Scientists make mind-blowing breakthrough while studying energy transfer in seawater: ‘We could create a circularity’

Researchers at Northwestern University recently set out to extract solid minerals from seawater for concrete reinforcement. By splitting water molecules to draw out the mineral precipitate, the team hoped to produce the sand-like or gravel-like material required for concrete development more sustainably.

The university report described the result as a “carbon-negative building material,” meaning the team’s mineral output removed more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the process emitted.

As our global temperatures continue to rise as a result of the heat trapped by carbon pollution, discovering ways to capture the carbon dioxide already present in our atmosphere may prove just as important as reducing these emissions.

Revolutionizing the building industry is a huge step in the right direction. Cement production accounts for 8% of global carbon pollution, according to the World Economic Forum.

“Depending on the ratio of minerals, the material can hold over half its weight in CO2,” added the university report.

While using renewable energy to split water molecules is nothing new — scientists have looked to seawater for “green hydrogen” extraction for years, noted the Advanced Science News journal — the Northwestern team was the first to study the mineral residue from splitting seawater. Prior researchers considered the mineral precipitate a mere byproduct of extracting hydrogen.

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The Northwestern scientists also found that they could alter the mineral composition based on the way they applied electricity to the seawater molecules. In practical terms, being able to tailor the gravel-like deposit to the concrete industry’s desired properties could make the transition to this new material easier for concrete developers in the years to come.

In addition to sand or gravel, manufacturers can use the mineral material in plaster and paint, depending on its scientific composition.

While the cement industry’s carbon pollution stems from powering the high-heat cement production process rather than from mixing the concrete components, sand and gravel mining have their own environmental disadvantages. Per Advanced Science News, sand and gravel mining from mountains, riverbeds, coasts, and the like can “contribute to coastal and riverbank erosion and reduce sediment flow in deltas and estuaries, which makes flooding more likely.”

The effect, in the end, is a loss of biodiversity in these natural habitats.

Replacing sand and gravel with seawater-based mineral precipitate would not only eliminate the need for mining but also work to combat the carbon pollution from heating the concrete mixture in cement manufacturing. The solid minerals, including calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide, directly or indirectly capture and store carbon dioxide.

Curbing the release of carbon pollution into our atmosphere can help prevent global temperatures from rising further, securing our food supply and protecting both human and planetary health.

“We could create a circularity where we sequester CO2 right at the source,” explained lead researcher Alessandro Rotta Loria.

He suggested building concrete and cement plants along shorelines, enabling the mineral material to trap the industrial carbon dioxide at the source and store it in the final cement product.

“Then, those materials would truly become carbon sinks,” Rotta Loria concluded.

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