Civil Engineering

My research area predominantly deal with microscale investigation and characterisation of cementitious materials (i.e, Cement concrete, geopolymers, light weight concrete, Nano concrete) ,
I have been working in this area for past 7 years, and include;

1. Alternate Binders for cement - Cement production is responsible for CO2 emission to the environment and replacing the use of cement in concrete production by alternate binders like pozzolans and geopolymers reduces CO2 emission and leads to energy reduction. My interest in this area deals on property investigation at nano and mesoscales and link them to the macro scale properties of such binders.

2. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of cementitious materials -  C-S-H is the major strength giving phase of hardened cement concrete. C-S-H can be studied exclusively at different scales, of which nanoscale study of C-S-H is of my interest and this can be done using molecular dynamics simulation. In this simulation, we model the C-S-H in nanometre scale consisting of Calcium, Silicon, Aluminum, Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms. The atoms are paired with one another through bonds and the interaction between these bonds are calculated using different force field. 

3. Geopolymers - Geopolymers are alternative binders used now a days predominantly in pavers and brick manufacturing. Geopolymers are different from Alkali activated materials, in the way they are made. My interest in this area is focused on investigating the cementitious properties provided by the respective gels present in geopolymers. Based on the source material used (i.e, fly ash, slag, metakaolin) the strength giving phase or the gels formed varies. 

4. Seawater Cementitious Binders - Recent research is directed in this area wordwide, for places where availability of freshwater is limited. To know more about this area, please follow the below link,
https://lbezone.hkust.edu.hk/bib/991012662768803412