Nature-inspired hierarchical building materials with low CO2 emission and superior performance

Conventional cement-based materials are faced with significant challenges, including large carbon emissions, high density, and quasi-brittleness. Here, inspired by hierarchical porous structures existing in nature, we develop a low carbon, lightweight, strong and tough cement-based material (LLST), which is obtained by a rapid gelation of hydrogel as skeleton and subsequent deposition of cement hydrates as a skin. As a result, the LLST exhibits hierarchical structure consisting of sponge-like micropores (1 ~ 50 μm) and nanopores (5 ~ 100 nm), without detrimental macropores that compromise light weight, strength, and toughness. Compared with the normal cement paste, LLST displays a 54% reduction in density,…