Archive for Trudy Kriven
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The 2011 Mug Drop Competition in 4 minutes
Here’s a look at what went on at the Material Advantage Mug Drop event organized by Keramos, and I should note there was a good natured controversy about some of the entrants who used geopolymers to make their mugs. Trudy Kriven (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) provides a defense of the geopolymers at the end of the video.
The Virginia Tech team of Jacob Monzel, Michelle Gervasio, Alexandra Egert, Kirby Boone and Morgan Brown took top honors thanks to Michelle’s mug, which survived a fall from the 60 cm mark. The prize is a $100 award and a trophy.
Liz Reidmeyer (above) won the “Best Looking Mug” award for having the most aesthetically pleasing mug in the competition, and she was wise enough to keep the beautiful piece out of the drop competition. Liz comes by her ceramics savvy naturally; her mom is Mary Reidmeyer, professor of ceramic engineering at Missouri S&T.
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Geopolymer: A cheaper, greener alternative for cement
In the revolutionary way that aerogel is starting to redefine insulation, geopolymer may be poised to redefine cement, concrete and a lot of other advanced composite materials. And, like aerogel, geopolymer hasn’t received the public attention it should.
In this video, geopolymer expert Trudy Kriven, a professor of material science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, explains how geopolymers are essentially inorganic polymers made from readily available aluminum- and silica-containing materials.
As Kriven explains, a motive for finding a replacement like geopolymer for traditional Portland cement is environmental: Portland cement production requires a tremendous amount of energy to heat and convert the raw materials (at 1450°C), and can generate nearly one ton of CO2 for every ton of processed cement.
Geopolymer, on the other hand, doesn’t have to be fired. In addition, Kriven notes, geopolymer is twice as strong as cement in compression, three-times as strong in flexure and can set up in one day.
The reality is that given the need to reduce global CO2 emissions and given the plans for large scale construction and transportation growth in countries such as China, alternatives to Portland cement are extremely important.
Besides using geopolymer to make concrete, this novel material can be used for fire and corrosion resistant coatings, water and air filtration, CO2 sequestration materials, projectile armor, substrates for solar and fuel cells, and even a paint substitute.
Adding for clarification . . . Trudy’s comments at around the 3 minute mark can be misconstrued when she says the geopolymer “looks like a ceramic, feels like a ceramic, but wasn’t fired at high temperature.” She is referring to “traditional” ceramics that are fired in a kiln or sintered. However, geopolymer falls within the broad grouping of “ceramic materials.”
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