Researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft developed a new seaweed-fortified cement that has a 21% lower global warming potential while retaining its strength.
The findings were published in Matter in July.
“Cement is everywhere – it’s the backbone of modern infrastructure – but it comes with a huge climate cost,” said senior author Eleftheria Roumeli, a UW assistant professor of materials science and engineering. “What makes this work exciting is that we show how an abundant, photosynthetic material like green seaweed can be incorporated into cement to cut emissions, without the need for costly processing or sacrificing performance.”
Arriving at the ideal mixture of ingredients would have taken five years of trial and error, Roumeli estimated. However, thanks to an assist from machine learning models, the team arrived at this new formulation in a fraction of the time.
The team developed a custom machine learning model and trained it on an initial set of 24 cement formulations. They then used the model to predict ideal mixtures to test in the lab. By feeding the results of those tests back into the model, they could work alongside the model and quickly refine formulations. The result was an optimal seaweed-enhanced cement mixture with a lower carbon footprint that successfully passed compressive strength tests, discovered in just 28 days.
The research team now plans to deepen their understanding of how seaweed composition and structure affect cement performance. The long-term goal is for this research to serve as a foundation for the accelerated design of sustainable biomaterials.
