Graphene-based construction materials: experimentation and application development

The construction sector is entering the new era of production, construction and management of Industry 4.0. The development of smart and resilient technologies focused on the user and the environment has significant potential to improve the ways of experiencing indoor and outdoor spaces. This scenario generates new opportunities to exploit innovation to create the conditions for human well-being and to contribute to the future of the Earth. The construction sector is in a period of transition. On the one hand, there is a demand for construction with high technological content, capable of incorporating innovations at low cost, low environmental impact, low energy consumption, safe and resilient, adaptable, convertible, transformable over time and personalised; on the other hand, there is a continued reliance on traditional building approaches/solutions that only partially meet the new requirements. In this context, the research into new materials to produce innovative construction components capable of contributing to the achievement of the above-mentioned objectives is one of the areas of contemporary development. Among them are included two-dimensional materials that owe their name to their particular structure, consisting of a single atomic layer. The event that enabled such a reduction in the size scale was the isolation of graphene, a material with unique properties and numerous possible applications. Its potential uses are currently being studied and tested, as demonstrated by the numerous research programmes on the subject, aimed at transferring technology from research laboratories to industry. This PhD research aims to investigate the potential applications of graphene in the field of cementitious composites and polymer-based coatings. The activities carried out included: a critical analysis of the state of the art of the most recent applications in the field of construction; the consequent choice of possible composite materials graphene and graphene-related materials based; the design and development of an experimental campaign; the proposal and final verification of the applications in the construction sector. The activities were carried out in collaboration with the Graphene Labs of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT).