
Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS) for
monitoring of structures with non-destructive methods, nano-cement and nano-steel for
increased strength and durability, just to mention a few (Nanoforum Report 2006,
Sobolev et al. 2006). Nanotechnology applications seem also very promising in
environmental applications, a field in which Civil Engineers are increasingly involved
(Observatory NANO 2010).

The financial interest is demonstrated by the increased amount of budgets invested in

nanotechnology research and development, a significant part of which is directed in the
domain of tailor-made materials properties, while the scientific interest is demonstrated by
the increasing rate of scientific publications which go out from the fields of physicists,
chemists and materials scientists and seems to involve an increasing number of civil
engineers (Economidis 2010, Lux 2004, Moradi 2005). We must mention here that
nanotechnology constitutes a priority research files in US, Europe but also in Greece.

The need for better understanding of materials properties at the nanoscale and their use
in applications in engineering and more specifically in Civil Engineering is a special
concern (Kim et al. 2006, ASCE 2007). It is also demonstrated by actions taken by the
NSF in the United states for Civil Engineering Departments to introduce nanotechnology
courses in their curriculum (Kim et al. 2010), but also by the National Nanotechnology
Initiatives (NNI 2011) and several actions realized in Europe.

In the present paper we discuss the need for the introduction of nanoscience and
nanotechnology courses with relation to the syllabus as well as to pedagogical points
where attention should be paid in order to achieve the best output. We present some
cases of introduction of nanotechnology courses in the curriculum of Civil Engineering
Departments in the US and Europe and then we present our proposal for the introduction
of such courses in the case of Greece.

2. CIVIL ENGINNERING AND NANOTECHNOLOGY

Civil engineering is directly related to construction and thus to construction materials, the
most representative of which are cement, concrete and steel as well as coatings.
Fisrt EUCEET Association Conference: "New Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering Education", Patras 2011

Monitoring of structure health which may be critical in several constructions and solutions
for healing or preventing damage are also of interest for Civil Engineers. Nanotechnology
is related to the development of materials since at this scale materials present different
properties from the classical macroscopic materials and their properties as we know
them. This different and sometimes extraordinary behaviour originates from the fact that
at the nanoscale the ratio of surface atoms to volume atoms becomes important. Taking
advantage of this particularity novel materials containing nanoparticles have been
developed for civil engineering applications. In the following we discuss briefly such
applications concerning construction materials and health monitoring.

2.1 Construction Materials

2.1.1. Concrete

This is the most widely used material in constructions. Although the macroscopic
behaviour of concrete has been extensively studied its properties and behaviour at the
micro and nano-scale are not fully understood. Processes that are important in the case
of concrete include hydration and the alkali-silicate reaction (Balaguru 2005). The study
and understanding of the structure and behaviour at the micro/nano-scale is necessary
for improving concrete properties and avoiding several problems like alkali-silicate
reaction. Li (2003) found that the addition of nano-SiO2 significantly increases its
compressive behaviour. It has been shown that the inclusion of nano polycarboxylates
into concrete permits consolidation without need for vibration, resulting in a significant
labour cost reduction (Nanoforum Report 2006).

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are among the strongest fibers and are very promising for the
production of high-performance materials. They have five times the Young’s modulus and
eight times the strength of steel while their density is six times smaller than that of steel.
Studies have indicated that the distribution of CNTs across cement grains can improve
the mechanical behaviour of the cement-CNTs composite (Makar and Beaudoin 2003).

2.1.2. Steel

Steel is another major construction material and is present in nearly all structures.
Properties of significant importance are strength and corrosion resistance. In the US new
low carbon high-performance steel for bridges has been developed (Kuennen 2004). This
new kind of steel presents higher corrosion-resistance and weld ability through the
incorporation of copper nanoparticles in the steel grain boundaries.

MMFX2 is a nanostructured steel produced by MMFX Steel Corp (2010) which compared
to conventional steel has a different microstructure which results in three times larger
strength, along with larger ductility, toughness and corrosion resistance. Stainless steel
presents a high cost thus it is employed in high risk environments. The new MMFX2 steel
has a lower cost while presenting a similar corrosion behavior like that of stainless steel
and thus it would constitute a serious alternative (MMFX Steel Corp 2010).

2.1.3. Coatings

There are several types of coatings that have been developed for certain purposes. In
fact the materials contain certain types of nanoparticles that produce the desired effects.
These are coatings that due to their hydrophobic behaviour push away water.
Hydrophobic coatings are commercially available (see for example NanoPhos 2011).
Another class of coatings is containing titanium dioxide nanoparticles which is employed
Fisrt EUCEET Association Conference: "New Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering Education", Patras 2011

in glazing coatings. Due to the sterilizing and fouling properties of titanium dioxide organic
dirt is disintegrated through a catalytic reaction (Arafa et al. 2005). Other applications of
coating include anti-graffiti paints, anti-reflection coatings on glass etc.

2.1.4. Self healing materials

Cracks are a major concern for nearly all constructions. Research has been performed on
the use of microencapsulated healing agents (Kuennen 2004). The idea is that when the
crack breaks the microcapsule a healing agent is released in the crack region and the
resulting polymerization bonds the two crack faces. This approach can be applied in
cases such as bridge piers and columns (Mulenga and Robery 2010).

Vernet (2004) has investigated the effect of a high percentage of anhydrous material
which remains after the reaction with the water in the initial mix. This anhydrous fraction
can act as a source for further hydration which is exposed when a micro-crack develops.
If the sample is soaked in water hydration can start again on the cracks and the new
formed hydrates could rapidly fill the cracks.

2.2 Structure Health Monitoring

Several ideas have been proposed and examined for the structure health monitoring of
structures including micro-sensors, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and
Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS) as well as structural components with special
properties.

There are cases where thin films are assembled at the nano-scale with the use of single
wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and polyelectrolytes (PE) in order to create a
homogeneous composite with exceptional mechanical strength and with electrical
conductivity that varies in response to stimulus such as strain and tearing. Thus this film
can play the role of distributed sensing all over the structure (Lynch et al. 2009).

Another kind of applications are piezoelectric materials which can be bonded to the
structure. It seems that the best way is not to use adhesives in order to bond the sensors
to the structure but to fabricate the sensors directly onto the structure. A characteristic
example are piezoelectric paints made from piezoelectric powders which can easily be
applied on large structures without affecting the mechanical properties (Zhang 2006).

MEMS and NEMS sensors have been developed and employed in construction in order
to monitor or/and control structure performance. Due to their small size they can be
embedded into the structure during the construction phase. Use of such sensors can
provide access to measurements of several critical quantities such as temperature,
pressure, stress and strain (Saafi 2006). An example of incorporation of such sensors is
Intellirock: a wired sensor (Engius 2005) that is embedded in concrete to measure its
temperature during the curing process. Such technology has been used in highway
projects allowing for faster and lower cost contraction. MEMS/NEMS sensors can be
embedded into highways or cover an entire bridge for monitoring deterioration, and
allowing for control before they are apparent to human inspectors. The Golden Gate
Bridge now has an experimental sensor network of approximately 200 small MEMS
sensors. Each sensor can measure movement due to traffic, wind, or seismic loads and
all sensor readings are correlated, to create a 3-dimensional picture which may indicate
structural abnormalities (Nano@PennState 2011).
Fisrt EUCEET Association Conference: "New Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering Education", Patras 2011

4. SOME EXAMPLES OF INTRODUCTION OF NANOTECHNOLGY IN THE

CURRICULUM APPLICATION OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

From the above not exhaustive presentation of applications it becomes obvious that
nanotechnology is going to affect the future Civil Engineers. Thus it is necessary that the
curriculum provides them at least with the basis of being able to understand the
applications but also to be involved in the development of new products and processes
based on nanotechnology. Thus, it seems necessary to introduce nanotechnology
related courses in the curriculum; otherwise our future students will be nano-illiterate.
This will also help them to collaborate with scientists and engineers from other domains
that can be implicated in the construction development like materials scientists, electrical
and electronic engineers. In the framework of international mobility, knowledge of
nanotechnology and its possible l applications will also be of help. The objectives should
be to obtain fundamental knowledge of nanoscience and nanotechnology, increase
awareness of the possibilities that nanoscience and nanotechnology offer to civil
engineering.

How can one introduce in the curriculum the courses and what kind of courses? One
approach is to use specific civil engineering courses like a course in “Construction
Materials” or “Advanced Construction Materials”. Such an approach has been employed
in the Jackson State University in 2007 and 2008, the University of Oklahoma in 2007
and the University of Houston in 2008 (Zheng et al. 2011) where a course “Construction
Materials and Lab” was implemented. This new course module included four lecture
modules, four lab modules, two seminars by industry people and a co-curricular project.
The course focused on four domains a) improved construction materials, b) sensing
technology c) smart materials d) creativity strategies and innovative designs. The co-
curricular project is formulated and implemented based on a problem-based learning
pedagogy (Barrows 1996) and a self-regulated learning cognitive model (Zimmerman
1990). In the frame of the project students are asked to identify existing problems in civil
engineering and propose innovative solution to them at their own choice by applications
of nanotechnology. Zheng et al. (2011) performed a survey that shows that the four most
interesting module topics ranked by students were:

1. Microfiber reinforced concrete

2. Nanotechnology application for civil engineering
3. Nanocoatings for infrastructure
4. Smart materials and application

While the four most practical module topics from the University of Oklahoma were:

1. Microfiber reinforced concrete

2. Wireless data acquisition and processing
3. Nanotechnology application for civil engineering
4. Nanocoatings for infrastructure

The lowest-ranked module is the module of innovative design and creative strategies. For
full details the reader can consult (Zheng et al. 2011). Representative projects of students
realized in the frame of the course are: “Warm in winter and cool in Summer: Nano-
enhanced Home through the use of Nano-Particle Additives and Nanocoatings for
enhancing Insulating factors of Construction Materials”, “Smart suspension bridges
through the use of smart-material cables both as structural members and actuators to
support bridges under traffic loads and control bridge movement under wind loads”.
Fisrt EUCEET Association Conference: "New Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering Education", Patras 2011

It must be mentioned that this effort was supported by the Division of Engineering
Education and Centers of the National Science Foundation. Under the action
Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering NSF has already
funded 39 such actions and there are new calls for 2011 (NSF 2011).

We must also stress the importance given to nanotechnology education in the USA, even
at the secondary education level and which is shown by the funding of the National
Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) which is more than one million dollars per year (NNI
2011).

A course of “Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials Fundamentals” (code CE/ME 486/686

MNT 730) (North Carolina 2011) was introduced is the Department of Civil Engineering
of North Dakota State University. This course covers principles of nanotechnology and
nanomaterials and develops a framework for their understanding. In the frame of the
course the basic tools of nanotechnology: nanoscale characterization, physics and
materials design are also discussed in the context of current technological advances.

The USA is not the only country to introduce nanotechnology courses in the Civil
Engineering Curricula. The renown French École des Ponts ParisTech (Ecoles des Ponts
et Chausses) has also introduced a course Concerning nanomaterials which is mainly
related to mechanical properties, point and line defect, fatigue and fracture, fracture
modes, Hall petch effect, as well as with fabrication procedures (Ponts 2011).

Instruction of nanoscience and nanostructure is also a concern for other engineering

disciplines like Electrical, mechanical, computer and chemical engineering (Kim et al
2006, Malsch 2007).

5. SUGGESTIONS FOR GREECE

Given the fact that our aim is to maintain the competitiveness of our graduates both at
home and abroad, there is a dual goal that we must achieve. An engineer has to be an
expert of a specific field (in our case civil engineering) with solid background, but he/she
must also have the ability of interdisciplinary understanding and collaboration. There is a
question on how to introduce new course material in a quite loaded curriculum and how
to attract the interest of students. We identify and propose two general strategies that one
could follow in order to achieve this goal.

The first one would consist of enriching an existing course appropriate for presenting
nanotechnology applications, with notions of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Such
courses could be the General Physics courses and courses related to Construction
Materials and Materials Behaviour. In this frame one could include additional information
about what happens when things get very small at the nanoscale, and how nanoparticles
can affect the macroscopic properties of the materials. Of course, with such a choice one
does not have enough time to cover all the subjects. Elective project works where the
students would study subjects related to nanotechnology and its applications in
bibliographic sources, and on the internet could be an option.

The author has applied this principle in an experimental trial in the frame of the course
“General Physics II” taught in the first year of Civil Engineering at the University of
Thessaly (Volos, Greece) during the 2011 spring semester, and found that students were
particularly motivated. The students were electively assigned projects (they had a choice
from a subject pool, but they had also the possibility to suggest another subject) at the
beginning of the semester and were asked to prepare a report as well as to make a
Fisrt EUCEET Association Conference: "New Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering Education", Patras 2011

presentation in front of the class, so that their colleagues could have information and ask
questions. The projects covered construction materials, self-cleaning materials, specific
glasses, but also more general application like hydrophobic surfaces. The first impression
is that the rest of the students were particularly interested in these new developments of
technology. Similar techniques can be applied to other courses like Construction
Materials, Structural Dynamics but also environmental courses since nanotechnology has
applications in environmental remediation, water cleaning etc. The use of Information and
Communication Technologies could also be of help, since one could provide additional
material and presentations for self-study as well as access to virtual and remote labs in
order to overcome the problem of additional cost (Karakasidis 2009).

The other strategy would be to offer a specific new course that would describe what
nanoscience is and what are the current applications or the applications to come in the
field of Civil Engineering. This could be an elective course so that the curriculum is not
overloaded with an additional compulsory course, while the students who are interested
in new horizons could have the possibility to cover their need. One could even think that
in a School of Engineering with several engineering disciplines such as Mechanical,
Electrical, Architectural etc, a general elective course about nanoscience/nanotechnology
and their applications in all engineering fields could be a very interesting solution, since it
would further provide interdisciplinarity not only through the course content itself but also
through the interaction of students who would attend the course and come from different
fields. Group projects as part of the course with members from different disciplines would
also be a very interesting approach which would contribute a) work in groups b)
interdisciplinarity, a situation that students will face once they graduate and they are
going to enter the work market in homeland or abroad. This experience would also be an
asset if they decide to follow a research or consulting career. A course like this would
comprise a) structure of matter b) atomic structure c) some notions of statistical physics
and the link of microscopic properties to macroscopic properties d) how the size of
materials can affect their properties and how surface effects become important e)
representative examples of the variation of mechanical, optical and electrical properties of
materials as compared to bulk materials and f) some notions of atomistic modelling.

Of course one also could think of a compulsory course but this would be perhaps more
difficult at the given stage. However, such a solution, if designed in collaboration with all
the sections of the department, would expose all the students to the new knowledge and
its possible applications. In all these cases, however, care should be taken in order to
make students sensible to eventual Risks of Nanotechnology both at health but also
social level (NSET Subcommittee 2011).

If one would like to go further, one could provide also insight into methods to model
materials and phenomena at the nanoscale, where the continuum approach fails and
appropriate methods are necessary such as Molecular Dynamics (Haile 1997) for
atomistic modelling, Dissipative Particle Dynamics (Español and Warren 1995, as well as
Kasiteropoulou et al. 2011a,b and references there in) for mesoscale modelling or
multiscale modelling (Karakasidis and Charitidis 2007). However, this would be more
appropriate perhaps at a postgraduate or doctoral level. The experience of the author
during the last four years with the supervision of PhD students form Greek Engineering
Departments (Civil and Electrical) in nanotechnology-related research (nano and
microfluidics), showed that although students need a time of familiarization with such
methodologies and notions given their previous background where the atomistic world is
completely absent, they can achieve significant results and perform high level research
(Sofos et al. 2009, 2010, 2011, Kasiteropoulou et al. 2011a, 20011b). PhD students could
also act as intermediate agents in order to diffuse the knowledge and culture to
undergraduate or graduate students.
Fisrt EUCEET Association Conference: "New Trends and Challenges in Civil Engineering Education", Patras 2011

The Diploma Thesis would also be a great occasion for students to enhance their
knowledge. Nowadays there are several Research Teams in Civil Engineering
Departments in Greece that are working in the field of nanotechnology. Such examples
are the Laboratory of Building Materials in Department of Civil Engineering of the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki, the Laboratory of Hydromechanics and Environmental
Engineering and the Laboratory of Strength of Materials and Nanomechanics in the
Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Thessaly in Volos, just to mention
few of them. Diploma theses in such nanotechnology-related subjects would be
particularly profitable for the students but also for the development of Research in the
Departments, and it may lead to collaborations with other Science or Engineering
Departments.

6. CONCLUDING SECTION

The contribution of the paper is to enhance and provoke the discussion about the
need for incorporating Nanotechnology and Nanoscience in the Curriculum of Civil
Engineering Departments, particularly in the case of Greece. We believe that such
incorporation is feasible and each Department can choose the way that fits best in its
existing Curriculum and Research Profile. Given that nanotechnology is a priority
research field both at national and European level it would be a great opportunity to
advance in this direction. This also would increase the open mindedness of our students
as well as their capacity for interdisciplinary collaboration, a quality that is currently
necessary at the international level for work in the market or in the research domain. It
seems that the enrichment of appropriate existing courses with nanotechnology notions
and the introduction of elective courses, along with practice through the realization of
course projects or Diploma Theses, constitute the most appropriate solution for the
introduction of Nanotechnology in the curriculum, at least for the Greek Civil Engineering
Departments.

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