WITec announces Paper Award 2022 winners

The prizes go to scientists from the US, Germany and China

10-Aug-2022 - The WITec Paper Awards 2022 have been given to scientists from the US, Germany and China, recognizing their work in cement chemistry, pharmacy and methane hydrate chemistry. Every year, the WITec Paper Award highlights three scientific publications that contain data acquired with a WITec ...

Disposable masks could be used to improve concrete

Mixture using mask materials was 47% stronger than commonly used cement

02-May-2022 - With the pervasive single-use masks during the pandemic now presenting an environmental problem, researchers have demonstrated the idea of incorporating old masks into a cement mixture to create stronger, more durable concrete. In a paper published in the journal,Materials Letters,a Washington ...

Long-term carbon dioxide emissions from cement production can be drastically reduced

Chemists develop a method for producing cement by milling instead of burning lime, which is harmful to the environment

10-Nov-2021 - Global warming and affordable housing are two dominant topics of public debate. Climate protection is achieved by reducing emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂). Housing is generated through more housing being built. This requires concrete, the most important building material in ...

Scientists develop alternative cement with low carbon footprint

20-Aug-2021 - Researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in Germany and the Brazilian University of Pará have developed a climate-friendly alternative to conventional cement. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be reduced during production by up to two thirds when a previously unused ...

World first concept for rechargeable cement-based batteries

Imagine an entire twenty storey concrete building which can store energy like a giant battery

19-May-2021 - Thanks to unique research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, such a vision could someday be a reality. Researchers from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering recently published an article outlining a new concept for rechargeable batteries - made of cement. The ...

Concrete without cement?

Simple chemistry will enhance the sustainability of concrete production

16-Apr-2021 - Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, a part of The University of Tokyo, have developed a new method of producing concrete without cement. They have directly bonded sand particles via a simple reaction in alcohol with a catalyst. This may help both to slash carbon emissions and to ...

A recipe for eco-concrete

A CO2-negative concrete would be a true climate friend

09-Jun-2020 - Cement production has to drastically reduce its environmental footprint. Empa researchers are, therefore working on alternative cement recipes that cause significantly fewer emissions or can even bind the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. It is the most widely used product in the world. Cement is ...

Bacteria and sand engineered into living concrete

17-Jan-2020 - Cement and concrete haven't changed much as technology in over a hundred years, but researchers in Colorado are revolutionizing building materials by literally bringing them to life. The method developed, presented January 15 in the journal Matter, combines sand and bacteria to build a living ...

Smog-eating graphene composite reduces atmospheric pollution

05-Dec-2019 - Graphene Flagship partners the University of Bologna, Politecnico di Milano, CNR, NEST, Italcementi HeidelbergCement Group, the Israel Institute of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, and the University of Cambridge have developed a graphene-titania photocatalyst that degrades up to ...

Cement as a climate killer: Using industrial residues to produce carbon neutral alternatives

21-May-2019 - Producing cement takes a big toll on our climate: Around eight per cent of annual global carbon dioxide emissions can be attributed to this process. However, the demand for cement continues to rise. A team of geoscientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) has found a way to ...