Perspective
Open Access
Next-Generation Cement-based Engineering Materials for Reliable and Sustainable Infrastructure
1
State Key Laboratory of Engineering Materials for Major Infrastructure, Nanjing 211103, China
2
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
3
Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co. Ltd., Nanjing 211103, China
* Corresponding Author:
Jiaping Liu,
[email protected]
Volume 2, Issue 2
2026
Received: 10 March 2026
Accepted: 28 April 2026
Published: 07 May 2026
Article Information
Published in
Journal of Advanced Materials Research
Volume/Issue
Volume 2, Issue 2, 2026
Pages
142-150
Abstract
The demand for reliable and sustainable infrastructure necessitates a fundamental shift in engineering materials, moving beyond incremental improvements toward an integrated paradigm combining intrinsic performance enhancement, functional adaptability, and intelligent design. In this perspective, we highlight the key opportunities and challenges of advanced cement-based engineering materials, focusing on high strength-toughness, long-service-life, frontier engineering materials, and intelligent design. These interdependent areas collectively pave the way for a new generation of engineering materials capable of withstanding unprecedented service conditions while substantially reducing environmental impact. Infrastructure stands as the cornerstone of modern civilization, ensuring economic prosperity, public safety, and sustainable development. Rapid urbanization, climate change, and intensifying resource constraints are reshaping performance expectations of infrastructure systems, which must increasingly withstand complex loading conditions, severe service environments, and extreme scenarios from deep-sea installations to prospective lunar construction. These challenges call for a fundamental transformation in cement-based engineering materials, driving development of a new generation characterized by inherent reliability, extended service life, environmental compatibility, and resource efficiency. Breakthroughs are needed across four interdependent frontiers: collaborative enhancement of strength-toughness, ultra-long service life under harsh environments, material functionality and scalable fabrication, and AI-driven material design. Each domain will be discussed, exploring cutting-edge advances, engineering applications, and future potential in establishing a robust material foundation for major infrastructure.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
engineering material
major infrastructure
sustainability
intelligent design
Data Availability Statement
Not applicable.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 52293430.
Conflicts of Interest
Song Mu and Fangyu Han are affiliated with the Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co. Ltd., Nanjing 211103, China. The authors declare that this affiliation had no influence on the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or the decision to publish, and that no other competing interests exist.
AI Use Statement
The authors declare that no generative AI was used in the preparation of this manuscript.
Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
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APA Style
She, W., Mu, S., Hu, Z., Han, F., Yan, Y., & Liu, J. (2026). Next-Generation Cement-based Engineering Materials for Reliable and Sustainable Infrastructure. Journal of Advanced Materials Research, 2(2), 142-150. https://doi.org/10.62762/JAMR.2026.589060
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TY - JOUR AU - She, Wei AU - Mu, Song AU - Hu, Zhangli AU - Han, Fangyu AU - Yan, Yu AU - Liu, Jiaping PY - 2026 DA - 2026/05/07 TI - Next-Generation Cement-based Engineering Materials for Reliable and Sustainable Infrastructure JO - Journal of Advanced Materials Research T2 - Journal of Advanced Materials Research JF - Journal of Advanced Materials Research VL - 2 IS - 2 SP - 142 EP - 150 DO - 10.62762/JAMR.2026.589060 UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JAMR.2026.589060 KW - engineering material KW - major infrastructure KW - sustainability KW - intelligent design AB - The demand for reliable and sustainable infrastructure necessitates a fundamental shift in engineering materials, moving beyond incremental improvements toward an integrated paradigm combining intrinsic performance enhancement, functional adaptability, and intelligent design. In this perspective, we highlight the key opportunities and challenges of advanced cement-based engineering materials, focusing on high strength-toughness, long-service-life, frontier engineering materials, and intelligent design. These interdependent areas collectively pave the way for a new generation of engineering materials capable of withstanding unprecedented service conditions while substantially reducing environmental impact. Infrastructure stands as the cornerstone of modern civilization, ensuring economic prosperity, public safety, and sustainable development. Rapid urbanization, climate change, and intensifying resource constraints are reshaping performance expectations of infrastructure systems, which must increasingly withstand complex loading conditions, severe service environments, and extreme scenarios from deep-sea installations to prospective lunar construction. These challenges call for a fundamental transformation in cement-based engineering materials, driving development of a new generation characterized by inherent reliability, extended service life, environmental compatibility, and resource efficiency. Breakthroughs are needed across four interdependent frontiers: collaborative enhancement of strength-toughness, ultra-long service life under harsh environments, material functionality and scalable fabrication, and AI-driven material design. Each domain will be discussed, exploring cutting-edge advances, engineering applications, and future potential in establishing a robust material foundation for major infrastructure. SN - 3070-5851 PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge LA - English ER -
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Compatible with LaTeX, BibTeX, and other reference managers
@article{She2026NextGenera,
author = {Wei She and Song Mu and Zhangli Hu and Fangyu Han and Yu Yan and Jiaping Liu},
title = {Next-Generation Cement-based Engineering Materials for Reliable and Sustainable Infrastructure},
journal = {Journal of Advanced Materials Research},
year = {2026},
volume = {2},
number = {2},
pages = {142-150},
doi = {10.62762/JAMR.2026.589060},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JAMR.2026.589060},
abstract = {The demand for reliable and sustainable infrastructure necessitates a fundamental shift in engineering materials, moving beyond incremental improvements toward an integrated paradigm combining intrinsic performance enhancement, functional adaptability, and intelligent design. In this perspective, we highlight the key opportunities and challenges of advanced cement-based engineering materials, focusing on high strength-toughness, long-service-life, frontier engineering materials, and intelligent design. These interdependent areas collectively pave the way for a new generation of engineering materials capable of withstanding unprecedented service conditions while substantially reducing environmental impact. Infrastructure stands as the cornerstone of modern civilization, ensuring economic prosperity, public safety, and sustainable development. Rapid urbanization, climate change, and intensifying resource constraints are reshaping performance expectations of infrastructure systems, which must increasingly withstand complex loading conditions, severe service environments, and extreme scenarios from deep-sea installations to prospective lunar construction. These challenges call for a fundamental transformation in cement-based engineering materials, driving development of a new generation characterized by inherent reliability, extended service life, environmental compatibility, and resource efficiency. Breakthroughs are needed across four interdependent frontiers: collaborative enhancement of strength-toughness, ultra-long service life under harsh environments, material functionality and scalable fabrication, and AI-driven material design. Each domain will be discussed, exploring cutting-edge advances, engineering applications, and future potential in establishing a robust material foundation for major infrastructure.},
keywords = {engineering material, major infrastructure, sustainability, intelligent design},
issn = {3070-5851},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
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Copyright © 2026 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
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