Next-Generation Cement-based Engineering Materials for Reliable and Sustainable Infrastructure

The demand for reliable and sustainable infrastructure necessitates a fundamental shift in engineering materials, moving beyond incremental improvements toward an integrated paradigm combining intrinsic performance enhancement, functional adaptability, and intelligent design. In this perspective, we highlight the key opportunities and challenges of advanced cement-based engineering materials, focusing on high strength-toughness, long-service-life, frontier engineering materials, and intelligent design. These interdependent areas collectively pave the way for a new generation of engineering materials capable of withstanding unprecedented service conditions while substantially reducing environmental impact. Infrastructure stands as the cornerstone of modern civilization, ensuring economic prosperity, public safety, and sustainable development. Rapid urbanization, climate change, and intensifying resource constraints are reshaping performance expectations of infrastructure systems, which must increasingly withstand complex loading conditions, severe service environments, and extreme scenarios from deep-sea installations to prospective lunar construction. These challenges call for a fundamental transformation in cement-based engineering materials, driving development of a new generation characterized by inherent reliability, extended service life, environmental compatibility, and resource efficiency. Breakthroughs are needed across four interdependent frontiers: collaborative enhancement of strength-toughness, ultra-long service life under harsh environments, material functionality and scalable fabrication, and AI-driven material design. Each domain will be discussed, exploring cutting-edge advances, engineering applications, and future potential in establishing a robust material foundation for major infrastructure.