Saint-Gobain acquires Maturix

25-Jun-2025 - Saint-Gobain announces the next step in the expansion of its digital construction chemicals platform with the acquisition of Maturix, based in Denmark, a leading provider of real-time monitoring solutions for the concrete industry. Maturix offers cutting-edge wireless sensor technology which ...

Bio-concrete and biogenic construction materials with cyanobacteria

Transitioning to climate-friendly construction

02-Jul-2024 - Fraunhofer researchers have developed a method of creating biogenic construction materials based on cyanobacteria. The bacteria multiply in a nutrient solution, driven by photosynthesis. When aggregates and fillers such as sand, basalt, or renewable raw materials are added, rock-like solid ...

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 ...

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 ...

Putting climate-positive business ideas into practice

Start-ups made carbon-​neutral fuels and turning carbon dioxide into stone

14-Jan-2021 - More and more ETH Zurich researchers are taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. By launching spin-​offs, they hope to turn their lab findings into solutions that can help stem the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide. There is no shortage of evidence for what the Fifth Assessment Report of the ...

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 ...