MIT’s concrete battery can supply power from buildings
Scientists at MIT develop Electron-Conducting Carbon Concrete, a kind of cement that can store and release electricity like batteries. Aimed for buildings, sidewalks, and other infrastructure, the energy-releasing material is made from four main ingredients: cement, water, ultra-fine carbon black, and electrolytes. The main stars are the carbon black and the electrolytes. For the former, its very small particles can form a conductive nanonetwork inside the concrete, allowing electricity to move through the material.
For the latter, they are substances that carry electric charge. When these are mixed with cement and water, they create a type of concrete that can hold and give back electrical energy, like a supercapacitor or large batteries. While the project cannot store as much energy as normal batteries, it has one major benefit: it can be built directly into structures, meaning it can be used or infused in walls, floors, pavements, and bridges so they can store and supply power directly to the electric lines. MIT’s concrete battery shows a future where the material can be embedded into roads or parking areas to charge electric vehicles directly, or for off-grid homes that do not need external power.
all images courtesy of MIT EC³ Hub, unless stated otherwise
ammonium salts increase power supplied in a day
To produce the concrete battery, the MIT scientists have studied how carbon black and electrolytes interact inside the concrete. They use a method called FIB-SEM tomography, which combines focused ion beams and scanning electron microscopes, to remove and scan thin layers of the concrete and build a 3D image of the nanonetwork. The images show that the carbon particles form a web-like structure that surrounds small holes inside the concrete, helping the electrolyte spread through the material and making it easier for current to flow.
Once the team understood that this is how the network works, they tested different electrolytes. They found that various types could work, including organic electrolytes and even seawater. Instead of making the concrete first and then soaking it in electrolyte, the researchers mixed the electrolyte directly into the water before pouring the concrete so the electrolyte could spread evenly through the mixture and the team could make thicker layers that stored more energy. They found out that the best formula came from a mix that used quaternary ammonium salts (common in disinfectants) and acetonitrile. This version could store more than two kilowatt-hours of energy per cubic meter of concrete, which is about the energy a household refrigerator needs in one day.
a concrete battery-based prototype to show how carbon black and electrolytes supply power
Concrete battery by MIT can help store renewable energy
The MIT team has already demonstrated the concept of their concrete battery using a small arch. It can support weight and power a small LED light using its stored energy, and when more weight is added, the light flickers, showing that the material might also work as a self-monitoring system. In large structures, this can mean that changes in electrical flow might reveal how much stress or damage a building is experiencing.
The team also notes that the Electron-Conducting Carbon Concrete can help store renewable energy. Solar panels produce energy only in sunlight, so stored energy is needed at night or on cloudy days. Buildings made with MIT’s concrete battery can then collect and store solar energy during the day and release it later when needed. The research was developed by the MIT EC³ Hub and the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub and led by Professor Admir Masic, along with Damian Stefaniuk, Franz-Josef Ulm, and James Weaver.
the project can be built directly into structures for direct power from walls | image by Magda Ehlers, via Pexels
the material is made of cement, water, carbon black, and electrolytes | image by Jan van der Wolf, via Pexels
MIT scientists develop concrete that can store and release energy like batteries | image Hilary Halliwell, via Pexels
project info:
name: High energy density carbon–cement supercapacitors for architectural energy storage
team: Damian Stefaniuk, James C. Weaver, Franz-Josef Ulm, Admir Masic
study: here
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