Concrete

Researchers at UCLA have successfully devised a way to produce cement with 98% less CO2 emissions than traditional methods. The team achieved this by decomposing limestone to access calcium oxide (aka lime) without releasing carbon dioxide.

A new type of carbon-neutral concrete has been commercially used for the first time, in a skyscraper being built in Manhattan. The binder utilized in the concrete is made of granite instead of traditional greenhouse-gas-emitting limestone cement.

A pair of Princeton engineers have developed a new kind of concrete that promises more than 5 times the damage resistance of the usual stuff, by poking holes in its structure.

Back in 2021, researchers came up with a recipe for greener concrete that had building waste and CO2 among its ingredients. Now the same team has used rubble from a demolished school and the greenhouse gas to produce bricks to build new structures.

A new material tackles the carbon problem of concrete production and usage by employing a pretty unusual workforce: cyanobacteria. The bio-cement these micro-organisms help to produce harnesses a process that's existed in nature for 3.5 billion years.

In a world first, the researchers who used waste coffee grounds to make concrete that’s 30% stronger are putting their innovative material to the test by laying sidewalks made of the stuff to see how it fares when it's subjected to foot traffic.

A new solution from Cambridge University could recycle both concrete and steel at the same time, by throwing old concrete into steel-recycling furnaces. If done using renewable energy, the process could make for completely carbon-zero cement.

RMIT researchers have developed a new type of "green concrete" that incorporates twice as much recycled coal ash as existing low-carbon concretes, halves the amount of cement required, and lasts even longer than regular Portland cement concrete.

The production of concrete is a major contributor to worldwide CO2 emissions, however Nendo showcases a greener alternative with its Block-Wall House, which was part-built using a novel concrete that actually captures carbon-dioxide.

A new 3D construction printer from Icon can whip out two-story concrete buildings faster and cheaper than its previous Vulcan printer. It has already been used to build a 27-ft-high structure called Phoenix House, now on display in Austin, Texas.

Incorporating a phase-change material into concrete, this self-heating material can melt snow and ice for up to 10 hours without any help. The novel product could reduce the need for plowing and salting and help preserve the integrity of road surfaces.

Thanks to our high demand for concrete, the world may eventually run out of accessible sand. Scientists at Rice University have now shown that substituting graphene can not only save sand, but makes concrete lighter, stronger and tougher.