The Leading News & Information Service For The Facilities, Workplace & Built Environment Community

Buildings as Batteries – the Future of Concrete?

concrete battery
08 June 2021
 

Thanks to unique research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, entire twenty storey concrete buildings which can store energy like giant batteries could someday be a commonplace city reality. Researchers from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering recently published an article outlining a new concept for rechargeable batteries made of cement.

 

“This particular idea that we have developed – which is also rechargeable – has never been explored before. Now we have proof of concept at lab scale.”
 

– Dr Emma Zhang
Chalmers University of Technology (formerly)

 

Battery technology is coming on leaps and bounds to tackle future problems – this year we also reported on the growing consideration of lithium-ion battery processing for electric vehicles that will very soon dominate our roads. The ever-growing need for sustainable building materials poses great challenges for researchers. Doctor Emma Zhang, formerly of Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, joined Professor Luping Tang’s research group several years ago to search for the building materials of the future. Together they have now succeeded in developing a world-first concept for a rechargeable cement-based battery.

The concept involves first a cement-based mixture, with small amounts of short carbon fibres added to increase the conductivity and flexural toughness. Then, embedded within the mixture is a metal-coated carbon fibre mesh – iron for the anode, and nickel for the cathode. After much experimentation, this is the prototype which the researchers now present.

 

Image

 

“Results from earlier studies investigating concrete battery technology showed very low performance, so we realised we had to think out of the box, to come up with another way to produce the electrode. This particular idea that we have developed – which is also rechargeable – has never been explored before. Now we have proof of concept at lab scale,” Emma Zhang explains.

Luping Tang and Emma Zhang’s research has produced a rechargeable cement-based battery with an average energy density of 7 Watthours per square metre, or 0.8 Watthours per litre. Energy density is used to express the capacity of the battery, and a modest estimate is that the performance of the new Chalmers battery could be more than ten times that of earlier attempts at concrete batteries. The energy density is still low in comparison to commercial batteries, but this limitation could be overcome thanks to the huge volume at which the battery could be constructed when used in buildings.

 

Image

Picture: a graphic of the concrete battery design.

 

A Potential Key to Solving Energy Storage Issues

 

The fact that the battery is rechargeable is its most important quality, and the possibilities for utilisation if the concept is further developed and commercialised are almost staggering. Energy storage is an obvious possibility, monitoring is another. The researchers see applications that could range from powering LEDs, providing 4G connections in remote areas, or cathodic protection against corrosion in concrete infrastructure.

“It could also be coupled with solar cell panels, for example, to provide electricity and become the energy source for monitoring systems in highways or bridges, where sensors operated by a concrete battery could detect cracking or corrosion,” suggests Emma Zhang.

The concept of using structures and buildings in this way could be revolutionary, because it would offer an alternative solution to the energy crisis, by providing a large volume of energy storage.

Concrete, which is formed by mixing cement with other ingredients, is the world’s most commonly used building material. From a sustainability perspective, it is far from ideal, but the potential to add functionality to it could offer a new dimension. Emma Zhang comments:

“We have a vision that in the future this technology could allow for whole sections of multi-storey buildings made of functional concrete. Considering that any concrete surface could have a layer of this electrode embedded, we are talking about enormous volumes of functional concrete”.

 

Challenges Remain with Service-life Aspects

 

The idea is still at a very early stage. The technical questions remaining to be solved before commercialisation of the technique can be a reality include extending the service life of the battery, and the development of recycling techniques.

“Since concrete infrastructure is usually built to last fifty or even a hundred years, the batteries would need to be refined to match this or to be easier to exchange and recycle when their service life is over. For now, this offers a major challenge from a technical point of view,” says Emma Zhang.

But the researchers are hopeful that their innovation has a lot to offer. “We are convinced this concept makes for a great contribution to allowing future building materials to have additional functions such as renewable energy sources,” concludes Luping Tang. You can read the full scientific article, Rechargeable Concrete Battery in the scientific journal Buildings.

 

Picture: concrete battery testing in the lab.

Article written by Bailey Sparkes | Published 08 June 2021

Share



Related Articles

Laing O’Rourke Mandates Low-Carbon Concrete on all UK Projects

Multinational construction company Laing O’Rourke is making low-carbon concrete standard on all of its new UK projects. From 1 April 2023, low-carbon concrete...

 Read Full Article
The Potential of Decarbonising Concrete

Nothing less than the future of the concrete industry - and the world’s climate - is at stake in a research project trying to devise ways to make low-carbon...

 Read Full Article
Government Publishes Plan to Remove RAAC From all Schools in England

A final list of schools and colleges affected by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete in England has been published, alongside a plan to remove it from all...

 Read Full Article
World's Largest Concrete Companies Unite to Decarbonise Concrete and Cement

Ten of the world’s largest concrete companies and cement plants have pledged to make net-zero concrete and cement a reality.    This includes brands...

 Read Full Article
The Silk Pavilion – Silk as a Building Material of The Future

A structure made from rigidized silk panels has been showcased at an architecture festival in Spain. The pavilion was unveiled at Concéntrico, the...

 Read Full Article
RAAC Concrete Found in Houses of Parliament

A government spokesperson has confirmed that reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete has been found in one part of the Palace of Westminster. According to the...

 Read Full Article
UK Concrete School Closures – What’s the Latest?

The government has announced that over 100 schools in England will need to close buildings because they are at risk of collapse. ThisWeekinFM looks at the latest on this...

 Read Full Article
The 150-Million-Year-Old Stone that is Firmly Back in Fashion

Used since Roman times, Portland Stone is a type of limestone building material that has been used extensively in some of Britain’s most notable structures and...

 Read Full Article
Students Win Prize for Carbon-Absorbing Building Design

Students at Coventry University have won the Design Concrete 2023 first prize for their nature reserve building design that absorbs carbon dioxide. Design Concrete is...

 Read Full Article
Risk of Injury or Death From a School Building Collapse “Very Likely”

The National Audit Office says that an estimated 700,000 children in England are studying in schools that need major rebuilding or refurbishment work. Over a...

 Read Full Article