Researchers Have Created Lightweight Yet Strong Polymer Building Blocks Using Inexpensive Feedstocks

Organic chemists at Flinders University are working on more sustainable alternatives, with an emphasis on building materials generated from waste products, because firing bricks and producing mortar and cement are relatively expensive processes.

Another step toward the circular economy has been made by researchers from the Flinders Chalker Lab, who have created lightweight but strong polymer building blocks that can be joined together chemically without the need of adhesives.

Their most recent research examined several ways to strengthen these materials in construction while also testing their strength.

Bricks from waste materials

(Photo : MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images)

According to Justin Chalker, a Matthew Flinders Professor of Chemistry, the development of sustainable construction materials is becoming more and more necessary as the manufacturing of cement, iron, and steel is responsible for more than 15% of annual worldwide CO2 emissions, as per ScienceDaily.

Using used cooking oil combined with sulfur and dicyclopentadiene, the experts tested a novel form of brick in this study (DCPD).

Sulfur and DCPD are byproducts of the refining of petroleum.

Upon the application of a very little quantity of amine catalyst, the bricks link together without the use of mortar.

The raw materials may all be categorized as industrial waste and are all readily available.

According to the project's director, Professor Chalker, this research is a component of a bigger initiative to create a sustainable built environment.

Clean Earth Technologies is working with the Chalker Lab's new polymer research team at Flinders University's College of Science and Engineering to advance development, expansion, and potential commercialization.

The most recent study, which was included as a cover article in a special issue on the sustainability of the journal Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, extended the investigation to test the new bricks' mechanical qualities and investigate ways to reinforce them in buildings, including using carbon fiber fillers.

The sulfur-sulfur connection of the polymer bricks allows them to be joined together without mortar, unlike the usual building approach, according to Chalker Lab research colleague Dr. Maximilian Mann.

This allows for the reuse of waste resources into value-added construction materials.

According to Dr. Mann, the bonding in this innovative catalytic process is quite strong, providing a sustainable building material with its mortar that might perhaps speed up construction.

The study, according to its first author Paris Pauling, is a superb illustration of recent advances in the study of sustainable materials.

Also Read: Lego Starts Developing Bricks Made From Recycled Plastic Bottles

Ecobricks and their application

The ecobrick movement has gained strength in recent years as plastic waste has garnered sensational international headlines, as per AZO Cleantech.

Given how common plastic is in homes and on the streets, it has become an increasingly popular building material, particularly in developing nations.

The eco-bricks make a great building material when used with organic building techniques like cob, adobe, or wattle and daub.

Due to the densely packed insulating polymers, they also function as natural insulators.

Since its inception in 2015, the Global Ecobrick Alliance has offered detailed instructions on how to build eco-bricks.

According to their beliefs, the eco brick and its parts should be designed in a circular, cradle-to-cradle fashion to last longer.

The use of non-recyclables in this manner has various advantages. According to the BBC documentary "War on Plastic," more than 60% of the plastic that the UK "recycles" is transported abroad and dumped in Asian nations like Malaysia.

Because many nations just lack the recycling capacity to handle the amount of plastics generated, waste is piling up along the coastlines.

With the help of Ecobricks, people may not only clean up their rivers and beaches but also reuse previously squandered resources to construct something that will directly benefit the neighborhood.

Incentives for collecting waste plastic and creating eco-bricks for various projects are also provided by a number of NGOs.

Their design also highlights the need to stop investing in throwaway cultures that are harming the environment and start closing many of our industrial loops.

Although plastic has recently received a lot of bad attention, it is vital to keep in mind that it is frequently a really useful material.