Cement that conducts electricity and also generates heat is one of the latest inventions of MIT in collaboration with the CNRS. Concrete and mortar came into being ages ago and have only contributed to more industrialization. But now, after years of rigorous efforts and research, many research centers have developed cement that conducts electricity. And also generates heat.
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The CSHub and the CNRS
Researchers from MIT’s Concrete Sustainability Hub and France’s National Center for Scientific Research i.e. CNRS came together to innovate this. And they aim to incorporate electron conductivity in the concrete to make it high-tech cement that conducts electricity. Nancy Soliman is the author of this paper and holds a positive thought about this latest concrete innovation. She quotes, “This is a first-order model of the conductive cement. And it will bring [the knowledge] needed to encourage the scale-up of these kinds of [multifunctional] materials.”
Cement that conducts electricity– Nano carbon Black and the approach
The approach for the new-age cement is based on the mingling of conductive Nano-carbon materials into the cement. Nano carbon materials have emerged as a strong backbone for the material and software industry. So, a larger number of industries are bringing Nano carbons more and more into use. Thus to produce cement that conducts electricity at a larger scale, the affordable cost of its raw material is also an important factor. So, Nano carbon black was a well-thought choice to keep the state-of-the-art cement highly productive and cost-effective at the same time.
Uses of state-of-the-art cement
The electricity conducting and heat-generating cement is expected to have a varied range of applications. So, it can be put to use to de-ice the pavements without the use of salt. The present method of de-icing the pavements incurs huge operational and repair costs. With the new cement technology, it is expected to drop drastically. Another important application is the airport runways, where this cement technology will be extremely helpful.
