It gives the researchers at Trinity College Dublin an engine that can convert Mars and the Moon’s sand to bricks for future cities in space. They’ve combined surfaces such as regolith (sand, dust, and rocks) with carbon nanotubes to create blocks as light as but not as durable as granite. Based on that discovery, it might also make it easier to export bulk construction materials from Earth to the Moon or Mars and establish settlements on them.
Professor Jonathan Coleman and his co-workers constructed these strong blocks with very little energy and at low temperatures. Even the cement is electric—a structural fire. This holds particularly true for buildings in orbit, where airtightness is a lifeline.
As well as space, the study could affect buildings on this planet. The equivalent, called graphene, if added to cement will increase the strength of concrete by as much as 40%. This would reduce the amount of concrete needed for building, thereby cutting CO2 emissions from the world’s concrete industry (which already accounts for about 8% of all emissions). The first building for sustainable structures is a significant achievement both in the heavens and on Earth.
Work cited:McDowell, Aoife. “Martian Sand Can Be Used to Build in Space, Dublin Scientists Find.” BBC News, 4 Oct. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/northern-ireland-67019870.
