Research and application of nanotechnology in transportation

Nanotechnology is the science concerned with the design, construction and utilisation of functional structures with at least one characteristic dimension measured in nanometres. Compared to typical transportation engineering structures (roads, bridges, etc), the two fields thus operate on hugely divergent dimensional scales. Traditionally, nanotechnology has been concerned with developments in the fields of microelectronics, medicine and materials sciences. However, the potential for application of many of the developments in the nanotechnology field in the area of transportation engineering is growing. Current research in this area focus on the development of improved materials for construction of transportation facilities, characterisation of traditional materials used in transportation facilities and the application of techniques and knowledge developed in the broader transportation engineering field to understand and characterise processes in nanotechnology. In this paper a broad overview of the potential application of various nanotechnology developments in the transportation engineering field is discussed, and the potential for further basic research that may lead to improved transportation systems is evaluated. The focus is on the potential effects that the technology may have on aspects such as safety, durability, economics and sustainability of the transportation infrastructure. The most important challenge in this endeavour is that of scaling nanotechnology to ensure that the benefits that are gained through working in the nano-sphere (research level) are also realistic in the macro-sphere (application level) dominated by transportation engineering.