American Material Scientist Develops Conductive Concrete That can Generate Heat

American material scientists have successfully developed a kind of conductive concrete, which can make walls and floors electrically heated in cold weather, so that you can have a warm home in cold weather. At present, this kind of conductive concrete has been used in some roads and some military facilities.

The main components of concrete are aggregates such as sand, slag, crushed stone, etc. When water is mixed with cement powder, a chemical reaction occurs in which the aggregate hardens and forms a solid mass. Materials scientists have long known that they can use basic concrete manufacturing methods to create any effect they want. For example, adding compounds that can capture small bubbles in concrete can prevent small cracks in concrete and make it more durable. Scientists have been experimenting with conductive concrete since the 1990s, adding tiny amounts of conductive steel or carbon fibers to the concrete, which can make the concrete conductive even though it accounts for less than 1%.

If this conductive concrete is pressed, the conductive fibers in it will tighten slightly, thus increasing the conductive effect of the concrete. Therefore, if the road is made of conductive concrete, the traffic volume can be monitored and evaluated. The greater advantage of using conductive concrete on roads is that it can automatically remove ice and snow in winter. Conductive concrete can produce heating effect by transmitting current through wires. Roads, bridges, or airport runways can become hot as a result. It is used as an electric blanket to keep the deck warm on the Lorca Spurs Bridge in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Electric heating can keep the road surface of the bridge at about 10 degrees Celsius in winter, which is much higher than surrounding temperature. It will not be affected by snow in the whole winter. Even if it snows heavily, there will be no traffic jam on the bridge, and many accidents will be avoided.

In theory, conductive concrete can also be used to make houses to keep people warm, but the price of this conductive concrete is now 4.5 times that of ordinary concrete. Therefore, if we want to use this kind of concrete to build the houses we live in, we must reduce the cost of conductive concrete. At present, the U.S. Army is interested in using conductive concrete on the pavement of military facilities, blockhouses and border checkpoints.

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