A university group has developed a technique to produce flat, less dense and more environmentally friendly concrete slabs
A basic ingredient in concrete and mortar, widely used in Brazil, cement is the second most used material in civil construction. Among its benefits are its low cost and immense versatility. However, traditional cement releases a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2), being the source of approximately 8% of global emissions, according to the British institute Chatham House.
In search of modernizing the Brazilian construction system, also making it more sustainable, professor Carlos Eduardo Marmorato Gomes, from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism at Unicamp (FECFAU), developed a technology that uses an alternative binder for civil construction, magnesian cement (Sorel).
The material was used to create an improved compound, which formed the first flat magnesian plate in Brazil. Less dense than the traditional one, its handling is easier, allowing time and productivity to be saved on site and contributing to the industrialization of the construction system.
“For civil construction, we already have plasterboard and boards with traditional Portland cement. We are developing the first Brazilian flat plate with a magnesium oxide-based composite”, explains the professor.
Civil construction still uses artisanal forms of production. The improvement in the level of industrialization is a long-standing expectation of the sector. This requires more qualified labor and more industrialized construction systems, such as Light Steel Frame, a technique based on galvanized steel, and DryWall, a dry construction system.
“We focus on Light Steel Frame and DryWall construction models. We are associating an innovative product with an alternative construction system that is little known in Brazil, but which I believe is the future of civil construction”, says Marmorato.
The most modern construction models allow for a gain in production and completion time. Marmorato highlights that this advantage could accelerate the pace of construction of popular housing units, such as the homes offered by the Casa Verde e Amarela program and CDHU.
The production cost, which may be slightly higher than in the traditional construction model, is offset by the reduction in construction time.
Sustainability on the agenda
Unicamp's technology for developing the flat plate is also more environmentally friendly, as it does not use water, adopting the Light Steel Frame and DryWall model, with dry construction. According to the US Green Building Council, construction is responsible for consuming 21% of the planet's treated water.
“We do not use water in construction, as we do not need mortar or concrete with flat plates. Water is only necessary in the production of the composite, significantly reducing its use in the construction system”, explains Marmorato.
Technology on the market
In 2021 the know-how technology was licensed, with the help of the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency, to Comptest Engenharia. Iara Ferreira, director of partnerships at Inova Unicamp, explains that the Agency has expertise to transfer different types of technology. According to her, patent licensing is better known and publicized, but knowledge of interest to the industrial sector can also be transferred through licensing or the assignment of a know-how.
"When a professor communicates the results of his research to Inova, our team evaluates not only the best protection strategy - which could be through a patent or computer program, for example - but also the offer and transfer strategy. Some technologies They cannot be protected by patent, but that does not mean they are no longer interesting for the business sector. Our team can then evaluate and encourage the transfer of this result through licensing of know-how", says the director.
Comptest currently has funding from PIPE FAPESP to introduce the technology into the market and expand the use of flat magnesium cement plates in Brazil.
“We know that a project is good when it is approved by FAPESP. The research results in phase 1 of PIPE FAPESP are very satisfactory. Now we intend to continue with phase 2 and, soon, place flat magnesium cement slabs on the Brazilian market”, explains Jeferson de Oliveira, administrative manager at Comptest Engenharia.
Inventors Award 2022
INVENTORS AWARDED IN THIS LICENSING
Carlos Eduardo Marmorato Gomes (FECFAU) was awarded in the Licensed Intellectual Property category at the 2022 Inventores Awards.
TRIBUTES PROGRAMMING
This article is part of the series of reports produced by Inova Unicamp on licensed technologies. They can be read by Inova website and also in format eBook (only in Dutch at the moment) na Inventors Award Magazine, scheduled for release in June. A webinar with content on intellectual property and technology transfer is also scheduled for June 08th, with Registration open to the general public.
Check out all the winners on Unicamp Inventors Award website.
The 2022 Inventors Award sponsors are: Pulse Hub, ClarkeModet, 3M, and Neger Telecom
