Eco-Smart Geomaterials and Nano-Engineered Soils: Innovations in Geotechnical Engineering for Pollution Mitigation and Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

Nanotechnology and smart materials have emerged as a crucial field to build, analyze, and study soil-related infrastructure systems with enhanced performance and sustainability. This review covers the recent progress in nano-engineered soils and smart materials, including their types, mechanisms of interaction with soil matrices, and further explains their prospective applications in stabilization, reinforcement, sensing, and ground improvement technologies. Widely-used nano-materials like nano-silica, nano-clay, carbon nano tubes, graphene and nano-calcium carbonate have exhibited a great potential to enhance geotechnical properties including shear strength, compressibility, and permeability. A novel approach using smart materials including piezoelectric materials, shape memory alloys (SMAs), electroactive polymers, and self-healing composites, bestows upon soil systems adaptive functions and integrated sensing capabilities, enabling realtime monitoring and adaptive behaviour. It also reviews the environmental consequences and sustainability considerations for the implementation of these advanced materials. In this regard, aspects of life cycle assessment (LCA), potential toxicity and bioaccumulation risks are also highlighted and the potential of eco-friendly and bio-inspired alternatives is highlighted as part of promoting green geotechnical practices and models of circular economy. With advances on the horizon, the public implementation of these materials is impeded by challenges, including challenges with their dispersion, their long-term performance, their high costs, the lack of verifiable guidelines and regulatory frameworks. Last, the paper concludes with directions for future research, such as necessity for field-scale validations, integration with Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things technologies for smart soil systems, and formulation of eco-friendly, bio-compatble nanomaterials. This review emphasizes that nano-engineered soils and smart materials can reshape geotechnical engineering and offers forward-looking perspectives of how asset (infrastructure) owners and the construction industry may benefit from resilient, intelligent and sustainable solutions.