Topic:

If you mix cement, carbon black with water, the magic of chemistry generates an electron conductive volumetric wire, which permeates a load-bearing cement-based matrix. Herein we discuss how this magic of chemistry comes about when hydrophilic cement reacts with water in the presence of hydrophobic carbon black within the alkaline environment of cement hydration. We show how such electron-conductive cement-based materials can be used to build a scalable supercapacitor technology for energy storage, which everyone can build into their homes and roads. Possible applications include the energy autarkic home, self-charging roads (by electromagnetic induction) and intermittent energy storage for wind energy and tidal waves. Availability of cement and carbon black makes this technology a good candidate for the urgently needed energy transition from fossil fuel to renewable energies; and puts us, Scientists and Engineers, in the driver seat of making the energy transition happen in a socially just way: brick-by-brick, road-by-road for all.