OT- MIT engineers create an energy-storing supercapacitor from ancient materials

[MrWhoopee]

Made of cement, carbon black, and water, the device could provide cheap and scalable energy storage for renewable energy sources.

MIT engineers create an energy-storing supercapacitor from ancient materials

MIT engineers created a carbon-cement supercapacitor that can store large amounts of energy. Made of just cement, water, and carbon black, the device could form the basis for inexpensive systems that store intermittently renewable energy, such as solar or wind energy.

news.mit.edu

 

[hman]

That's truly a fantastic breakthrough! Great news for the future of solar power for houses.
Here's a related article:

Electrifying cement with nanocarbon black

A new type of cement created with nanocarbon black can conduct electricity, allowing it to emit heat and eventually store energy, making concrete more sustainable. The work is led by scientists and engineers at MIT and CNRS.

news.mit.edu

 

[Reddinr]

Interesting. I wonder if by "cement" they mean concrete? Maybe they have not gotten to that stage, adding the aggregate.

I can see it now. "Hon could you discharge the foundation? I need to pull the lawn chairs out of the crawlspace." Or, maybe the foundation will need to be electrically insulated so it doesn't discharge into the ground.

 

[Shotgun]

My prediction is, "Nope. Not gonna work."
The problem is that the carbon black, like L-Ion, will expand as it's charged. Not by much, but a measurable amount. Concrete doesn't like to be expanded from the inside, especially when it has a house sitting on it.

 

[brino]

oh great..... more ammunition for those "Ancient Aliens" jack-holes..........

 

[MrCrankyface]

Could potentially make lightning strikes even more interesting if your entire foundation is conductive.

 

[Eddyde]

This would be great for the home-rail gun enthusiast!

 

[Eddyde]

I wonder if by "cement" they mean concrete? Maybe they have not gotten to that stage, adding the aggregate.

It looks like the author starts saying "concrete" instead of "cement" towards the end of the article. It's a common mixup (NPI) for many people.

 

[RJSakowski]

The supercapacitor may work but the author must be an English major. His description of a capacitor is wrong. A capacitor consists of two conductive surfaces separated by a thin insulating barrier.

When voltage is applied to the conductors, an electric field is created and a charge develops across the barrier. The charge remains even after the applied voltage is removed. The capacitance is proportional to the surface area but inversely proportional to the separation between the two conductors. While a large surface area is required, it is the thickness of the dielectric layer separating the two conductors that makes it a supercapacitor.

 

[wachuko]

Could potentially make lightning strikes even more interesting if your entire foundation is conductive.

Perfect for Florida… with the cells buried around the property…. Lightning’s rods and we get free charging!