Electrifying cement with nanocarbon black

Amazing stuff! They say you can't teach an old dog (cement) new tricks! :-)

"... to make concrete more sustainable by adding novel functionalities — namely, electron conductivity. Electron conductivity would permit the use of concrete for a variety of new applications, ranging from self-heating to energy storage. Their approach relies on the controlled introduction of highly conductive nanocarbon materials into the cement mixture.  ...

By incorporating nanocarbon black at just a 4 percent volume of their mixtures, [researchers] found that they could reach the percolation threshold, the point at which their samples could carry a current.

They noticed that this current also had an interesting upshot: It could generate heat. This is due to what’s known as the Joule effect. ..."

Electrifying cement with nanocarbon black | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology A collaboration between MIT and CNRS has yielded a cement that conducts electricity and generates heat.

Here is the link to the underlying research article:

Electric energy dissipation and electric tortuosity in electron conductive cement-based materials