TIS&Partners has developed a construction material called CO2 Structure, which hardens quickly and delivers 2.5 times the tensile strength of concrete.

“When CO2 is blown into silica, it instantly converts the silica into a material as hard as brick. And a brick can be formed in a little less than a minute. That’s what’s special about this material. However, bricks break easily. To achieve sufficient strength, so the structural material can be stretched and bent without incorporating steel rods, it needs to be combined with an organic material, such as epoxy or urethane. By doing that, we achieve a tensile strength at least 2.5 times that of concrete. So a feature of this material is, it can be used as a basis for construction with very little steel reinforcement, or almost none.”

Generally, it will take about 28 days for concrete to cure to 100% of it’s design strength, but this CO2 Structure can deliver beyond that strength in just one day. This feature would allow for the rapid rebuilding of earthquake affected areas.

“For example, areas that underwent subsidence in the East Japan Earthquake could be reinforced using this material. That would make it possible to quickly restore strength on a par with concrete to uniform, flat areas. Also, where there are old buildings made of wood or reinforced concrete that are due for demolition, this material could be used in earthquake-resistant walls. That would give buildings a life of at least 50 years. The advantage is that it could be done quickly, without using advanced technology.”

As the first model example using CO2 Structure, TIS&Partners plans to install a double dome at the UIA World Congress, at Tokyo International Forum on September 25. Students from Tokyo Denki University will help to build this structure, which will hold over 150 people.