Rutgers’ Richard Riman invented energy-efficient technology that could help limit climate change
In the future, wide-ranging composite materials are expected to be stronger, lighter, cheaper and greener for our planet, thanks to an invention by Rutgers’ Richard E. Riman.
Nine years ago, Riman, a distinguished professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering, invented an energy-efficient technology that harnesses largely low-temperature, water-based reactions. As a result, he and his team can make things in water that previously were made at temperatures well above those required to thermally decompose plastics.
So far, the revolutionary technology has been used to make more than 30 different materials, including concrete that stores carbon dioxide, the prime greenhouse gas linked to climate change. Other materials include multiple families of composites that incorporate a wide range of metals, polymers and ceramics whose behavior can be processed to resemble wood, bone, seashells and even steel.
A promising option is creating materials for lightweight automobiles, said Riman, who holds dozens of patents and was recently named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. The materials could be used for engine, interior and exterior applications. Other materials could perform advanced electronic, optical and magnetic functions that replace mechanical ones.
“Ultimately, what we’d like to be able to do is create a ‘Materials Valley’ here, where this technology can start one company after another, small, medium and large businesses,” Riman said. “It’s a foundational or platform technology for solidifying materials that contain ceramics, among other things. They can be pure ceramics, ceramics and metals, ceramics and polymers – a really wide range of composites.”
Riman, who has taught for 30 years in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, focuses on making ceramic materials under sustainable conditions. That means low energy with a low carbon dioxide footprint.
His patented technology creates bonds between materials at low temperatures. It’s called reactive hydrothermal liquid-phase densification (rHLPD), also known as low-temperature solidification. And it’s been used to make a wide range of ceramic composite materials at Rutgers, according to an article published last summer in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society.
“Typically, we don’t go any higher than 240 degrees centigrade (464 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the composite materials,” Riman said. “A lot of these processes are done even at room temperature.”
“I looked at how shellfish make ceramics at low-temperature, like carbonate crystals, and then looked at what people can do with water to make landing strips in Alaska and I said we should be able to do this with ceramics, but use a low-temperature chemical process that involves water,” he said.
Riman came up with the idea decades ago but didn’t launch the technology until climate change became a bigger issue. “When it became important to investors to see green technology developed to address carbon emissions in the world, I decided it was time to take this technology commercial,” he said.
So he founded Solidia Technologies® in Piscataway, New Jersey, in 2008. It’s a startup company marketing improved, eco-friendly cement and concrete for construction and infrastructure. Concrete is a $1 trillion market, Riman noted.
“The first thing we did was show that we could make a material that costs the same as conventional Portland cement,” he said. “We developed processing technology that allows you to drop the technology right into the conventional world of concrete and cement without having to make major capital expenditures typically encountered when a technology is disruptive to the marketplace. We plan to do the same thing in the advanced materials business.”
Solidia Concrete™ products have superior strength and durability. They, combined with Solidia Cement™ can reduce the carbon footprint of cement and concrete by up to 70 percent and can save as much as 528.3 billion gallons a year, according to Solidia Technologies.
The company’s concrete-based products include roofing tiles, cinder blocks and hollow core building slabs. The company approaches concrete product manufacturers to see if they’re interested in licensing its products.
“When you can develop technologies that are safe and easy to use, it’s a game changer – and that’s just one of the many areas that we’re interested in pursuing,” Riman said.
His second investor-funded start-up company is RRTC Inc., which is developing advanced composite materials for myriad uses. They include electronic, optical, magnetic, biomedical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, agricultural, electrochemical, energy storage, energy generation, aerospace, automotive, body and vehicle armor, textile, and abrasive and cutting applications.
Learn more: Rutgers Develops Eco-Friendly Concrete
[osd_subscribe categories=’concrete’ placeholder=’Email Address’ button_text=’Subscribe Now for any new posts on the topic “CONCRETE”‘]
Receive an email update when we add a new CONCRETE article.
The Latest on: Eco-friendly concrete
[google_news title=”” keyword=”eco-friendly concrete” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Eco-friendly concrete
- Scientists use salt, water to prove human brain-like computer can existon April 26, 2024 at 4:13 am
The artificial synapse known as an iontronic memristor functions as a microchannel filled with a solution of water and salt.
- First experimental proof for brain-like computer with water and salton April 25, 2024 at 7:03 am
Theoretical physicists at Utrecht University, together with experimental physicists at Sogang University in South Korea, have succeeded in building an artificial synapse. This synapse works with water ...
- Emulating neurodegeneration and aging in artificial intelligence systemson April 24, 2024 at 3:30 am
In recent years, developers have introduced artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can simulate or reproduce various human abilities, such as recognizing objects in images, answering questions, and ...
- What Synapse's bankruptcy means for the BaaS modelon April 23, 2024 at 9:06 am
The banking-as-a-service middleware provider will be acquired by TabaPay. Other middleware providers may be forced to evolve or face the same fate.
- Aionic Digital Unveils Synapse – The AI-Powered Universal Connector Revolutionizing Data Integrationon April 22, 2024 at 3:54 pm
Aionic Digital, a leader in artificial intelligence (AI), technology consulting, and systems integrations solutions for data management, systems integrations, customer engagement, and eCommerce, is ...
- Intel Develops World's Largest Neuromorphic Computer System for Advancing AI Researchon April 22, 2024 at 12:50 am
Intel has developed the world's largest neuromorphic computer system, a hardware stack modeled after the complexities of the human brain.
- Intel unveils ‘world’s largest AI computer that mimics human brain’ with 1,000 chips – it’s ’50x faster than rivals’on April 19, 2024 at 9:03 am
INTEL has built the world’s largest neuromorphic computer that aims to function similarly to the human brain. The tech giant announced the computer, dubbed Hala Point, on Wednesday, April ...
- World’s largest neuromorphic computer by Intel works like human brainon April 19, 2024 at 5:33 am
I ntel has announced the launch of the world’s largest neuromorphic computer system, Hala Point. Initially deployed at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, the computer mimics the human brain ...
- Intel Reveals World’s Largest ‘Brain-Inspired’ Neuromorphic Computeron April 19, 2024 at 2:33 am
In a recent development, scientists at Intel have built the world's largest neuromorphic computer. The computer is designed ...
via Bing News