ARTIST Group
Research
Materials
Concrete is the most used material on the earth, second to water. Cement, the glue of concrete, is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emission and 5% of energy use. How to decarbonize carbon-intensive cement, convert CO2 to carbon-negative cement, and co-benefit other industries? How to add value to the margin-sensitive industry?
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Replacing cement with energy industry's byproducts can significantly decarbonize different sectors. These low- or carbon-negative materials exhibit higher performance than ordinary cement.
Potential solutions to further reduce the environmental impacts of the systems are being explored. The valorization of cement-based materials for high-value end use is being investigated.
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Nanostructure of low-carbon cement
Experimental tools
​To tackle complicated problems and understand the nature of complex low-carbon or carbon-negative materials as well as high-performance high-value products, state-of-the-art experimental tools are necessary, such as advanced synchrotron-radiation-based characterization techniques (X-ray Absorption ​Near-Edge Structure, Soft X-ray Ptychography, High-Pressure X-ray Diffraction​, High-Pressure X-ray Raman Scattering Spectroscopy, Micro Computed Tomography). Conventional tools are also useful (e.g., calorimeter, Raman)
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The laboratory uses concrete 3D printer, isothermal calorimeter, thermogravimetric analyzer, Raman, mass spectrometer, CO2 incubator, high-temperature furnace, vacuum oven, potentiostat, booster, large reactors, etc.
Concrete microstructure using μCT
Modelling
​Modeling approaches are powerful to unveiling the environmental impacts (e.g., CO2-emission-induced global warming potential) and energy use of the infrastructure materials and built environment. The correlation between engineering performance and environmental performance is critical to sustainability and decarbonization at scale.
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Life-cycle assessment is a methodology for evaluating the environmental impacts associated with stages of the life cycle of products.
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Techno-economic analysis is a methodology for modeling the cost and scalability of new technologies.
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The team uses OpenLCA with up-to-date databases.
Environmental impact of cement production