A new type of cement battery could be directly integrated into the structure of buildings and roads, which would then turn into giant accumulators.
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[EN VIDÉO] Creating a battery from paintings A paint gun is now sufficient to manufacture a lithium-ion battery on many media: glass, ceramic, steel, etc.
Connected buildings are becoming more and more intelligent, integrating networks of increasingly numerous connected objects and even paintings or wallpapers able to transform walls into tactile elements. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden wanted to go even further, by transforming murs in batteries.
In an article published in the journal Advanced Concrete Materials in Construction, they detail the prototype of a new battery based on cement. They incorporated carbon fibers in the cement to increase the conductivity of material, then placed a wire mesh carbon fibers in the mixture, covered with a layer of do for’anode or from nickel for the cathode.
A large storage capacity reduced to the scale of the buildings
Previous studies had already explored this Battery Type, but the performance was too low. This new prototype increases energy density tenfold, reaching 7 watt hours per square meter or 0.8 watt hours per liter, in addition to being rechargeable. The capacity remains very low compared to a standard battery, but becomes very interesting at the scale of a building.
The researchers imagine that this functional cement could be used in buildings as well as roads and other structures to fuel lights, surveillance systems, 4G connections, provide cathodic protection against corrosion, and of course be connected to solar panels to provide a massive storage system forenergy. However, they will have to resolve some technical obstacles before considering marketing. These batteries will have to last between 50 and 100 years, the duration life of a building in concrete, or can be easily changed.
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