Homes Turn Into Giant Batteries | An Energy Cement Invented By MIT Researchers!

By Punnami Amarasinghe
August 2, 2024
5:38 GMT-0830
Homes Turn Into Giant Batteries | An Energy Cement Invented By MIT Researchers!

As a civilization, we make new inventions every day. A few of these inventions end up being pivotal to the future of mankind. The diesel engine, the computer, and the internet are some examples. Imagine a world powered by all-natural energy sources. There the walls of our own homes would act as giant batteries storing that energy. With this newest invention of the ‘energy cement’ by a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers, that day doesn’t seem far in the future. Let’s have a closer look at the details.

MIT Researchers Attempt On “Energy Cement”

While we use fossil energy for a major portion of our energy needs, there is an abundance of all-natural, renewable sources of energy such as sunlight, wind, and water. The challenge lies in capturing and storing these energies. Lithium, which we use to store energy, is a rare resource. The process of extracting lithium is notorious for its environmental concerns. It is in this background that the group of MIT researchers invented energy cement, using three cheap and available ingredients. Water, cement, and a soot-like material called Carbon-black.

Carbon black, when incorporated with cement and water, forms a branching network-like pathway that electricity travels through. Researchers use this ‘energy cement’, to build ‘super-conductors’ that can store large amounts of energy. These superconductors store natural energy that windmills, solar panels, and hydro plants produce.

Image source: MIT / The Boston Globe (Electrifying cement with nanocarbon black)

Super Capacitors vs Traditional Batteries

Traditional batteries, typically made with Lithium, use a chemical reaction between the two ends, creating a potential difference and a pathway for the current to travel in. But, super Capacitors store energy electrostatically. An insulating layer separates the two ends of the supercapacitor made with conductive materials.

While traditional batteries disintegrate over time and use, the life of supercapacitors is unlimited. Using cement as a base material for these supercapacitors is ingenious. For one thing, the cement industry is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions. This will help offset some of the pollution caused by the industry via its push towards using sustainable energy sources.

As the material retains much of the strength of cement, along with its added powers, it can be used in constructions, eg. in foundations of homes and offices. Hence, this converts cement from just a construction material to an integral part of a power storage system in the day-to-day lives of tomorrow.

Image source: Andrew Logan / MIT (Nanocarbon Black – MIT CSHub postdocs Nicolas Chanut and Nancy Soliman hold two of their conductive cement samples)

Process of Innovation

It took the team considerable time to experiment with the ratio of cement to carbon black. Finally, they arrived at a middle ground where carbon black made the material a supercapacitor yet didn’t disturb the structural integrity of cement.

They proceeded to make supercapacitors the size of a cent coin, about one centimeter across and one millimeter thick, and connected three of them to power a 3-volt light-emitting diode (LED). Having proven the possibility thus, they are on their way to innovating bigger and better supercapacitors.

Image source: The Boston Globe

The Possibilities – Giant battery homes to Roads Recharging Cars

The possibilities that these supercapacitors give for the future are endless. A home, which functions as a giant battery, in Layman’s terms.

“A simple example would be an off-grid house powered by solar panels: using solar energy directly during the day and the energy stored in, for example, the foundations during the night.”

Damian Stefaniuk, one of the lead researchers of the team, stated to BBC.

The team estimates that a block of concrete of 3.5 cubic meters made with ‘energy cement’ would be adequate to store about 10 kilowatt hours of energy. This is the current average daily consumption of electricity in a household. A home with a foundation acting as a ‘battery’ would be able to retain a day’s worth of solar power generated by a solar panel.

The possibilities do not end with homes turned into giant batteries, however. The researchers also talk about the possibility of roads that can recharge electric cars, using stored energy generated via windmills.

Image source: Andrew Logan / MIT (By running current through this mortar sample made with nanocarbon-doped cement, Chanut and Soliman were able to warm it to 115 F (see thermometer display on the right))

Challenges to Overcome

However, there is much that needs improving when supercapacitors made of energy cement are concerned. A home needs a steady flow of current throughout the day to supplement the energy needs. Supercapacitors are ideal for storing large amounts of energy. Yet, they cannot discharge a steady flow of energy throughout a prolonged period.

There are other associated technical difficulties encountered in mass-scale production as well. While the material itself might mitigate the environmental damage done by the cement industry to a point, the invention of energy cement requires more cement, causing more harmful CO2 emissions.

The research, conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Stefanuik, was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Conclusion

Challenges aside, this invention marks an important milestone in human’s effort to become more sustainable and environmentally conscious.

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