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   From: leroysoetoro@americans-first.com   
      
   https://news.mit.edu/2025/concrete-battery-now-packs-ten-times-power-1001   
      
   Concrete already builds our world, and now it’s one step closer to   
   powering it, too. Made by combining cement, water, ultra-fine carbon black   
   (with nanoscale particles), and electrolytes, electron-conducting carbon   
   concrete (ec3, pronounced “e-c-cubed”) creates a conductive “nanonetwork”   
   inside concrete that could enable everyday structures like walls,   
   sidewalks, and bridges to store and release electrical energy. In other   
   words, the concrete around us could one day double as giant “batteries.”   
      
   As MIT researchers report in a new PNAS paper, optimized electrolytes and   
   manufacturing processes have increased the energy storage capacity of the   
   latest ec3 supercapacitors by an order of magnitude. In 2023, storing   
   enough energy to meet the daily needs of the average home would have   
   required about 45 cubic meters of ec3, roughly the amount of concrete used   
   in a typical basement. Now, with the improved electrolyte, that same task   
   can be achieved with about 5 cubic meters, the volume of a typical   
   basement wall.   
      
   “A key to the sustainability of concrete is the development of   
   ‘multifunctional concrete,’ which integrates functionalities like this   
   energy storage, self-healing, and carbon sequestration. Concrete is   
   already the world’s most-used construction material, so why not take   
   advantage of that scale to create other benefits?” asks Admir Masic, lead   
   author of the new study, MIT Electron-Conducting Carbon-Cement-Based   
   Materials Hub (EC³ Hub) co-director, and associate professor of civil and   
   environmental engineering (CEE) at MIT.   
      
   The improved energy density was made possible by a deeper understanding of   
   how the nanocarbon black network inside ec3 functions and interacts with   
   electrolytes. Using focused ion beams for the sequential removal of thin   
   layers of the ec3 material, followed by high-resolution imaging of each   
   slice with a scanning electron microscope (a technique called FIB-SEM   
   tomography), the team across the EC³ Hub and MIT Concrete Sustainability   
   Hub was able to reconstruct the conductive nanonetwork at the highest   
   resolution yet. This approach allowed the team to discover that the   
   network is essentially a fractal-like “web” that surrounds ec3 pores,   
   which is what allows the electrolyte to infiltrate and for current to flow   
   through the system.   
      
   “Understanding how these materials ‘assemble’ themselves at the nanoscale   
   is key to achieving these new functionalities,” adds Masic.   
      
   Equipped with their new understanding of the nanonetwork, the team   
   experimented with different electrolytes and their concentrations to see   
   how they impacted energy storage density. As Damian Stefaniuk, first   
   author and EC³ Hub research scientist, highlights, “we found that there is   
   a wide range of electrolytes that could be viable candidates for ec3. This   
   even includes seawater, which could make this a good material for use in   
   coastal and marine applications, perhaps as support structures for   
   offshore wind farms.”   
      
   At the same time, the team streamlined the way they added electrolytes to   
   the mix. Rather than curing ec3 electrodes and then soaking them in   
   electrolyte, they added the electrolyte directly into the mixing water.   
   Since electrolyte penetration was no longer a limitation, the team could   
   cast thicker electrodes that stored more energy.   
      
   The team achieved the greatest performance when they switched to organic   
   electrolytes, especially those that combined quaternary ammonium salts —   
   found in everyday products like disinfectants — with acetonitrile, a   
   clear, conductive liquid often used in industry. A cubic meter of this   
   version of ec3 — about the size of a refrigerator — can store over 2   
   kilowatt-hours of energy. That’s about enough to power an actual   
   refrigerator for a day.   
      
   While batteries maintain a higher energy density, ec3 can in principle be   
   incorporated directly into a wide range of architectural elements — from   
   slabs and walls to domes and vaults — and last as long as the structure   
   itself.   
      
   “The Ancient Romans made great advances in concrete construction. Massive   
   structures like the Pantheon stand to this day without reinforcement. If   
   we keep up their spirit of combining material science with architectural   
   vision, we could be at the brink of a new architectural revolution with   
   multifunctional concretes like ec3,” proposes Masic.   
      
   Taking inspiration from Roman architecture, the team built a miniature ec3   
   arch to show how structural form and energy storage can work together.   
   Operating at 9 volts, the arch supported its own weight and additional   
   load while powering an LED light.   
      
   However, something unique happened when the load on the arch increased:   
   the light flickered. This is likely due to the way stress impacts   
   electrical contacts or the distribution of charges. “There may be a kind   
   of self-monitoring capacity here. If we think of an ec3 arch at   
   architectural scale, its output may fluctuate when it’s impacted by a   
   stressor like high winds. We may be able to use this as a signal of when   
   and to what extent a structure is stressed, or monitor its overall health   
   in real time,” envisions Masic.   
      
   The latest developments in ec³ technology bring it a step closer to real-   
   world scalability. It’s already been used to heat sidewalk slabs in   
   Sapporo, Japan, due to its thermally conductive properties, representing a   
   potential alternative to salting. “With these higher energy densities and   
   demonstrated value across a broader application space, we now have a   
   powerful and flexible tool that can help us address a wide range of   
   persistent energy challenges,” explains Stefaniuk. “One of our biggest   
   motivations was to help enable the renewable energy transition. Solar   
   power, for example, has come a long way in terms of efficiency. However,   
   it can only generate power when there’s enough sunlight. So, the question   
   becomes: How do you meet your energy needs at night, or on cloudy days?”   
      
   Franz-Josef Ulm, EC³ Hub co-director and CEE professor, continues the   
   thread: “The answer is that you need a way to store and release energy.   
   This has usually meant a battery, which often relies on scarce or harmful   
   materials. We believe that ec3 is a viable substitute, letting our   
   buildings and infrastructure meet our energy storage needs.” The team is   
   working toward applications like parking spaces and roads that could   
   charge electric vehicles, as well as homes that can operate fully off the   
   grid.   
      
   “What excites us most is that we’ve taken a material as ancient as   
   concrete and shown that it can do something entirely new,” says James   
   Weaver, a co-author on the paper who is an associate professor of design   
   technology and materials science and engineering at Cornell University, as   
      
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