Instant sand: Scientists grow carbon-negative construction materials in seawater

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By Alessandro F. Rotta Loria, Nishu Devi et al, Wiley, Advanced Sustainable Systems. 

Excerpt: This lab-grown “sand” could help reduce the construction industry’s climate footprint. Northwestern University. Sand may seem like an infinite resource, but it’s an essential ingredient in building materials and we’re actually depleting it fast, Now, researchers have devised a way to grow sand-like materials from seawater—and by doing so, lock away carbon and reduce the construction industry’s environmental footprint. Currently, the sand used in concrete, gravel, paints, plasters, and other materials is taken straight from sandy spots like coastlines and riverbeds. But a team of researchers has figured out how to make calcium- and magnesium-based minerals like those in sand—“not by digging into the Earth, but by harnessing electricity and CO2,” lead author Alessandro Rotta Loria explains in a statement. First, the researchers applied an electric current to seawater, which naturally contains calcium and magnesium ions. Then, with that current running, they bubbled carbon dioxide into the water. This ultimately led to the creation of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide. ...If further tests show the new “sand” can be used to make strong concrete and other useful materials the process could help reduce the construction industry’s massive contributions to climate change. By using renewable electricity and placing production plants on or near the sea, the materials “would truly become carbon sinks.”... 

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