This activity highlights a new perspective on the design of conservation mortars, giving emphasis on the new functionalities and advantages that materials science and nanotechnology can provide to cultural heritage conservation.

The incorporation of carbon nanostructures (e.g. GO, GnPs, CNTs) into the mortars matrix provides the ability for multi-functional building and restoration mortars that can act as a material embedded sensor and provide the continuous health monitoring of build structures.

The selection and use of carbon nanostructures is twofold: a) to enhance the mechanical properties and crack-resistance of conservation mortars and b) to create a conductive network within mortar’s mass, providing thus the mixture the ability to act as piezo-electric material. In that case, when mortars are subjected to mechanical loadings the electrical resistance is altered. Thus, the strain under static or dynamic conditions can be detected by measuring -continuous and remotely - the electrical properties of the nano-composite material. 

The above technologies have been tested for the first time in lime-pozzolan-cement ternary conservation mixtures. 

Featured publications

• Dimou, A.E., Asimakopoulos, G., Karatasios, I., Gournis, D., Metaxa, Z.S., Kourkoulis, S.K., Alexopoulos, N.D., Self-diagnostic lime-pozzolan-cement restoration nanocomposites: Effect of graphene modification and cyclic loading level under compression (2022) Developments in the Built Environment, 10, art. no. 100068, DOI: 10.1016/j.dibe.2022.100068
• Dimou, A.E., Metaxa, Z.S., Kourkoulis, S.K., Karatasios, I., Alexopoulos, N.D., Tailoring the binder matrix of lime-based binders for restoration interventions with regard to mechanical compatibility (2022) Construction and Building Materials, 315, art. no. 125717, DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.125717
• Giannakopoulou, T., Pilatos, G., Todorova, N., Boukos, N., Vaimakis, T., Karatasios, I., Trapalis, C., Effect of processing temperature on growing bamboo-like carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition (2021) Materials Today Chemistry, 19, art. no. 100388, DOI: 10.1016/j.mtchem.2020.100388
• Dimou, A.-E., Charalampidou, C.-M., Metaxa, Z.S., Kourkoulis, S.K., Karatasios, I., Asimakopoulos, G., Alexopoulos, N.D., Mechanical and electrical properties of hydraulic lime pastes reinforced with carbon nanomaterials (2020) Procedia Structural Integrity, 28, pp. 1694-1701, DOI: 10.1016/j.prostr.2020.10.144