Science & Technology, UK (Commonwealth Union) – The origin of concrete dates back to over 1000 years. Even before the invention of concrete builders sort strong binding material to create a firm structure that was strong enough to withstand pressure both from outside, such as natural disasters and to maintain the internal structure. The quest for stronger binding materiel for the construction industries has been continued by researchers. The current economic crisis with rising inflation has currently put a strain on the construction industry, hence tougher structures that are more economical, can be a possible remedy for the current crisis.
Scientists may have recently found a possible new concrete made from simulated outer space material that is tougher and possible more economical.
Researchers from the University of Manchester have produced a new material, dubbed ‘StarCrete’ that is produced from extra-terrestrial dust, potato starch, and a pinch of salt that could be utilized in building homes on Mars.
The construction infrastructure in space in the present is extremely costly and hard to achieve. Future space construction will be required to depend on simple materials that are easily accessible to astronauts, StarCrete could provide a possible solution. Scientists associated with this invention utilized simulated Martian soil mixed with potato starch as well as a pinch of salt to form the material that is double the strength as ordinary concrete and is perfectly suitable for construction work in an outer space atmosphere.
In an article appearing in the journal Open Engineering, the scientists showed that ordinary potato starch can serve as a binding agent when combined with simulated Mars dust forming concrete-like material. As tests were conducted, StarCrete was found to have a compressive strength of 72 Megapascals (MPa), which is more than double the strenght as the 32 MPa seen in ordinary concrete. Starcrete produced from moon dust was found to be stronger at over 91 MPa.
This work builds on prior work from the same team where they utilized astronauts’ blood and urine as a binding agent. However, in spite the resulting material having a compressive strength of approximately 40 MPa, which is more enhanced than normal concrete, the method had the drawback of needing blood regularly. When functioning in an atmosphere as hostile as space, this option was viewed as a less desirable option than utilizing potato starch as indicated by the scientists.
“Since we will be producing starch as food for astronauts, it made sense to look at that as a binding agent rather than human blood. Also, current building technologies still need many years of development and require considerable energy and additional heavy processing equipment which all adds cost and complexity to a mission. StarCrete doesn’t need any of this and so it simplifies the mission and makes it cheaper and more feasible.”
“And anyway, astronauts probably don’t want to be living in houses made from scabs and urine!” said Dr Aled Roberts, Research Fellow from the Future Biomanufacturing Research Hub, The University of Manchester as well as the lead researcher for the project.
Scientists hope to move forward with this project where they will translate StarCrete from the lab to application. Dr Roberts and the team have recently commenced a start-up company, DeakinBio, that is evaluating methods that will enhance StarCrete so that it could also be applied in terrestrial settings.
If made available for use on earth, StarCrete may provide a greener alternative to traditional concrete. Cement and concrete make up roughly 8 percent of worldwide CO2 emissions as the process by which they are manufactured needs super high firing temperatures and amounts of energy. StarCrete, on the other hand, can be formed in an ordinary oven or microwave at normal ‘home baking’ temperatures, hence providing more economical energy costs for production.
