The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration has awarded a three-year, $1.2 million grant to the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science to investigate an emerging class of sustainable cement-alternative materials.
A key component of concrete is a significant contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, producing an estimated 7-10 percent of global CO2 emissions. This new project will focus on defining the composition, properties and behavior of inorganic polymers, which have little carbon impact but have the potential to be just as effective as current concrete components.
These inorganic polymers also could reduce the energy needed for concrete production and promote the reuse of key materials that are often disposed of in landfills. The Federal Highway Administration is interested in research and materials of this nature for their potential use in future highway infrastructure.
The project’s principal investigator is Gaurav Sant, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Edward K. and Linda L. Rice Endowed Chair in Materials Science in the UCLA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
This post is adapted from a longer article on the UCLA Engineering site.
