The project "Microwave-Responsive Carbon Nanocoating Functional Aggregates for Smart Cities: Innovation and Applications", led by Prof. Zhen Leng, Professor of CEE and Associate Director of the Carbon Neutrality and Resources Engineering Research Centre (RCRE), along with a core team including Mr Shaowei Zhang, CEE PhD student and Dr Zhifei Tan, former CEE Research Assistant, has distinguished itself from 10,055 competing projects submitted by participants from 139 countries and regions and won the Merit Award at the HICOOL 2025 Global Entrepreneurship Competition, bringing honor to the Department and the University.
The award-winning project focuses on Microwave-responsive Carbon-coated Functional Aggregate (MrCFA), endowing roads with the composite functions of "de-icing, crack detection, and self-healing," thereby providing innovative solutions for winter road safety and intelligent pavement maintenance in smart cities. By replacing natural aggregates in asphalt pavement construction, MrCFA effectively addresses the issue of uneven dispersion inherent in traditional carbon material modification processes. It possesses excellent electrical, microwave-heating, thermal, and mechanical properties. While enhancing the pavement's conventional road performance, including high-temperature stability, water stability, and low-temperature crack resistance, the efficient conversion of microwave energy by the carbon nanocoating enables a breakthrough improvement in the asphalt pavement's de-icing capability and self-healing performance. Furthermore, due to its high electrical conductivity, MrCFA generates distinct reflection signals and energy attenuation in Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) profiles. When combined with AI intelligent algorithms, this significantly improves the accuracy of pavement crack detection. It offers an intelligent inspection solution for crack prevention and treatment, and assists in determining the optimal timing for healing interventions.
The award highlights the ongoing innovation of Prof. Leng’s research team in their field of study. We look forward to seeing their research translated into practical applications that contribute to sustainable development in society.
