"Nanotechnology is offering us the ability to design materials with totally new characteristics. In other words, nanotechnology will fundamentally change the things we make and the way we make them."
    (Ottilia Saxl, Chief Executive, Institute of Nanotechnology) 

"Construction materials will not be omitted from the industrial revolution of the 21st century."

INTRODUCTION
Nanotechnology is a very fast developing area of research. In its broadest definition, nanotechnology is seen as 'the technology where dimensions or tolerances in the range of 0.1nm to 100nm play a critical role'. Its coverage is therefore very broad and nanotechnology means different things to different people. It is not a homogeneous field, with several areas already substantially developed. Overlap with fundamental materials science has led to nanotechnology being increasingly applied in construction materials research and development and industrial applications of nanotechnology in construction have begun to appear. More importantly, nanotechnology is now perceived as of high relevance to the construction sector overall, with a substantial investment into nanotechnology-related R&D becoming available. This is expected to translate into a massive medium to long term technical and economical impact on construction practice.