Scientists from Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NAFU), based in Arkhangelsk, are creating a nano-composite that will significantly improve building materials, NanoNewsNet reports.

According to a source in the Department of Composite Materials and Construction Ecology of the Institute of Construction and Architecture of the NAFU, its students, Natalya Kalininskaya and Tatyana Pospelova, are working on new compounds of construction composites from local raw materials, such as sand and saponite. Saponite is a waste material in diamond mining industry.

“If components are used in specific combination and nano-particle properties are employed, the resultant product demonstrates strong links. Such components can be used instead of cement in concrete, making it 20 times stronger,” said Arkady Eisenstadt, the project’s leading scientist.

The students have focused on finding the best components combination for achieving the needed effect. Specifically, they have come up with a physical-chemical and colloid-chemical explanation of the processes and optimized their conditions. The obtained nano-powder has been proved to improve properties of concrete and timber.

“Experiments showed that timber that had been treated with the composite material became more long-lasting, fire-resistant, water-proof and frost-resistant,” Aleksander Tutygin, a scientist in the Department, explained.

The same powder reportedly makes concrete stronger and less costly. Besides, the material is ecologically safe.

“We have started experimental lab testing of the material on concrete compounds. We are also studying how construction blocks are influenced by temperature. So far we’ve been obtaining scarce amounts of the nano-material, but the amounts will eventually grow. Soon we expect to get a modern globe fibermaster to grow nano-size compound production from 400 grams to 20 kilograms. We can say that we are about to enter industrial trials of the nano-materials,” Arkady Eisenstadt added.