Improved carbon-cement supercapacitors could turn the concrete around us into massive energy storage systems.
Improved carbon-cement supercapacitors could turn the concrete around us into massive energy storage systems.
Concrete already builds our world, and now it’s one step closer to powering it, too. Made by combining cement, water, ultra-fine carbon black (with nanoscale particles), and electrolytes, electron-conducting carbon concrete (ec3, pronounced “e-c-cubed”) creates a conductive “nanonetwork” inside concrete that could enable everyday structures like walls, sidewalks, and bridges to store and release electrical energy. In other words, the concrete around us could one day double as giant “batteries.”
As MIT researchers report in a new PNAS paper, optimized electrolytes and manufacturing processes have increased the energy storage capacity of the latest ec3 supercapacitors by an order of magnitude. In 2023, storing enough energy to meet the daily needs of the average home would have required about 45 cubic meters of ec3, roughly the amount of concrete used in a typical basement. Now, with the improved electrolyte, that same task can be achieved with about 5 cubic meters, the volume of a typical basement wall.
Read More: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Image: An electron-conducting carbon concrete (ec³)-based arch structure integrates supercapacitor electrodes for dual functionality. The prototype demonstrates both structural load bearing and the ability to power an LED, with the light’s intensity varying under applied load, highlighting the potential for real-time structural health monitoring via the supercapacitor. (Credits:Image courtesy of the MIT EC³ Hub)
