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Electrified Concrete Generates Buzz08-16-13 | News

Electrified Concrete Generates Buzz

Graphene, the material that allows concrete to conduct electricity, is a form of carbon that bonds in a hexagonal lattice form at the atomic level (top). Graphene occurs naturally in graphite and shares a similar chemical makeup with diamond.

Concrete is the world's most common building material, due in part to the simplicity of its recipe – combine cement and an aggregate, usually stone, add water and stir. Researchers have been spicing up the aggregate mixture, however, with space-age materials like graphene, a carbon-based relative of diamond that allows concrete to conduct electricity.

Several groups around the world have created unique formulas for electrically conductive concrete, and the Building Envelope and Structure research group at Canada's National Research Council (NRC) has already patented and proven the technology in small-scale applications. The group envisions the new concrete in roadways, melting ice; defending buildings against cyber-attacks; and informing engineers when sections of roads or bridges are cracking and in need of repair.

There are a few limitations to the technology, chiefly surrounding the power source. Hardwiring the concrete to the power grid is currently the best option, which makes heating an entire highway impractical. Heating up particularly vulnerable stretches or parts of a bridge, however, could save lives during Canada's harsh winters.

According to NRC's Rick Zaporzan, their concrete's potential goes beyond deicing and heating. "With a few tweaks, it can be used for developing a crack-detection system if it's hooked up to proper sensors that can monitor and interpret that data," Zaporzan told Txchnologist. Such a system could be a vital tool for detecting problems in the U.S.'s aging infrastructure, where one out of nine bridges nationwide is classified as structurally deficient.

What conductive concrete does could prove to be as important as what it doesn't – namely, preventing the transmission of electromagnetic signals. If the material was incorporated as part of a building's insulation, no information could get in or out. The same qualities could be used to shield individual objects within buildings, such as sensitive medical equipment, Zaporzan said.

Widespread use of electrified concrete now appears to be a question of vision, not viability. "It could be commercialized within one to two years, but we need industry partners," Zaporzan said. "These partners could be anybody who wants to take their product further, from building or bridge owners, medical equipment manufacturers, or architects and urban designers." Until such partners emerge, this unique concrete will remain a material in search of a movement.