Hong Kong’s University of Science and Technology is inventing a ‘fibre-reinforced aluminium’

The Hong Kong’s University of Science and Technology is conducting a research to come up with a new aluminium-based material that is being called the ‘fibre-reinforced aluminium’. The new material is supposedly 30% stronger than aluminium, and lighter and less expensive than steel making it a possible replacement for steel and cement in buildings.

The construction of this new material is being done on the nano-level where the structure of carbon and aluminium is being altered so that they fuse together without the use of glue. In buildings, a layered combination of gypsum, foam and other materials with the new material is said to save 50% of energy. The gaps in the building that leak the air out of the rooms causing more consumption of energy to heat or cool the room can be restricted through this material.

Professor Ben Chan Yui-bun is heading the research and belongs to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He claims that although the product is in its nascent stages right now, it has immense potential in the manufacturing of mobile phones, laptop casings, cars and planes besides its role in building construction.

The aluminium giant, UC Rusal is funding this project and many Russian universities are working in collaboration woth Hong Kong’s University of Science and Technology, including Moscow State University.