전기를 '배터리처럼' 저장할 수 있는 미래의 벽돌 'Smart' bricks costing as little as 50p each can store electricity just like batteries and could be used to power lighting in buildings
'Smart' bricks costing as little as 50p each can store electricity just like batteries and could be used to power lighting in buildings
Researchers found a way to use the material inside red bricks to store energy
Red bricks are one of the cheapest and most commonly used building materials
The team say it could be used in future buildings to power emergency lighting
Researchers from Washington University found a way to convert simple 'red bricks' into energy storage units that could be charged to power lighting in a home
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By RYAN MORRISON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 16:00 BST, 11 August 2020 | UPDATED: 19:09 BST, 11 August 2020
전기를 '배터리처럼' 저장할 수 있는 미래의 벽돌 생산 비용이 겨우 50펜스 정도의 '스마트 벽돌'은 전기를 '배터리처럼' 저장하는 데 사용될 수 있으며, 미래의 건축 재료가 될 수 있다고 개발자들은 주장한다. 워싱턴 대학의 연구원들은 그들이 지역 철물점에서 구입한 단순한 '빨간 벽돌'을 에너지 저장 장치로 전환하는 방법을 발견했다. 붉은 벽돌은 오늘날 사용되고 있는 세계에서 가장 싸고 가장 흔한 건축 자재 중 하나이지만, 수천 년 동안 같은 방식으로 사용되어 왔다. 벽돌에 전도성 폴리머 코팅을 추가함으로써, 연구원들은 그것을 LED 전구에 동력을 공급할 수 있는 전기 저장 장치로 바꿀 수 있었다. 그 팀은 미래의 집들은 그들의 새로운 버전의 불타는 벽돌을 사용하여 만들어질 수 있고, 그것은 집 안의 전등과 다른 장치들을 작동시키는 데 사용될 수 있다고 말한다. 황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터 Ki Chul Hwang Conpaper editor curator |
edited by kcontents
A 'smart brick' that costs as little as 50p to produce can be used to store electricity 'like a battery' and may be the future building material of choice, developers claim.
Researchers from Washington University found a way to convert simple 'red bricks' they purchased from a local hardware store into energy storage units.
Red brick is one of the world's cheapest and most common building materials in use today, but has been used in the same way for thousands of years.
By adding a conductive polymer coating to a brick, the researchers were able to transform it into an electricity storage device, capable of powering an LED bulb.
The team say houses of the future could be made using their new version of the fired brick, and it could be used to power lights and other devices within homes.
By adding a conductive polymer coating to a brick, the researchers were able to transform it into an electricity storage devices, capable of powering an LED bulb
Chemists who developed the new technology claim just 50 of the bricks within a wall of a building could power emergency lighting for five hours.
Walls and buildings made out of bricks already occupy large amounts of space, which could be better utilised if given a dual-purpose, study authors claim.
The PEDOT coating seeps into the brick, thanks to its porous structure, where it reacts with the red pigment, which is made of iron oxide, or rust.
This triggers the polymerisation reaction and turns the brick into an 'ion sponge' that stores and conducts electricity.
D'Arcy said the new energy storage method works with regular or recycled bricks.
'As a matter of fact, the work that we have published stems from bricks that we bought at Home Depot right here in Brentwood, Missouri,' she said.
While some architects and designers have recognised a normal red brick's ability to absorb and store the sun's heat, nothing has gone beyond that core use.
The new study marks the first time anyone has tried using bricks as anything more than thermal mass for heating and cooling - or as a simple building material.
The new method has been developed as a way to make or modify 'smart bricks' that can store energy until required for powering devices and lights.
Their research shows a charged up brick directly powering a green LED light as part of a proof of concept demonstration.
Scientists' calculations suggest that walls made of these energy-storing bricks could also store a substantial amount of energy.
The team say houses of the future could be made using their new version of the red brick which can be charged hundreds of thousands of times an hour
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