A crew of researchers at ETH Zurich has developed a brand new, moisture-binding materials. If this part is utilized in partitions and ceilings, it reduces the humidity indoors. Credit score: Pietro Odaglia / Josef Kuster / ETH Zurich
Whether or not it is the assembly room of an workplace constructing, the exhibition room of a museum or the ready space of a authorities workplace, many individuals collect in such locations, and shortly the air turns into thick. That is partly as a result of elevated humidity.
Air flow programs are generally utilized in workplace and administrative buildings to dehumidify rooms and guarantee a snug ambiance. Mechanical dehumidification works reliably, but it surely prices vitality and—relying on the electrical energy used—has a damaging local weather influence.
In opposition to this backdrop, a crew of researchers from ETH Zurich investigated a brand new method to passive dehumidification of indoor areas. Passive, on this context, implies that excessive humidity is absorbed by partitions and ceilings and quickly saved there. The work has been printed in Nature Communications.
Fairly than being launched into the setting by a mechanical air flow system, the moisture is quickly saved in a hygroscopic, moisture-binding materials and later launched when the room is ventilated.
“Our solution is suitable for high-traffic spaces for which the ventilation systems already in place are insufficient,” says Guillaume Habert, Professor for Sustainable Development, who supervised the ETH analysis mission.
Waste materials from marble quarrying
Habert and his analysis crew adopted the precept of the round financial system of their seek for an appropriate hygroscopic materials. The start line is finely floor waste from marble quarries.
A binder is required to show this powder into moisture-binding wall and ceiling parts. This job is carried out by a geopolymer, a category of supplies consisting of metakaolin (recognized from porcelain manufacturing) and an alkaline answer (potassium silicate and water).
The alkaline answer prompts the metakaolin and gives a geopolymer binder that binds the marble powder to type a stable constructing materials. The geopolymer binder is similar to cement however emits much less CO2 throughout its manufacturing.
Within the ETH mission, the scientists succeeded in producing a prototype of a wall and ceiling part measuring 20 × 20 cm and 4 cm thick.
Manufacturing was carried out utilizing 3D printing in a gaggle led by Benjamin Dillenburger, Professor of Digital Constructing Applied sciences. On this course of, the marble powder is utilized in layers and glued by the geopolymer binder (binder jet printing know-how).
“This process enables the efficient production of components in a wide variety of shapes,” says Benjamin Dillenburger.
Moisture-controlling parts improve consolation
Combining geopolymer and 3D printing to supply a moisture reservoir is an revolutionary method to sustainable development.
Constructing physicist Magda Posani led the research of the fabric’s hygroscopic properties at ETH Zurich earlier than not too long ago taking up a professorship at Aalto College in Espoo, Finland.
The mission relies on the doctoral theses of supplies scientist Vera Voney, supervised by Senior Analysis Affiliate Coralie Brumaud and architect Pietro Odaglia, who developed the fabric and the 3D printing machine at ETH.
“We were able to demonstrate with numerical simulations that the building components can significantly reduce humidity in heavily used indoor spaces,” says Posani, summarizing the primary results of the analysis mission.
For the simulation, it was assumed that the partitions and ceiling of a studying room utilized by 15 folks in a public library in Oporto, Portugal had been utterly lined with hygroscopic parts.
Magda Posani calculated how typically and to what extent the humidity exceeded the consolation zone, i.e. 40 to 60% relative humidity on this digital studying room over the course of a yr. From this, she calculated a discomfort index, a determine that expresses the lack of consolation brought on by excessively excessive or low humidity.
If the studying room had been fitted with the moisture-binding parts, the discomfort index might be diminished by 75% in comparison with a standard painted wall. If parts had been used that had been 5 cm thick as a substitute of simply 4 cm, the discomfort index fell by as a lot as 85%.
Extra climate-friendly than air flow programs
The hygroscopic wall and ceiling parts are climate-friendly, i.e. they trigger considerably decrease greenhouse gasoline emissions over a 30-year life cycle than a air flow system that dehumidifies air high quality to the identical extent.
Within the simulation calculations, the wall and ceiling parts had been additionally in contrast with a clay plaster that has been used since time immemorial and in addition passively regulates the air humidity in indoor areas. This previous method proved to be much more climate-friendly than the hygroscopic parts. Nevertheless, the plaster has a decrease storage capability for water vapor.
The analysis at ETH has proven that the mixture of geopolymer and 3D printing can be utilized to supply wall and ceiling parts for environment friendly moisture buffering. After this proof of idea, the know-how is, in precept, able to be additional developed and scaled for industrial manufacture. On the similar time, analysis continues.
In a mission with Turin Polytechnic and Aalto College, ETH Zurich is working to supply wall and ceiling parts with even decrease greenhouse gasoline emissions. As a result of one factor is evident: if Switzerland needs to attain its internet zero goal by 2050, it wants buildings that trigger as little greenhouse gasoline emissions as potential throughout development and use.
Extra info:
Low-carbon indoor humidity regulation by way of 3D-printed superhygroscopic constructing parts., Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54944-1
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Sustainable constructing parts use passive dehumidification to create an excellent indoor local weather (2025, January 10)
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Publish date : 2025-01-10 10:54:16
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