If you walk through the produce section of your local grocery store and think, “I bet that would make a great concrete additive”, you may have been right, depending on which particular vegetable you were talking about! Scientists at Lancaster University in Lancashire, England, have proven that carrots and beets can be used to make super-strong concrete. In April 2018, scientists made concrete stronger and more eco-friendly by adding graphene to it. Now, the Lancaster U research team is reporting that they have achieved even better results using less-expensive sheets of “nano-platelets” created out of cellulose extracted from the carrots and beet root vegetable fibers.
The proof-of-concept study, led by Prof. Mohamed Saafi., explains that the cellulose-based platelets are basically “nanosheets” synthesized from carrot and sugar beet root obtained as waste products from the food industry. They market the cellulose they produce as Curran. The nano sheets are produced in collaboration with Scotland-based CelluComp— a company that develop[s] microfibrillated cellulose based on waste streams of root vegetables. Those “nanosheets” were added to a run-of-the-mill concrete mix with amazing results: When added to a traditional concrete mix (cement, aggregate and water), the platelets increase the amount of calcium silicate hydrate—it’s the main product of the hydration of widely-used Portland cement, and is chiefly responsible for the strength of concrete. Producing one cubic meter of concrete normally requires about nine 50kg bags of cement. Adding the nanosheets let the research team cut out almost an entire bag without sacrificing strength or quality.
When humans are churning out nearly 10 billion tons of concrete every year, it is very clear just how big an impact this could have on our planet. Cement production is a very energy-intensive process and a major source of CO2emissions. On average, 9kg of carbon dioxide are produced for every 10kg of portland cement. Reducing cement use by 10% or so would be a massive environmental win—and these beet and carrot nanosheets could make that possible. Additionally, adding the platelets was found to boost the density of the concrete’s microstructure, which would allow structures to last longer by being more resistant to corrosion. As a result, those structures would need to be replaced less often, further reducing the amount of cement required by the construction industry. They could also lead to enormous savings on repairs—they also found that the nanosheets can also be applied to existing structures to provide a boost in strength and durability.
For the article titled “Scientists Used Carrots and Beets To Make Crazy-Strong Concrete”, please go to: https://www.geek.com/tech/scientists-used-carrots-and-beets-to-make-crazy-strong-concrete-1743631/
For article titled, “Carrots n’ beets used to strengthen concrete”, please go to: https://newatlas.com/root-vegetables-concrete/55059/
Additional ISCP articles:
“How ‘Mushrooms’ Could Fill Cracks & Repair Our Crumbling Infrastructure”
https://www.concretepavements.org/2017/09/28/how-mushrooms-could-fill-cracks-repair-our-crumbling-infrastructure/
“Self-Healing Concrete by Bacterial Mineral Precipitation”
https://www.concretepavements.org/2015/05/19/self-healing-concrete-by-bacterial-mineral-precipitation/
Home Photo: Enhanced concrete contains nano-platelets
derived from carrot and beet root fibers. Credit: 5seconds/Depositphotos