In the era of rapid technological development, a variety of novel building materials are emerging, and almost all new building materials have light weight, high strength, heat preservation, energy saving, soil saving, decoration and other excellent characteristics。

obviously，The use of new building materials not only greatly improves the function of the house，It can also make the building more modern inside and outside，Meet people's aesthetic requirements;Some new building materials can significantly reduce the weight of buildings，Create conditions for the promotion of light building structures，Promoted the construction technology modernization，The speed of building has been greatly accelerated。Nowadays, the development of new materials has formed an inevitable trend。

Although technology can sometimes threaten environmental protection and ecological justice, it can also alleviate environmental crises。A growing number of materials engineers and designers at home and abroad are focusing on the relationship between nature and technology to develop more sustainable building materials。

As technology continues to evolve,

What will the future of architecture look like？

Think big, the future can be。

Listed below are 10 architectural innovations,

The whole built environment may change in the near future。

1, graphene aerogel

The graphene aerogel, developed by researchers at Zhejiang University in China, is known to be one of the lowest density substances on Earth, a foamy solid material that retains its shape despite being almost as light as air。Some aerogels only have the density of air3But usually aerogel is air15倍重。

You might think of gels as wet stuff like hairspray。Aerogel is actually made by removing the fluid from the gel。除去90%到99%Outside of the air, all that remains is a silica structure。Aerogel is almost weightless, but can be stretched into thin sheets of aerogel fabric。In construction projects, aerogel fabrics have“Super insulation”Its porous structure makes it difficult for heat to pass through。Tests have shown that the aerogel fabric has the insulation capacity of conventional fiberglass or foam insulation2到4倍。Once the price is right, it can be widely used in construction。

2Green charcoal

Concrete, which is widely used in construction, faces many technical challenges。For example, traditional steel bars are prone to rust, leading to a decline in the strength and other properties of the entire composite material;In addition, concrete is also difficult to recycle, almost disposable materials。Indian Institute of Design and InnovationMeenal Sutaria和Shreyas MoreAn alternative composite consisting of porous carbon, loofah fibers, fertilized soil, cement, and air encrusted in it was designed。Each material chosen has its own advantages: porous carbon is light and can absorb air pollutants;Organic loofah enhances the toughness of composite materials;The soil acts as an elastic adhesive and maintains stabilitypHAction of value。Although the material is still in the prototype development stage, it has a wide range of potential applicability in biodegradable landscape walls。

3nanomaterials

Nanotechnology is advancing materials science by breaking through limits that once seemed impossible。TRY2004The Pyramid supercity concept helped Tokyo develop, but due to the difficulty of the project, it could only be completed with the help of carbon nanotubes。

When combined with high-strength concrete, carbon nanotubes (CNTS)CNTNanomaterials such as these produce a flexible material that eliminates the need for steel bars, thus speeding up the construction process。There are many more possibilities, and other developments include ultra-lightweight (super-strong) materials as well as another self-healing concrete。

4, programmable cement

Concrete production is one of the biggest culprits in greenhouse gas emissions。In order to further improve concrete materials, researchers at Rice University in the United States have set their sights on the nanoscale field, and they have studied calcium silicate hydrate(C-S-H)How is cement crystallized and used to synthesize a particular shapeC-S-H颗粒。The researchers turned them into cubes, rectangles, prisms, dendrites, core-shells and rhomboids, shapes that allow them to be packed closer together。The team was able to control the number, size and shape of these final particles by adjusting the concentration of the original seeds, the temperature and the duration of the formation process。This information is then mapped into a unified morphological map that can be shared with manufacturers and builders, enabling them to design concrete with specific desired properties。

“One advantage is that because it gets tougher, it doesn't take much to get the same effect as before,”The researchers explain:“This is because the better compression effect of the cube particles will produce a stronger microstructure;Another advantage is that it is more durable, and less porosity makes it isolated from the entry of more chemicals, so the interior of the steel bar is less susceptible to damage。”

5, self-healing concrete

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world。In fact, it is the second largest consumer product on Earth after water。Concrete has the advantages of being cheap and widely adaptable, but it is also prone to cracking and its compressive performance deteriorates in extremely hot and cold environments。

The only way to fix cracked concrete in the past was to patch it up, strengthen it, or knock it off and start from scratch。But that won't be necessary anymore。A graduate student and professor of chemical engineering at the University of Rhode Island has created a new type“智能”Concrete, yes“智能”Repair your own cracks。This is because the concrete mixture is embedded with tiny water glass capsules。When a crack occurs, the capsule breaks and releases a gel-like healing agent that hardens to fill the gap and repair itself。

Of course, this is not the only repair method for self-healing concrete。Other researchers have achieved similar results using bacteria or embedded glass capillaries or polymer microcapsules。

Extending the life of concrete can bring huge environmental benefits。Concrete production worldwide currently accounts for the largest share of global CO2 emissions5%。Smart concrete will not only make our structures safer, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions。

6Temperature control reflects ceramic tiles

This temperature control reflects the ceramic tile, is also a new technology, the future will be widely used。The beauty of it is that it can change different colors according to the temperature。

This temperature-controlled reflection tile is a product called Moving Color(Moving Color)The company manufactures a glass decorative tile coated with a thermochromic dye that can act like“活着”It usually varies with surface temperature。At room temperature, the tile is a smooth black, but when you touch the tile or have direct light or warm water contact, the tile color changes like the northern lights into a rainbow of blue, green and pink。

The table in the picture uses a temperature-controlled reflection tile, so when something hot is placed on the table, the table will change color。

7Carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are currently the highest specific strength materials that can be prepared, stretching more than a million times their thickness。

One nanometer(nm)At a billionth of a meter, that's minuscule。The thickness of a piece of paper is100000nm。Human nails grow at about1nmEvery second, even peopleDNAThe chain is just2.5nm宽。So the structure“纳米”Grade material seems impossible。But scientists and engineers, by using cutting-edge techniques such as electron beam lithography, have succeeded in creating walls only thick1nmThe carbon nanotubes。

As large particles get smaller, their surface area increases。These carbon nanotubes have a higher specific strength than any other material on Earth and can be stretched more than a million times thicker。Carbon nanotubes are so light and strong that they can be embedded in other building materials such as metals, concrete, wood and glass to increase material density and tensile strength。Engineers are even trying to incorporate nanosensors into building materials that can detect cracks and cracks before they occur。

8Transparent aluminum

Transparent aluminum can require smaller internal supports to build towering glass-walled skyscrapers。

For decades, chemical engineers have dreamed of developing a material that combines the strength and durability of metals with the transparency of glass。这种“Transparent metal”Towering glass-walled skyscrapers can be built with very little internal support。Military buildings can be fitted with thin, transparent metal Windows to withstand the highest levels of artillery fire。As early as1980Since then, scientists have been experimenting with a new type of ceramic made from a mixture of aluminum, oxygen and nitrogen。Ceramics undergo heat treatment and cooling processes to obtain crystal materials with high hardness。They put the mixed aluminum powder under tremendous pressure, in2000℃(3632 F)It is heated at high temperatures for several days and finally polished to produce a new material that is as transparent as glass and has the strength of aluminum。This is thought to be transparent aluminum orALONSpace materials are already used by the military to produce armored Windows and optical lenses。

9Carbon dioxide building

That's right, you heard that right, carbon dioxide building, which at first glance, is scary, but how can you connect carbon dioxide and buildings。But it's also a new technology。

What's going on？Recently, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology successfully used genetically modified yeast to convert carbon dioxide gas into solid carbon-based building materials。The scientists say that every year around the world300Hundreds of millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere, so polluting the environment, they can use a beaker full of genetically modified yeast to use only1磅(0.5公斤)Carbon dioxide is produced2磅(1公斤)Of solid carbonate。In this way, environmental pollution can be greatly reduced。

The carbon dioxide building made of such solid carbon-based materials is really exciting!

10Robot group building

One of nature's most ingenious builders is the humble termite。It uses a brain the size of sand, with thousands of“Fellow citizens”They work together to build up large, complex mud structures。The termite phenomenon caught the attention of robotics researchers at Harvard University in the United States because the insects do not take orders from the center of the nest, each termite simply works according to a genetically programmed behavior。

Inspired by termites, researchers at Harvard University's Self-Organizing Systems Research Group assembled groups of small construction robots to work。Four-wheeled robots can build brick walls in open Spaces by moving bricks, climbing walls and laying bricks。They have sensors to detect the presence of other robots and work according to rules without interfering with each other。Like termites, no one“控制”They, but they're programmed to work together to turn the design into reality。

Imagine swarms of robots building embankments along flooded shorelines;Thousands of tiny robots build space stations on Mars, or deep-sea undersea gas pipelines are assembled by swarms of robots roaming the ocean……