Construction Tech of the Week | SmartBidNet | Green Concrete
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 9:38AM Researchers at Auburn University and the University of Alabama are working on a new recipe for concrete. The recipe calls for coal ash - a power plant by-product - instead of cement and a futuristic ingredient called carbon nanotubes. "The nanotubes, which add strength, durability and conducting properties to the concrete, are produced by cooking an iron compound for 10 seconds in a microwave."
"It is very much like you cook popcorn," a researcher said.
The electricity conducting nanotubes could mean speeding up the melting of ice on bridges or runways and reusing coal ash could mean less being dumped in bodies of water and landfills.
The new concrete recipe is still in the research and development phase. If proven that the use of ash and nanotubes won't be harmful to the environment in other ways, the 70% of concrete construction materials used globally might be in for a big change...
Read more about this new technology here
