The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is in the midst of exploring a rather original idea: transforming concrete structures like roads and walls into giant batteries.
This innovation could offer a novel solution for energy storage and play an important role in the adoption of new forms of renewable energy on a global scale. For this, the researchers did not have to look far in terms of design materials to imagine these “superbatteries”. Sometimes the solution has already been in front of us for a long time!
The use of well-known materials
This team of researchers found what they were looking for thanks to two materials: cement and carbon black. The latter is an inert form of carbon, often found in soot in a colloidal form, that is to say between a size of 1 nanometer to 1 micrometer. These materials, if mixed with water, can form a supercapacitor which would present itself as an alternative to traditional batteries, lithium-ion for example. Its storage potential would be quite significant.
The main advantage of this design is that you can easily imagine integrating it into concrete structures such as the foundations or the walls of houses. This would allow the energy to be stored without threatening the structural solidity of the whole. It is also possible to imagine applying this device in the construction of new roads, for example.
Innovation in the details
The design of this supercapacitor does not really differ from a basic capacitor. Its principle is the same: two conductive plates are immersed in an electrolyte which acts as a conductive liquid. When carbon black is added to concrete and water, it then creates a conductive network which provides a very high internal surface area. One of the main properties of carbon black is its highly conductive potential. When added to the water-concrete mixture, it unfolds into large thread-like structures (much like a network of veins) inside the structure as it hardens. These structures then form a space for the transit of the charged particles of the electrolyte. The result: a very powerful capacitor designed from simple materials.
This new MIT find is good news for two reasons. The first is that the construction of these capacitors would limit the use of polluting and rare materials. The second is that it would facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources into the electricity grid, since it does not necessarily require the construction of huge structures as is the case for geothermal or wind power, for example. It remains to be seen whether the project will pass the barrier of commercialization and whether it will be adopted on a large scale.
Sources: MIT News
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