Global warming, caused by a significant increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as CO₂, has become a concern all over the world. The whole process carbon emissions of the civil engineering industry account for nearly 40% of global energy and process-related CO₂ emissions, more than half of which come from the process of producing, using, constructing and dismantling in civil engineering materials and structures, resulting in the embodied carbon emissions.

With the acceleration of global warming, warmer and uncertain climates will make engineering materials and structures subject to more severe environmental conditions. A series of durability issues will occur more frequently, such as the significant variations of humidity in air, the chloride-induced corrosion caused by the severe chloride ingress, concrete cracking caused by the expansion of rusts, and more severe carbonation of concrete structures due to the increase in CO₂ concentration. The adoption of positive measures to address climate change has become a global consensus, as global warming has led to serious threats and challenges to the survival and development of humankind.

In the field of structural engineering, improving the durability of engineering materials and structures and reducing their carbon emissions are the most effective solutions to mitigate global warming. Although a series of studies and measures were carried out to enhance the durability and alleviate the carbon emissions of engineering materials and structures, the understanding of following issues are still limited: 1) low-carbon concepts with high carbon fixation for materials and structures, 2) the application of materials and structures with high performance and excellent durability, and 3) the efficient performance improvement of deteriorated structures.

This Topic concentrates on the latest advances, studies and novel research findings in engineering materials and structures with low CO₂ emissions, high carbon fixation and excellent durability. This Research Topic also accepts research focusing on sustainable and functional materials, intelligent construction and advanced materials, performance prediction of materials and structures by machine learning, and residual life evaluation technology.

We welcome your contributions to this Research Topic, including Review articles and Original Research. The following topics but not limited to are our interests:

1) Low-carbon building materials

2) Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) materials and structures

3) Concrete material durability

4) Concrete structure durability

5) Durability of steel and composite structures

6) Long-term performance detection, monitoring and evaluation of engineering structures

7) Strengthening and performance improvement of engineering structures

8) Life-Cycle theory and carbon reduction technology for engineering structures

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

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Frontiers in Materials

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