This $500,000 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) supports research at The Johns Hopkins University to develop a novel, lower-energy approach to cement manufacturing using photosynthetic cyanobacteria. The key goals are to leverage cyanobacteria's ability to produce solid calcium carbonate, a key cement component, and integrate this biomineralization process with other chemical and electrochemical methods to create a scalable biocement...
This National Science Foundation (CFDA 47.041 - Engineering) award of $392,462 to the University of Illinois will address the critical challenge of reducing carbon emissions from cement production. The project aims to develop sustainable belite-rich cements that can be produced with existing infrastructure and technologies, requiring lower energy and emitting less CO2 compared to conventional cements. The key technical objectives include: 1) identifying effective foreign dopants to enhance...
This five-year, $674,756 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation, within the Engineering Directorate (CFDA 47.041), will fund the development of a novel, stratlingite-based cementitious binder with significantly lower carbon emissions than traditional Portland cement. The awardee, Missouri University of Science & Technology, will leverage the chemistries of ancient Roman concretes and modern concrete designs to...
This National Science Foundation Engineering Directorate project grant of $1,920,892 awarded on September 1, 2021 to the University of Wisconsin-Madison will fund research through August 31, 2025 to develop a low-temperature manufacturing process for calcium hydroxide from distributed waste sources. The goal is to make cement production more environmentally sustainable. The University of Illinois will be responsible for reactor design, process intensification modeling and overseeing progress...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $431,614 project grant to the University of Miami under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to support research titled "MULTISCALE MECHANISMS OF DISSOLUTION AND REACTIVITY OF CALCIUM ALUMINOSILICATE GLASSES: TOWARDS RATIONAL DESIGN OF LOW-CARBON CEMENT SUBSTITUTES." The three-year award, which runs from May 2021 through April 2024, will fund research exploring calcium aluminosilicate glass dissolution and reactivity to enable more sustainable...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $250,000 Project Grant to the University of Missouri System under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) for the period of July 15, 2022 to June 30, 2024. The grant funds research to develop a carbon-negative process for converting municipal solid waste incineration ashes into high-value blended supplementary cementitious materials using carbon dioxide from flue gases. These carbon-negative supplementary cementitious...
This $1.3 million National Science Foundation project grant, awarded under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), funds research at the University of California Irvine toward developing geomimetic concrete materials through 2027. Led by Dr. [Vendor Name], the research aims to fundamentally understand chemical reactions at fluid-solid interfaces, leveraging insights to design carbon-negative concrete alternatives. Ordinary Portland cement production contributes significantly to global carbon...
This $430,494 project grant, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under its Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), aims to study and engineer the process of geomimetic carbonation to stabilize mine tailings. The primary goals are to: 1) permanently sequester carbon dioxide within tailings storage facilities, and 2) utilize the resulting cementation to improve the stability of tailings. The integrated experimental and computational research will focus on the kinetics of silicate...
The University of California Irvine received a $250,000 project grant award from the National Science Foundation Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation. The award is part of the NSF Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) and will fund research to discover precipitation pathways in reactive magnesium oxide cements via nanoscale interfacial engineering. This research aims to develop durable structural composites through understanding cement reactions at the nanoscale level. The...
This $337,054 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) aims to establish a theoretical, computational, and experimentally validated framework to enable next-generation carbon-negative civil structures with minimized life-cycle environmental impact and maximized structural performance. Through physics-based optimization, tailored fabrication, and industrial collaboration, the award will produce innovative structural solutions that...
This $950,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), will fund research at Arizona State University to develop carbon-neutral cement manufacturing technologies. The goal is to enable production of Portland cement and other lime-based cements in an energy-efficient and carbon-neutral manner through technological innovations, including a low-temperature process to decompose limestone without carbon emissions and an ultrafast high-temperature synthesis method. Renewable energy will power all manufacturing sub-processes. Thermodynamics modeling, multi-physics simulations, and artificial intelligence will optimize the process. Outcomes aim to advance understanding of parameters influencing kinetics, efficiency, and quality of products from both manufacturing stages. A software tool will aid manufacturers in determining optimal recipes. The University of Missouri System will receive a sub-award to support related work. If successful, these technologies could significantly reduce the cement industry's carbon footprint while enabling needed infrastructure development.