CO₂ as a resource of the future content
Mining the Atmosphere, a new research initiative by the Swiss materials institute Empa, aims to capture excess CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it in building ma terials such as concrete. According to Empa, five to ten billion tons of carbon could be used as concrete aggregates each year; enough to permanently store today’s excess CO₂ within 100 years of the energy transition and thus reduce atmospheric CO₂ to a climate-friendly level. Innovatieve Materialen (Innovative Materials) is a digital, independent magazine about material innovation in the fields of engineering, construction (buildings, infrastructure and industrial) and industrial design.
New filter extracts aluminum from production waste
Aluminum is a lightweight and widely used material, and its popularity continues to grow. Global demand for aluminum is expected to grow by 40 percent by the end of this decade, and with it, its environmental impact. Against this backdrop, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new nanofiltra t ion process that could make aluminum production more efficient while preventing waste.
Reusable zigzag formwork for greener construction
An architecture PhD student at ETH Zurich has developed a simple solution for building more climate-friendly concrete floors. Thanks to a lightweight, robust and reusable formwork design, significant amounts of concrete and steel can be saved.
Sustainable packaging from wetland crops
Due to their low lignin content, peat plants could also be an attractive alternative to wood as a raw material source for sustainable paper packaging. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV have already demon strated in feasibility tests that peat plants have great potential for the production of folding boxes, trays and similar articles.
Solargate
Researchers from the universities of Stuttgart and Freiburg have developed a new energy-autonomous façade system that passively adapts to changing weather conditions. Traditionally, weather-sensitive façades have relied on complex mechanical orelectronic systems. However, the Stuttgart-Freiburg research team focused on creating a system that utilizes the intrinsic properties of materials, much like a pine cone, which naturally expands and contracts its scales in response to external stimuli.
