Revolutionary concrete, coal the new secret ingredient?

Hello, construction enthusiasts and the concrete curious! Prepare to be immersed in a world where coal becomes the unexpected hero of our concrete mixes. Yes, you read that right, coal is here to change the game! Imagine this: our good friend concrete, that resilient and essential material for all our urban adventures, is facing an environmental and resource crisis. It seems that sand, that loyal companion of concrete, is being extracted at a rate that exceeds its natural renewal capacity. A real catastrophe for our beloved planet earth!

But fear not, because Rice University has come to the rescue with an idea as bright as the sun – they have discovered that graphene, taken from carbon in some sort of magical transformation, could be the solution. Not only as a reinforcing additive, but also as a surprising substitute for sand in our beloved concrete. James Tour, the wizard behind this discovery, excitedly tells us: “Comparing our new concrete with conventional concrete, we found that it is 25% lighter but just as strong”. Like a concrete superhero! Why is this so exciting? Well, it turns out that concrete is a key ingredient for urban development, and with 68% of the world’s population living in cities by 2050, the demand for concrete (and thus sand) is skyrocketing, literally.

But stop there, because there is a significant environmental cost in this construction game. Cement production, one of the BFFs of concrete, contributes 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Ouch! Now, this is where graphene from coal comes in; after applying a very cool heating technique called Joule to coal, they have created a graphene that could replace sand in concrete. Paul Advincula, Rice’s rockstar student, tells us that carbon graphene is like sand, but cooler. Tests so far show that it not only matches the properties of normal concrete, but is also stronger in proportion to weight. As if our concrete was doing push-ups at the gym!

Now, don’t run out and build everything with graphene from coal just yet, James Tour takes us down from the cloud by saying that it will take a while for the price of graphene to come down enough for this to be a reality, but at least it gives us hope that there are alternatives to explore. In short, my builder friends, coal could be the answer to our “sand crisis” and, in the process, help reduce carbon emissions in the concrete industry. One step closer to a more sustainable and exciting world of construction. Until the next construction adventure!