Nanite™

Nanite™ technology turns cement from a regular building material into a smart, interactive source of data. Oceanit’s ‘smart sensing’ cement technology has significant potential to assure, monitor, and mitigate issues related to load-bearing, wellbore integrity, and zonal isolation.

In 2008, Nanite™ won a NASA Nano 50 Award which recognizes the top 50 technologies, innovators, and products that impact nanotechnology and industry.

The integral part of Nanite™ is a hybrid nanomaterial-based additive, which transforms traditional concrete into an inherently ‘smart’ concrete with multifunctional sensing properties. Oceanit’s proprietary liquid admixture can be dispersed into bulk cement during the mixing process to yield this durable, smart sensing cement. Oceanit have developed a simplified process to produce the Nanite™ admixture, allowing uniform dispersion of nanomaterials into the cement matrix. The result is a cost-effective, simple process to introduce multifunctional properties and inherent sensing capabilities.

The modified cement is capable of reversible sensing of mechanical, acoustic, and magnetic signals which are then integrated with a signal processing and monitoring system. Nanite™ can be deployed for use in bridges, roadways, and other critical infrastructure for vehicle speed & weight detection, perimeter security, intruder detection, load, and other tracking. It also shows potential for early detection of failing infrastructure.

Nanite™ capabilities have been field tested in various scenarios, such as fenceless perimeters for the Department of Defense, self-monitoring bridges for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Weigh-in-Motion at the Port of Honolulu for the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation. You can read more about Oceanit’s NANITE™ Weigh-in-Motion sensor system with the Hawai’i Department of Transportation and the FHWA here.

The radiometric and piezometric functions of Nanite™ work to provide detection of human beings and classification of vehicles. The sensitivity and accuracy of detection are adequate for outdoor and indoor security systems, where low profile, or integrated sensor technology is required. Oceanit envisions Nanite™ as the smart building material of the future, integrating to the Internet of Things to address urban challenges in the world’s next technological evolution.