Innovation

A simple addition of carbon can turn concrete  into a super battery

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed concrete battery technology that is both a building material and an energy store. This allows an entire building to be turned into a giant battery without changing its character. Or, for example, to electrify thousands of kilometers of concrete roads, which together will be accumulators of energy obtained from renewable sources, writes Tekhnokult.
The trick is that when mixing concrete, not pure water is used, but a suspension of a mixture of water and carbon powder. The liquid naturally forms a network of pipes in the concrete, which has a fractal structure: large pipes branch into smaller ones. Due to this, a large area network is created that penetrates throughout the concrete, and the presence of carbon turns it into a giant conductor or electrode.
It remains to form two plates from such concrete, separate them with an insulator and add the appropriate electrolyte, and the battery is ready. According to calculations, 45 cubic meters. m of concrete can store about 10 kWh of electricity. The advantage of this technology is that it is easy to scale, with the help of it it is possible to create from batteries the size of coins and giant structures with large capacity.
The downside of the technology is that the operational properties of such concrete are still in doubt. The more carbon, the higher the capacity of the batteries, but the lower the strength of the material. It is not known how it will behave in the open air, during significant changes in precipitation and temperature. On the other hand, it is possible to create internal structures from such concrete: partitions, floor coverings, decorative elements, etc.

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