Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the Journal of the Asian Concrete Federation (ACF Journal), we are pleased to announce a Special Issue on “Advancing Durable Low-Carbon Concrete through Self-Healing Technologies”
The concrete industry is under increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining the long-term performance of infrastructure. Low-carbon concrete, incorporating supplementary cementitious materials, recycled resources, novel binders, and alternative cementitious systems, offers substantial environmental benefits but often presents new durability challenges associated with cracking and aggressive service environments.
Self-healing technologies have emerged as an innovative solution to enhance the durability and resilience of these sustainable materials by autonomously repairing cracks, reducing the ingress of harmful agents, restoring functional performance, and extending service life. Integrating self-healing capabilities into low-carbon concrete has the potential to significantly reduce maintenance, lower life-cycle costs, and further decrease the environmental footprint of infrastructure.
This Special Issue aims to present cutting-edge research on the development, characterisation, modelling, and application of self-healing technologies for durable low-carbon concrete. Original research papers, review articles, and case studies addressing both fundamental science and engineering practice are welcomed.
Contributions are welcome on topics including, but not limited to:
- Low-carbon cementitious materials and durability enhancement
- Self-healing mechanisms in sustainable concrete
- Biomineralisation and bacteria-based healing
- Chemical and crystalline self-healing systems
- Encapsulated and vascular healing technologies
- Autogenous healing of SCM-rich concrete
- Self-healing in alkali-activated and geopolymer materials
- Carbonation, chloride ingress, sulphate attack, and freeze–thaw resistance
- Multi-scale characterisation of healing processes
- AI and machine learning for durability prediction and healing optimisation
- Smart sensing and monitoring of self-healing performance
- Service-life modelling and digital twins
- Circular economy materials for self-healing concrete
- Life-cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, and carbon accounting
- Large-scale applications, standards, and implementation
Conventional experimental and analytical studies that produce design models or datasets relevant to the above themes are explicitly welcome — the Special Issue intends to bridge data and mechanics, not replace one with the other.
Guest Editors- Yan Zhuge — Lead Guest Editor. School of Civil Engineering and Construction, Adelaide University, Australia (y.zhuge@adelaide.edu.au).
- Dr. Yue Liu — Co-Guest Editor. School of Civil Engineering and Construction, Adelaide University, Australia (liu@adelaide.edu.au).
Under the auspices of the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Caijun Shi (Hunan University), and the ACF Journal Editorial Board. The Special Issue is organized in connection with ACF Technical Committee TC-AICSM (Artificial Intelligence in Concrete Structures and Materials).
Submission Guidelines- Submission portal (ScholarOne / Manuscript Central): https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/acf — during submission, select the Special Issue category “Advancing Durable Low-Carbon Concrete through Self-Healing Technologies” (exact category label to be confirmed by the journal admin).
- Article types: technical papers, invited papers, and review papers.
- Files to upload (double-blind review): (1) cover letter; (2) a separate title page; (3) a blinded full manuscript; (4) optionally, a list of at least three suggested reviewers (independent of the authors).
- Manuscript format: Microsoft Word (PDF not accepted); Times New Roman 11 pt, double-spaced, single column; A4 with 20 mm margins; page and line numbers; SI units. Title ≤ 80 characters, abstract ≤ 200 words, ≤ 6 keywords. Number references [1], [2] in ACF style. Include a CRediT authorship-contribution statement, a competing-interest declaration, and disclosure of any generative-AI use.
- Templates & forms: the ACF Manuscript Template 2.0, Cover Letter, and Publication-Ethics document are provided together with this call.
- Open access: all articles are published open access with no submission or article-processing charges.
Full author instructions: ACF Journal — Author's Guide.
Important Dates(Proposed — to be confirmed with the editorial office.)
Call for papers opens: July 2026
Full manuscript submission deadline: 31 December 2026
Peer review & revisions: July 2026 – December 2026
Expected publication: 2027
Contact- Lead Guest Editor: Yan Zhuge (Adelaide University) — y.zhuge@adelaide.edu.au
- Co-Guest Editor: Dr. Yue Liu (Adelaide University) — yue.liu@adelaide.edu.au
- Journal / Editorial Office: Zhenguo Shi (Managing Editor, Hunan University) — zshi@hnu.edu.cn; editorial support — acf2023.acf2023@gmail.com
We look forward to your contributions to this Special Issue.
With warm regards,
Prof. Yan Zhuge and Dr. Yue Liu — Guest Editors