3D Concrete Printing of Triply Periodic Minimum Surfaces for Enhanced Carbon Capture and Storage
Abstract Concrete, the world's second most utilized material after water, is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse emissions. Current carbon capturing and storage (CCS) concrete often involves convoluted processes, slow kinetics, limited CO 2 uptake, non‐uniform carbonation in structures, and high cost. Efforts to enhance carbon sequestration often rely on increasing porosities, which compromise the mechanical strength of the resulting concrete. The 3D printing of CCS concrete is reported by incorporating diatomaceous earth (DE), a highly accessible biomineral with hierarchical porosity, into triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) structures. DE enables stable extrusion, high print fidelity, and reduced density, which are crucial for 3D concrete printing. Further, DE facilitates CaCO 3 nucleation within the concrete and mitigates carbonation resistance, achieving a maximum CO 2 absorption of 488.7 gCO 2 per kg cement in 7 days, a 142% increase over conventional concrete. Optimizing TPMS geometry further enhances carbonation efficiency by enabling uniform CO 2 uptake throughout the structure. This geometry refinement reduces material usage by 78% and increases the surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio by 515%, leading to a 30% higher CO 2 uptake while preserving mechanical integrity. The material strategy, together with the optimized concrete printing of TPMS structures, offers a pathway toward scalable and sustainable solutions without undermining concrete's structural functions.
Authors
- So Hee Nah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1564-201X)
- Yinding Chi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2674-721X)
- Masoud Akbarzadeh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6402-615X)
- Peter Psarras (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5302-3412)
- Kunhao Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2306-1175)
- Shu Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8834-3320)
- Kunyu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8982-0547)
- Teng Teng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6460-7109)
- Hua Chai
- Yefan Zhi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1654-4865)
Institutions
- University of the Sciences (US)
- Robotic Technology (United States) (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2025-05-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202509259
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.15
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- University of Pennsylvania
- Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy
- Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University
- Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology, University of Pennsylvania
- Division of Materials Research