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Bringing order to disorder is key to making stronger and greener cement, the paste that binds concrete. Scientists at Rice University have decoded the kinetic properties of cement and developed a way to “program” the microscopic, semicrystalline particles within. The process turns particles from disordered clumps into regimented cubes, spheres and other forms that combine to make the material less porous and more durable.
The technique may lead to stronger structures that require less concrete -- and less is better, said the researchers. Worldwide production of more than 3 billion tons of concrete a year now emits as much as 10 percent of the carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere.Image credit: Multiscale Materials Laboratory/Rice University
