Cement-based electronics

Gregory Konesky*
ATH Ventures, Inc., 3 Rolling Hill Rd., Hampton Bays, NY 11946-3716
ABSTRACT
The term Intelligent Highway is usually intended to mean external systems that are added to pre-existing highways.
However, the ability to construct basic passive electronic elements is demonstrated employing electrically dissimilar
Portland cement pastes. These electronic elements include resistors, rectifying pn-junctions, piezoelectric and
piezoresistive sensors, and thermocouple junctions. It may therefore be possible to build intelligence into the highway
itself utilizing cement-based electronic devices. As compared to semiconductor-based electronic components, those
derived from cement have minimal materials and processing costs, do not require clean rooms, and are mechanically
more rugged. Results and characterizations are presented for resistive elements and rectifying pn-junctions derived
from admixtures of stainless steel fiber (n-type) and carbon fiber (p-type) in Portland cement. These elements are then
combined to produce a monolithic cement-based digital logic 2-input AND gate.
Keywords: Intelligent Highway, Cement-based electronics, pn-junction, thermocouple junction, electrically dissimilar
Portland cements, cement-based digital logic.

1. INTRODUCTION
Cement is a common structural material due to its high strength and low cost, and consequently is used in large
volumes. Less well appreciated are the electrical properties of cement. The addition of carbon fibers [1, 2] to the
cement matrix renders it p-type (conduction by holes). Intrinsic cement is weakly n-type [1] (conduction by electrons),
but the addition of a few weight percent stainless steel fibers [3] can increase the conductivity by several orders of
magnitude. The conductivity for a given weight percent of a specific fiber can be increased by the addition of nonconducting particulate filler, such as silica fume [4]. While it may seen counter intuitive at first, this results from
improved dispersion of the conducting fibers in the cement matrix, maximizing their effect.
The addition of carbon and stainless steel fibers also has beneficial mechanical characteristics, including improvement
of tensile and flexural strength [5], reduction of shrinkage during drying [6], and the ability to better withstand frost
damage [7] from freeze-thaw cycling.
A junction between n and p type cements creates a situation where electrical current will more easily flow in one
direction than the other, providing rectification [8, 9]. Such junctions are also thermoelectric [8, 10, 11], resulting from
the contact potential developed by joining electrically dissimilar cements. Carbon fiber reinforced cement can also
serve as a thermistor [12] for self-temperature sensing. The pn-junction is a basic building block of semiconductor
electronics, and this paper demonstrates how it can be used to create more complex cement-based digital logic
elements.
Piezoresistive [13, 14] and piezoelectric [15] capabilities are also seen in both carbon and stainless steel fiber cements.
Variations in bulk resistance with applied stress (piezoresistivity) result from changes in contact area of the fibers and
the cement matrix, while the piezoelectric response is a consequence of the movement of mobile ions under stress.
Compressive stress can also be monitored by sensing the change in dielectric constant [16] of these cements.
Static magnetic [17] and electromagnetic [18] shielding capabilities, comparable to steel mesh, can also be imparted to
Portland cements.

* g.konesky@att.net; phone 1 631 728 0585; fax 1 631 728 4164

Industrial and Highway Sensors Technology, edited by Brian Culshaw, Michael A. Marcus,
John P. Dakin, Samuel D. Crossley, Helmut E. Knee, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 5272
(SPIE, Bellingham, WA, 2004) 0277-786X/04/$15 doi: 10.1117/12.512470

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369

Given the large volumes of cement used in structural applications, the ability to self-monitor structural health and
perform real time damage assessment is a valuable asset. This is especially true in earthquake prone areas, and in
critical structures, such as nuclear power containments, bridges, elevated highways, dams, feeder water mains, tunnels,
and so on. While numerous approaches have been proposed, these typically require embedded sensors [19]. The
discontinuities that these embedded sensors cause in the cement matrix may actually weaken the structure they are
intended to monitor by acting as crack-initiation sites.
Carbon fiber reinforced cement provides both the ability to detect flaws non-destructively [20] in new structures, and
the ability to monitor damage and long term changes by simple electrical resistance measurement [21, 22]. Similarly,
dynamic loading [23] monitoring allows real time determination of traffic load, and internal/external pressures in
containments, tunnels and pipes. Characteristic signatures under varying loads can be used to detect damage and predict
failure.
Electrical connection to remote embedded sensors also presents problems that can be addressed by carbon fiber
reinforced cement by acting as the electrical contact material for smart structures [24]. A functional example would
have multiple stripes of high carbon fiber content cement poured within a highway, while intrinsic cement acts as an
inter-stripe insulator. The result is essentially a multiconductor ribbon cable embedded within the highway to act as a
bus for connecting an array of remote sensors.
Thermal self-monitoring of cement [25] provides the ability to detect the onset of potentially hazardous road
conditions, such as icing, and warn drivers in real time. Radio wave reflecting concrete containing carbon fibers [26]
has also been suggested for use in lateral guidance in automatic highways. Similarly, electromagnetic shielding [18] in
structures allows for a higher degree of security from electronic eavesdropping.

2. COMPARISON WITH SEMICONDUCTOR-BASED ELECTRONICS

As compared to conventional semiconductor-based electronic elements, cement-based electronic elements are more
forgiving with respect to processing environment (no clean rooms needed), tolerant of internal voids, discontinuities
and defects, and in composition variations.
The cost of starting materials, such as Portland cement, stainless steel fibers and carbon fibers is much less than that of
high purity single crystals and thin films. This is also true of processing equipment, since high vacuum systems,
precision high temperature furnaces, and safety equipment related to the handling of toxic and pyrophoric materials,
and their associated waste streams, are not needed.
Doping levels in conventional semiconductors can be as low as one part in 108, range over five orders of magnitude,
and require precise control for reproducible characteristics. They are also extremely sensitive to unwanted impurities.
Comparable doping levels in cement-based devices typically start at one part in 103, range over 2-3 orders of
magnitude, and are easily reproduced.
Cement-based devices are also mechanically more robust, potentially serving dual roles both as a sensor/ logic element,
as well as a load-bearing structural element. Since a sensor/logic element may be an integral part of the overall
structure, the presence of these elements does not weaken the overall structure. Indeed, the addition of electrical
activity-conferring fibers to the cement matrix improves its mechanical properties.
On the other hand, cement-based devices are not subject to the extreme degree of miniaturization demonstrated by
conventional semiconductor-based devices. Consequently, switching speeds are also reduced. However, a paradigmshift in application engineering is required, given the huge volumes and areas over which cement is typically applied,
such as in highways, buildings, nuclear power containment structures, dams, and so on.

3. ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES
The bulk conductivity of intrinsic, n-type and p-type cements are described in terms of their various components.

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3.1 Conductivity of Intrinsic cement

Portland cement is a complex composite material whose electrical properties have been modeled [27] as an insulating
material filled with conductive pores. The pores are interconnected beyond the percolation limit [28], establishing an
overall conductive path. The bulk conductivity has been related to the pore conductivity [29] by:

= o

(1)

where is the bulk conductivity, is the porosity, o is the conductivity of the material within the pores, and is a
dimensionless factor summarizing parameters like pore connectivity and tortuosity. Experimentally determined [27]
values for = 0.28 and the ratio of bulk conductivity to pore conductivity / o = 0.48 for a paste of a cement to water
composition of 0.5. This also demonstrates that the porosity is well above the percolation limit threshold [30] of 18%.
Porosity is typically measured by the degree of dehydration (weight loss) through ignition measurements [31], although
more recently, microwave impulse techniques [32] have been developed that are non-destructive.
Conductivity in cement consists of both an ionic component and an electronic component [2], expressed by:

= i + e

(2)

where is the bulk conductivity, i is the ionic conductivity and e is the electronic conductivity. Intrinsic cement has a
slightly higher electronic conductivity than ionic conductivity, rendering it weakly n-type [1].
3.2 Conductivity of n-type cement
The addition of stainless steel fibers to the cement matrix [3], provides a ready source of donors (electrons), so that:

e >> i

(3)

Beyond the percolation limit, the bulk resistivity drops precipitously with increasing stainless steel fiber content due to
an increasing conductivity through the interconnected fiber network itself. This effect is seen in figure 1.
3.3 Conductivity of p-type cement
Similarly, the addition of carbon fibers to the cement matrix [1] provides a source of acceptors (holes) and adds a new
component to the bulk conductivity [2] so that:

= i + e + h

(4)

where h is the hole conductivity. As the percolation limit is approached, conduction by holes is the predominant
mechanism, so that:
h >> i + e

(5)

The same drop in bulk resistivity with increasing carbon fiber content beyond the percolation limit threshold is seen, as
is also illustrated in figure 1.
3.4 Cement-based pn-junction
A detailed description of semiconductor pn-junctions can be found elsewhere [33]. Cement-based pn-junctions differ
due to an ionic conduction component not found in classical semiconductors. As a result, the ratio of forward and
reverse currents at a given bias voltage is much smaller in cement-based pn-junctions. For example, a common silicon
diode (1N4001) has an average forward current of 1.0 A and an average reverse current of 30 uA, or a ratio of about
3.33 x 104, while a germanium diode (1N91) has a ratio of 4.54 x 103. Experimentally produced cement-based pnjunctions, on the other hand, have a ratio of approximately 3 and are comparable to those produced by others [8, 9].
Even with this rather severe limitation, digital logic circuits can be constructed from cement-based components.
Typical I-V characteristics are illustrated in figure 2.
Cement-based pn-junctions also exhibit thermoelectric behavior [8] due to the thermocouple junction formed by

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Figure 1. Volume resistivity changes for various weight percent fiber content of both stainless steel and carbon fibers.

cement pastes with electrically dissimilar properties. Thermocouple sensitivity of 70 uV/C has been observed, which
is comparable to the sensitivity of commercially available thermocouples.

Figure 2. Typical I-V characteristics of a cement-based pn-junction

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4. POURING A DIODE
Cement-based pn-junctions are unique in that they are formed by simply pouring two electrically dissimilar pastes side
by side, with one paste containing carbon fibers and the other containing stainless steel fibers. Optimal characteristics,
such as seen in figure 2, occur when the p-type cement contains 1 wt% carbon fibers [34] and 0.5 wt% stainless steel
fibers [35]. A polyethylene mold measuring 35 x 27 x 42 mm is used without any oil or mold-release compound. Heavy
weight paper, approximately 0.25 mm thick, is used to separate the p and n cement pastes during pouring, and each
paste is poured within a few minutes of the other. The paper separator is slowly removed and the cement is allowed to
harden for 24 hours while still in the mold. Gentle tapping is used to remove the hardened cement, where it is allowed
to cure for several days. A cure time 56 days can result in up to a 4% increase in resistivity as compared to a cure time
of 1 day [9]. A newly poured cement diode, with the separator removed, is shown in figure 3.

Figure 3. A newly poured cement diode with separator removed. The pn-junction runs horizontally through the center,
with the darker p-type cement (carbon fibers) as the upper half, and the n-type cement (stainless steel fibers) below it.

A two part conductive epoxy [36] is dissolved in acetone with a ratio part A : part B : acetone of 1:1:1. This is then
painted on opposite sides of the pn-junction, forming electrical contacts. This conductive paint is allowed to air dry for
1 day, followed by baking at 80C for one hour to harden it. A small amount of undiluted conductive epoxy is then
used to attach copper wires (28 gauge) to the center of the painted area, and allowed to harden for 1 day. This is
followed by a bake at 60C for one hour.

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A finished, but flawed, cement diode is shown in figure 4. After the cement pastes were poured, the paper separator
was removed too quickly, resulting in a void defect at the bottom of the device. This defect was not detected until the
device was removed from the mold. Quite surprisingly, this cement diode had electrical characteristics that were within
a few percent of similar cement diodes without such voids. In conventional semiconductor diodes, a discontinuity of
this magnitude would be considered a killer defect, and demonstrates the tolerance to defects in cement-based diodes.

Figure 4. Finished cement diode with attached electrodes. Note the void defect which formed when the separator was
removed too quickly. Dimensions are approximately 35 x 27 x 42 mm.

5. POURING A 2-INPUT AND GATE

Several diodes can be combined with a resistor to produce elementary digital logic functions, such as the 2-input AND
gate, illustrated in figure 5. If either or both inputs are at ground potential (i.e. logic 0) then the output will be only
one diode forward voltage drop above ground potential, which is defined as a logic 0 output. Only when both input #1
AND input #2 are at the V+ supply potential (i.e. logic 1), will both diodes be reverse biased and the output will be at
a logic 1. In conventional semiconductor diodes, forward and reverse currents differ by orders of magnitude, permitting
a substantial voltage difference between logic 0 and logic 1. The much smaller difference in forward and reverse
currents for a given applied voltage in cement diodes means that the difference in logic levels will be somewhat

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reduced. Proper selection of the load resistor will help minimize this.

Figure 5. Circuit diagram and logic symbol for a 2-input AND gate.

The two diodes and load resistor can all be poured together into the same segmented mold producing a cement-based
monolithic digital logic element. Note that the term monolithic literally means single stone. A layout for the
organization of the various cement pastes is shown in figure 6.
A 4 wt% carbon fiber cement paste was used as an interconnect due to its low bulk resistivity of approximately 55.6
ohm-cm, while a 1 wt% carbon fiber cement paste (bulk resistivity of about 55.2 Kohm-cm) was used to form the load
resistor. Combined with attached electrode contact areas of approximately 0.385 cm (7 mm diameter conductive epoxy
contacts), the resulting load resistance was about 1 megohm.
The completed multipart pour was removed from the mold after only 6 hours, which proved to be insufficient
hardening time, resulting in the structure breaking where the load resistor meets the 4 wt% carbon fiber interconnect.
These two pieces were allowed to cure separately for 5 days, after which they were re-attached with conductive epoxy.
Electrical tests revealed a small margin between logic 0 and logic 1 outputs, as expected. With a V+ of 18 volts, the
output varied from 8.96 to 9.32 volts with the various combinations of the two inputs to produce a logic 0 output. When
both inputs were placed at a logic 1 (+18 volts), the output went to 10.48 volts, defining a logic 1 output. However,
what role, if any, the breakage may have played in the results was unclear. A second device was constructe d, allowing a
full 24 hours hardening in the mold. It was then removed from the mold without incident, cured for 5 days, and than
had electrodes attached. Given the previously demonstrated resilience to defects, it was not too surprising that the
unbroken device performed nearly identically to the repaired one. The output varied for the unbroken device from
between 8.55 to 9.10 volts for logic 0 output, and went to 10.27 volts for logic 1 output. By comparison, broken logic
devices made of conventional semiconductors are not so easily repaired. The repaired device is seen in figure 7.

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375

Figure 6. Layout of a monolithic cement-based 2-input digital logic AND gate. Note: SSF = Stainless Steel Fibers,
CF =Carbon Fibers.

Figure 7. Repaired monolithic cement-based 2-input AND gate. Attached wire connections: Left Inputs 1&2;
Center - Output; Right - V+ Supply. Approximate dimensions are 60 x 118 x 20 mm.

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The test conditions and results for the monolithic cement-based 2-input AND are summarized:
V+ supply = 18 volts, Input Logic 0 = 0 volts, Input Logic 1 = 18 volts, Load resistance = 1 megohm

Unit #1 (repaired)

Unit #2 (unbroken)

Input #1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

Input #2
0
0
1
1

Output (volts)
8.96
9.12
9.32
10.48

0
0
1
1

8.55
9.10
8.93
10.27

6. CONCLUSIONS
The versatility of cement as a foundation material to produce various sensors has been previously demonstrated. The
formation of a pn-junction from electrically dissimilar cements provides a building block for more complex digital
logic functions. The robustness of these devices was inadvertently demonstrated through their ability sustain significant
defects, yet remain functional, and the ability to be easily repaired. The use of carbon and stainless steel fibers to
produce these electrically dissimilar cement pastes also has additional benefits in that they increase the strength and
toughness of the cement, and reduce shrinkage.
The integration of several cement-based pn-junctions and a load resistor into a monolithic 2-input AND gate has been
demonstrated. While the difference between logic 0 and logic 1 outputs, under appropriate combinations of inputs, was
clearly observed, this voltage swing is still insufficient to drive cascaded stages of successive cement-based digital
logic elements. The development of active, amplifying cement-based devices will be required.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is grateful to Dr. D. D. L. Chung, Composite Materials Research Lab, SUNY at Buffalo, NY for providing a
wealth of reference material, and for being a pioneer in this field. Funding for this project was provided by the author.

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