Nanoconcrete could cut emissions

Nanoconcrete could cut CO2 emissions
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (UPI) -- U.S. engineers say the answer to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide might rest in nanotechnology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers decided to focus on the nanostructure of concrete -- the world's most widely used material. The production of cement, the primary component of concrete, accounts for up to 10 percent of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions, making the process a major contributor to global warming.

The MIT team found the source of concrete's strength and durability lies in the organization of its nanoparticles. "If everything depends on the organizational structure of the nanoparticles that make up concrete, rather than on the material itself, we can conceivably replace it with a material that has concrete's other characteristics -- strength, durability, mass availability and low cost -- but does not release so much CO2 into the atmosphere during manufacture," said engineering Professor Franz-Josef Ulm. Ulm said the research also shows the study of very common materials at the nano scale has great potential for improving materials in ways not yet conceived. The study appears in the January issue of the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.