CAREER: Development of Novel High-Performance Carbon Sink Concrete Materials Using Sustainable Multifunctional Hybrid Additives

This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award supports research to develop novel multi-functional hybrid materials and internal carbon dioxide (CO2) curing processes for carbon-sink concrete materials to address the fundamental limitations of carbonated concrete systems. Achieving and sustaining net-zero emissions requires advanced materials and methods for long-term sequestration of anthropogenic CO2.

The production of concrete materials through binder carbonation has the potential to consume approximately one billion tons of CO2 annually. The application of carbonated concrete materials can also largely reduce CO2 emissions from the production of ordinary portland cement. Despite the major technological developments related to carbonated concrete materials in recent decades, the expanded use of these eco-friendly materials in structural and non-structural applications depends on addressing the chemical, physical, and processing related barriers.

This research will focus on micro-engineering the carbonation process using sustainable performance-enhancing additives that will be exploited to design a range of microstructures for the carbonated concrete materials. It will attempt to design next-generation high-performance carbon-sink concrete with superior mechanical and durability properties to satisfy or surpass performance requirements for building and infrastructure applications in different geographic regions.

The educational objectives of this work will complement the research goals by advancing knowledge on climate change and the importance of sustainable construction practices in Philadelphia high schools and colleges, as well as in the professional community by developing Sustainable Infrastructure Workshops, Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Team Competitions, and Sustainable Concrete Seminars. The education plan aims to enhance the diversity of the STEM workforce through strategic targeting and recruiting of underrepresented students.

The overarching goal of this research is to micro-engineer the carbonation process using hybrid polymers that can perform multiple functions: (i) serve as internal CO2 sources to extend the process; (ii) regulate local pH to sustain the precipitation of carbonates; and (iii) serve as carbonate nucleation/growth sites to alter the kinetics and products of the process. The multi-functional hybrid polymers will be exploited to design a range of microstructures to link microstructure characteristics to the physical properties of carbonated materials.

These fundamental relationships will be employed to predict the long-term performance of carbonated concrete materials in different environments and under various loading conditions. This research will attempt to advance the specific state-of-the-art in carbonated concrete materials and more broadly carbon capture technologies from several major scientific and technological perspectives such as: 1) uncovering the functioning mechanism of hybrid polymers using coupled in-situ synchrotron techniques, 2) developing novel advanced analytical techniques for studying carbonation reaction and microstructure evolution in carbonated concrete systems across length scales, and 3) developing efficient sustainable additives to engineer carbonated concrete materials from the bottom-up.

This research will advance the knowledge base in materials science, binder chemistry, porous media mechanics, and advanced analytical and imaging techniques.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.