{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]],"date-time":"2026-10-11T04:46:44Z","timestamp":1791694004827,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790812800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key R&amp;D Program","award":["2024YFB3715000"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024YFB3715000"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["52478238"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52478238"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["52408240"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52408240"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["52478238"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52478238"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["52408240"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52408240"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Reliable thermo-mechanical performance is typically required in intensive thermal management applications, such as thermal energy storage systems and concrete-structured data centers; however, there is usually a trade-off between thermal conductivity and strength when designing thermally conductive concrete. To address the critical demand for concrete that combines high thermal conductivity with excellent structural stability after thermal loading, a novel multi-dimensional thermally conductive network was constructed by incorporating one-dimensional steel fibers and two-dimensional graphite-modified recycled aggregates to form a synergistic composite (SFRHCC). Results demonstrate that the thermal and mechanical stability of SFRHCC subjected to 200 \u00b0C was substantially improved compared with the unmodified reference. Specifically, after thermal treatment at 200 \u00b0C, SFRHCC restricted its thermal conductivity loss to only 7.6%, in stark contrast to the 28.2% reduction observed in ordinary recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). Furthermore, SFRHCC retained 92.0% and 91.3% of its reference compressive and splitting tensile strengths, vastly outperforming the unmodified reference (which retained only 75.0% and 72.4%, respectively). Both X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) and Euclidean distance transform (EDT) characterizations elucidate a high-density linear-planar overlapping network with an overall spatial connectivity of 9.94%, where the soft graphite coating layer accommodates thermal mismatch deformations and restricts volumetric fluctuations. This structural integrity effectively transforms the interfacial failure mode from simple weak-interface debonding to cohesive matrix tearing. These findings offer a promising materials design strategy for developing structural-functional integrated concrete for thermal management applications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19194203","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T18:43:24Z","timestamp":1790880204000},"page":"4203","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Engineering a Multi-Dimensional Thermally Conductive Network to Enhance the Thermo-Mechanical Stability of Concrete"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Chen","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4143-680X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xin","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Engineering Materials for Major Infrastructure, Nanjing 210008, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hui","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lijing","family":"Shao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Long","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pan","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Engineering Materials for Major Infrastructure, Nanjing 210008, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jobe.2018.07.002","article-title":"Thermal conductivity of concrete\u2014A review","volume":"20","author":"Asadi","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. 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