Adding nano-platelets from carrots and sugar beets to concrete can improve its strength and reduce the need for Portland cement, which is not environmentally friendly. These plant-based mixes also outperform traditional additives and may require less concrete, helping to reduce emissions from the manufacturing process.
Concrete has been used as a building material since ancient times. The Romans used concrete to build architectural marvels such as the Pantheon, which has the world’s oldest and largest unreinforced concrete dome and dates back to the 2nd century AD. In 2, Joseph Aspdin of Leeds, England, patented Portland cement, the key ingredient of modern concrete. This invention eventually spawned today’s massive construction industry. But making Portland cement isn’t environmentally friendly, and the industry is looking for ways to reduce its carbon footprint. This is where the engineers at Lancaster University come into play. They found that adding nano-platelets extracted from carrots and sugar beets can significantly improve the strength of concrete mixes, thereby reducing the need for so much Portland cement.
Building better with vegetables:
Environmentally friendly mixes made from plant nano-platelets have a higher amount of hydrated calcium silicate, which significantly hardens the performance of the concrete. The plant nano-platelets also help prevent the formation of cracks.
These green mixes also outperform traditional cement additives, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, and do so at a lower cost. Additionally, engineers are finding that less concrete may be needed in buildings, due to the dense microstructure of the new formula.
The industry is looking for ways to reduce emissions from the concrete manufacturing process, which is responsible for about 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions, a figure expected to double over the next 30 years.
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