A new cement composite material has been developed that has the potential to store a full day’s worth of energy in concrete foundations. This material, which combines cement and charcoal powder, could be used to create supercapacitors, an alternative to batteries that can discharge energy much faster. It is believed that this technology could be integrated into the foundations of buildings and wind turbines, and could also allow concrete road foundations to wirelessly recharge electric vehicles.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrated that cement and carbon black, a fine version of charcoal, can be mixed with water to create a hardened block with wire-like structures filled with carbon. When this concrete is soaked in a common electrolyte solution, charged particles from the electrolyte settle on the carbon wire structures, enabling energy storage. Supercapacitor 24v
The team created thin slabs of the material and turned them into supercapacitors by separating them with an insulating layer. Connecting three of these supercapacitors produced the equivalent of a 3-volt battery, capable of powering a small LED. The researchers are now working on developing 12-volt supercapacitors that can provide more charging power for larger devices.
It is estimated that a concrete block equivalent to a cube measuring 3.5 meters on each side could store 10 kilowatt-hours of energy. This would be about a third of the average daily household energy use in the US and about two-thirds of the average in the UK. The material also demonstrated long-lasting charging and discharging capabilities, capable of providing energy storage for more than 27 years of use in a solar-powered home.
However, there are engineering challenges to overcome, such as replacing traditional concrete slabs with “concrete plywood” made with the supercapacitors. Additionally, maintaining the supercapacitor’s wetness with a conductive salt solution for the lifetime of a building or road could be challenging.
Despite these challenges, the MIT team remains optimistic about the potential of this technology. They believe that many people worldwide could begin experimenting with this relatively simple and low-cost blueprint for a supercapacitor, as it combines two well-known and widely available materials.
Supercaps MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): https://www.mit.edu/