MIT News July 31, 2023
A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Harvard University) investigated using cement, water, and carbon black as chemical precursors for energy storage. Texture analysis revealed that the hydration reactions of cement in the presence of carbon generates a fractal-like electron-conducting carbon network that permeates the load-bearing cement-based matrix. The energy storage capacity of this space-filling carbon black network of the high specific surface area accessible to charge storage was shown to be an intensive quantity, whereas the high-rate capability of the carbon-cement electrodes exhibited self-similarity due to the hydration porosity available for charge transport. This intensive and self-similar nature of energy storage and rate capability represented an opportunity for mass scaling from electrode to structural scales. The availability, versatility, and scalability of these carbon-cement supercapacitors opened a horizon for the design of multifunctional structures that leveraged high energy storage capacity, high-rate charge/discharge capabilities, and structural strength for sustainable residential and industrial applications ranging from energy autarkic shelters and self-charging roads for electric vehicles, to intermittent energy storage for wind turbines and tidal power stations… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Experimentally derived scaling relations… Credit: PNAS, July 31, 2023, 120 (32), e2304318120