Your Home's Foundation Could Soon Power the Entire Building

What if the energy powering your home or office could be generated, stored and used all in the same place? This is the hope for the next generation of buildings, powered by renewable sources storing the energy nearby — possibly even within the concrete used to construct the building itself. 

Reporting in ACS Nano, researchers have developed an efficient, energy-storing cement supercapacitor that holds up as well as commercial concrete in tests.

This cement-based supercapacitor is 3D printable and just as strong as commercial concrete used in slabs and stairs.Adapted from ACS Nano 2026, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6c09927Supercapacitors store relatively small amounts of energy, but they take in and release that energy rapidly, and for millions of cycles in some cases. So, by incorporating these devices directly into building materials like cement, researchers are hoping that energy generated near the building (by solar panels, for example) could be stored inside of the structure, rather than in bulky batteries on the roof or in a utility room. 

“If building materials could not only support structures but also store energy, sense their surroundings, and even interact with people, buildings would become more than passive shelters. They could become truly smart environments," said Jing Zhong, the author of the study.

Zhong and colleagues Wencai Ren and Haiping Wu first mixed carbon nanotubes, carbon black, and cement together to form a printable electrode ink. Then, using a 3D printer, they deposited the ink onto a small concrete slab in a pattern resembling interlocked fingers. As the cement within the slab was hydrated, its pores filled with water and ions that easily traveled between the electrodes. And as this design shortened the distance charged ions had to travel, the overall supercapacitor was more efficient than previous iterations.

Tests revealed that the cement-based supercapacitor had a compressive strength comparable to commercial concrete used in slabs and stairs. Three devices printed on the same slab and wired together also powered a small array of LEDs. In the future, the supercapacitors could power everything from emergency lighting to self-powered sensors. 

Finally, the team discovered that the new supercapacitor operated stably under moderate heating and cooling, but at around zero degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius), its performance started to wane. Future research will focus on fortifying the supercapacitors in cold-weather conditions.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Guangdong Hailong Construction Technology Company Limited, a subsidiary of China State Construction International Holdings Limited.