Programmable cement could offer

greener concrete
By: Rory Arnold on 12.08.2016 NEWS

Materials scientists at Rice University have taken a very close look at the binders
used in construction, in hopes of creating eco-friendly programmable cement.
Led by Dr. Rouzbeh Shahsavari, the team of scientists dug down to the microscopic
level so they could study the semi-crystalline particles that make up cement. Through
experimentation, the team was able to watch the crystallization of the calcium-silicate
hydrate particles that make up cement through nanoscale reactions, a process called
morphogenesis.
Using the knowledge gained in those experiments, the scientists were able to
synthesize C-S-H particles in a variety of shapes and sizes, rather than their natural
blobby form.
That led the scientists to an unsurprising conclusion: cement made from particles of
ordered shapes and sizes is more durable and less porous.
The new cement-making process is greener than the current one for a couple of solid
reasons. Stronger cement means stronger concrete, and stronger concrete means less
can be used in the building process, the researchers said. Since concrete production is
a top greenhouse gas producer, being able to use less may be good news for the
atmosphere.
By making cement less porous, it also better protects materials inside or underneath
from chemicals, Shahsavari said.
The morphogenesis process created by the team uses the “seed particles” to control
how the rest of the particles in the programmable cement form. It involves adding
positive or negative ionic surfactants and calcium silicate in small amounts to C-S-H,
then exposing the mixture to carbon dioxide and ultrasonic sound to create the desired
particle shapes. Once the seed particles settle on a shape, the rest follow their lead.
The team has collected its data into a morphology diagram that can serve as a recipe
for builders and manufacturers.
The techniques the team used can be adapted for other uses, Shahsavari said, both
with building materials like ceramics or colloids, or for medical purposes like bone tissue
engineering or drug delivery.
The study was published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Journal of Materials
Chemistry A. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and
the Department of Energy.
The Latest in Concrete Innovations: Programmable Cement

By Heidi Reidel | June 23rd, 2017 |

Materials |
Follow @prescouter
According to Architect Magazine, concrete is humanity’s most consumed substance after water.
Cement is also said to be responsible for 5% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Research
suggests that concrete may actually be the source of a carbon sink that offsets 43% of carbon
emissions from the production of the material, but it is still imperative to reduce the amount of
cement manufactured, as well as to make it more durable and environmentally friendly.

What is Programmable Cement?

The answer may be found in a discovery by scientists at Rice University: programmable cement.

Rice University Scientists have decoded the kinetic properties of cement and developed a way to
“program” the microscopic, semicrystalline particles within. This turns particles from disordered
clumps into regimented shapes (cubes, spheres, etc.) that combine to make the material less porous
and more durable. The programmable cement will lead to stronger structures that require less
concrete, thus reducing concrete production and, in turn, carbon emissions.
Environmental Benefits
How does this technique lead to reduced concrete production? According to Rice materials scientist
and lead author Rouzbeh Shahsavari, “It stems from better packing of the cubic particles, which
leads to stronger microstructures. The other is that it will be more durable. Less porosity makes it
harder for unwanted chemicals to find a path through the concrete, so it does a better job of
protecting steel reinforcement inside.”

Innovations in Concrete
Programmable cement is not the only recent advancement in concrete. Scientists at the Swiss
Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) have created fire-resistant
concrete which will make construction safer, cheaper, and more efficient. Scientists from
Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University have developed bendable concrete. Regular
concrete must be poured thick to prevent cracking under pressure, but bendable concrete (much like
the programmable cement) will help to reduce the amount of concrete poured and produced.
Researchers at the University of Bath are developing a self-healing concrete that uses bacteria to
seal the cracks that lead to decay. All of these innovations aim to further the goal of reducing the
environmental impact of concrete production.
With a steadily growing global population, developing countries advancing, and developed countries
tapping into untouched areas, the need for construction is sure to increase. If the world is to
accommodate these growing needs as well as collectively reduce carbon emissions, these
innovations are more necessary than ever. If cement production can be effectively reduced, its ability
to reabsorb CO2 could potentially be used to help the environment rather than harm it.
 Programmable cement to help develop stronger
and ecofriendly concrete
We live in concrete jungles, surrounded by buildings, homes, roads etc made of concrete. According
to studies, after water, the substance which is consumed by humanity in the highest amount is
concrete. It’s also responsible for at least 5% of the entire carbon emissions worldwide. Researchers
have been trying to devise new forms of concrete which is stronger, more durable and environment
friendly as well. Now, Rice University researchers have developed a method to improve the
manufacturing process of concrete. They can now ‘program’ the particles of cement into particular
shapes which makes them stronger, less porous and less harmful to the environment.
How can cement be ‘programmed’

Rice University scientists have gone into the nano zone, studying the crystallization process of C-S-
H (calcium silicate hydrate), and using the results of their study, synthesized C-S-H concrete
particles of different shapes. The team converted the particles into rectangular prisms, cubes,
dendrites, rhombohedra and core shells, which can pack more densely together.

This new research is the first step to control the kinetics of concrete to create required/desired
shapes. The rectangular and cube shapes were obtained by adding negative or positive ion
surfactants as well as calcium silicate to the C-S-H mixture, and adding this mixture to ultrasonic
sound and CO2. Within 25 minutes, crystal seeds formed around the surfactant micelles. The
increase in calcium silicate resulted in clumped spheres and interlocking cubes, and decreasing it
resulted in smaller cubes and spherical particles.

The team tested the strength of the differently shaped concrete particles using a diamond tipped
nanoindenter, which crushed hundreds of the particles, and produced detailed mechanical
information.

This breakthrough can lead to producing concrete particles which are more water and chemical
resistant, thus preventing chemical and water absorption and reducing the damage within concrete
due to water seepage.

Uses of the new concrete

The researchers mapped these shapes into a morphological diagram which can be used by builders
and manufacturers to enable them to engineer the new concrete. This new concrete has been
termed ‘programmable concrete’ by the research team.
‘Programmable concrete’ is much more stronger leading to stronger microstructures. This means
that less quantity of concrete would be required. As it is less porous, it will last longer, making
structures more durable over time, needing less repairs and replacement. It would also protect the
steel reinforcement inside buildings etc, which could lead to stronger buildings but using less
concrete.

The implications of the research

Image Source : newatlas.com

The research is very significant as the strategies which were developed during the research could
affect the development of other materials and applications such as bone tissue, ceramic, colloid
engineering.

Benefits for the environment resulting from new types of concrete

One of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions is concrete production. However,
recent research has also thrown up the interesting fact that concrete itself behaves as a carbon sink
which offsets the greenhouse emissions emitted during production. But, it is still imperative to find
new ways to reduce the greenhouse emissions during production. Rice University team’s research is
therefore beneficial for the environment, provided builders and manufacturers use their research.
Some other types of concrete which have been developed in recent years are ‘bendable’ and fire-
resistant concrete. The EMPA laboratories, Switzerland, have developed fire-resistant variety of
concrete, which has the potential to make construction cheaper, safer and more efficient.

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, has come up with ‘bendable’ concrete. Which can
reduce the amount of concrete produced and poured, unlike regular concrete, which has to be
poured extremely thick to prevent it from cracking under pressure.
Another innovation which is being developed by Bath University, is ‘self- healing’ concrete – in this,
bacteria is used to heal the cracks in concrete.

All these new types of concrete are being developed with an eye to reduce the environmental
damage that is done during the production of concrete.

Consistently increasing global population will result in the need for more housing, offices, factories,
etc. These innovations in concrete are necessary if the world has to accommodate the needs of its
growing population in an ecofriendly manner. Once the manufacturing process is improved, the
quality of concrete to absorb CO2 can actually make concrete an ecofriendly material.
"Programmable" cement particles
make for stronger concrete
Michael Irving
December 8th, 2016
3 PICTURES

Researchers at Rice University have developed a technique to control the shape of particles in
cement, leading to stronger, more durable and more environmentally friendly
concrete(Credit:Multiscale Materials Laboratory)

The modern world is likely home to more concrete jungles than natural ones,
and although we've been using the material for hundreds of years, the recipe
can always use some improvement. Researchers at Rice University have
found a way to "program" cement particles into specific shapes in order to
make concrete that's stronger, less porous, and more environmentally friendly.

It may not seem like the most exciting stuff in the world, but concrete has had
some pretty intriguing advances over the last few years, making the material
more fire-resistant, bendable, and even self-healing.
To make their improvements, the Rice researchers looked to the nano scale,
studying how calcium-silicate hydrate (C-S-H) cement crystallized, and used
that to synthesize C-S-H particles of specific shapes. Rather than the
amorphous blobs that these particles normally form, the team turned them into
cubes, rectangular prisms, dendrites, core-shells and rhombohedra, which are
able to pack together more densely. The end result is concrete that's better at
keeping water out and preventing it from destroying the material from the
inside.

"We call it programmable cement," says Rouzbeh Shahsavari, lead author of

the study. "The great advance of this work is that it's the first step in
controlling the kinetics of cement to get desired shapes. We show how one
can control the morphology and size of the basic building blocks of C-S-H so
that they can self-assemble into microstructures with far greater packing
density compared with conventional amorphous C-S-H microstructures."

To guide the particles to form these shapes, the team added surfactant
compounds and calcium silicate with a positive or negative charge, before
exposing the C-S-H mix to carbon dioxide and ultrasound. Changing the
amount of calcium silicate affected the shapes that the particles would take
on: less of it made for more spherical shapes and smaller cubes, while adding
more calcium silicate led to clumps of spheres and interlocking cubes.
After about 25 minutes, these crystal "seeds" formed around the surfactants,
and instructed other nearby molecules to self-assemble into larger versions of
those shapes. The team was able to control the amount, size and shape of
these final particles by adjusting the original seeds' concentration,
temperature and the duration of the creation process. This information was
then mapped into a unified morphology diagram that can be shared with
manufacturers and builders, to allow them to engineer concrete that has
specific desired properties.

"The seed particles form first, automatically, in our reactions, and then they
dominate the process as the rest of the material forms around them," says
Shahsavari. "That's the beauty of it. It's in situ, seed-mediated growth and
does not require external addition of seed particles, as commonly done in the
industry to promote crystallization and growth."

To test the strength of the different-shaped particles, the team used a

nanoindenter with a diamond tip to crush hundreds of individual particles one
by one, producing detailed mechanical data.

"Other research groups have tested bulk cement and concrete, but no group
had ever probed the mechanics of single C-S-H particles and the effect of
shape on mechanics of individual particles," says Shahsavari.
Concrete production is one of the biggest culprits in greenhouse gas
emissions, and although recent research suggests that the material may be a
significant carbon sink that offsets much of its own environmental cost, finding
ways to reduce the amount of cement manufactured is still a priority. To that
end, the Rice team's new technique has several advantages.

"One is that you need less of it because it is stronger," explains Shahsavari.

"This stems from better packing of the cubic particles, which leads to stronger
microstructures. The other is that it will be more durable. Less porosity makes
it harder for unwanted chemicals to find a path through the concrete, so it
does a better job of protecting steel reinforcement inside."