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  • Concrete to build in Mars

    A team from an American university has been able to make cement that carries sulfur instead of water.

Outer space colonization is not just a movie plot anymore. Step by step a whole machinery is being developed around a concept that may be closer than we think. 3D printing as a construction technique in Mars is one of the breakthrough proposals which could help achieve that, and now, according to a research team at the Northwestern University (Illinois), cement production by substituting water with sulphur could be another promising initiative.

If we travel to our neighbouring planet, it seems likely that water will be a scarce and valuable resource, hence the importance of the project. The viability of this new construction material has been worked upon since the 1970s but, until now, sulphur cooling caused cavities and internal tension to appear in the cement, weakening its structure. This American team, however, has been able to produce concrete with sulphur and an aggregate mimicking Mars´ soil (a mixture of silicon dioxide, aluminium oxide, iron oxide and titanium dioxide) which is compact enough, thus turning it into one of the most impressive materials of the future.

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