Researchers work on new aluminium product

Stronger than aluminium, yet cheaper and lighter than steel.

These are the claims made for a new material developed by Hong Kong researchers, who say it could replace steel and cement in buildings.

The composite of carbon and aluminium, known as fibre-reinforced aluminium, can also save energy, according to the team at the University of Science and Technology who developed it.

It is made by changing the structure of the materials at a microscopic, or nano, level, enabling them to bond without the use of glue.

Team leader Ben Chan Yui-bun, of the university's department of civil and environmental engineering, said the material had potential but more research was needed. "The industry doesn't like new materials, because they don't know what will happen over time. A building has to be standing in 200 years," he said.

He said the material took on the heat-dissipating properties and flexibility of aluminium and the strength of carbon fibres.

In a layered combination with gypsum, foam and other materials, it can generate 50 per cent energy savings for new buildings.