{"id":281,"date":"2023-04-10T16:56:54","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T16:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/?p=281"},"modified":"2023-08-16T11:29:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T11:29:08","slug":"doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2)\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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From the People, Planet, Profits & Projects Blog\nby Richard Maltzman, Dave Shirley<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Most of you are probably familiar with\u00a0Dr. Emmett Brown<\/strong>. \u00a0That\u2019s a photo of him at the top of this post. He is not a famous psychologist from the University of Chicago, nor is he the leading cardiologist at the Boston Medical Center. \u00a0He doesn\u2019t even have a PMP(R) credential, and he\u2019s not even a real doctor.\u00a0 Well, he is a real doctor\u00a0character<\/em>, the \u2018mad scientist\u2019 in\u00a0Back To the Future<\/em>, played eloquently by Christopher Lloyd.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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And he uses an interesting device to power his Delorean electric vehicle: a flux capacitor.<\/p>\n

See the sign below.\u00a0 Watch out!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Of course, there is no such thing.<\/p>\n

Or\u2026 is there?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I have encountered two recent articles which, while not using the term \u201cflux capacitor\u201d are using the term \u201csupercapacitor\u201d.\u00a0 The articles are not from science fiction magazines, either, they are from IEEE Spectrum and from New Scientist.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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To me, the irony of the story is very sweet, because this is about using two ancient materials – concrete and carbon \u2013 to create capacitors which can be built into the environment to power houses and potentially vehicles.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Here\u2019s the paragraph that got my attention \u2013 in an article from New Scientist magazine, August 2023:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A mixture of cement and charcoal powder\u00a0could enable houses to store a full day\u2019s worth of energy in their concrete foundations<\/strong>. This new way of creating a\u00a0supercapacitor<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 an alternative to batteries that can discharge energy much faster \u2013 could be incorporated into the foundations of both buildings and wind turbines. When paired with renewable energy sources,\u00a0it could also someday let concrete road foundations wirelessly recharge electric vehicles as they drive along<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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This is striking in several ways, not the least of which is the idea that the power source for homes, businesses and vehicles could be\u00a0built<\/strong>\u00a0into the\u00a0environment<\/strong>, which smacks of the whole concept of\u00a0The Built Environment<\/em>, for which PMI now is offering a credential (the PMI-CP\u2122).\u00a0 Indeed, I am working with industry professionals and academics to work this into our curriculum at Boston University.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Supercapacitor<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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But let\u2019s get back to this supercapacitor \u2013 the project that led to its development and the projects it will undoubtedly launch \u2013 projects that would make Dr. Emmett Brown quite proud.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an image of the supercapacitor in the lab (courtesy of IEEE Spectrum):<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Let\u2019s start with the ingredients.\u00a0 This is another irony.\u00a0 To power the modern world in an environmentally-responsible manner, requires the generation and storage of electricity without the need for fossil fuels, without hazardous or rare-earth chemicals (like those used in batteries).\u00a0 You would think that some brand-new whiz-kid material would be invented to do that. \u00a0Not so.\u00a0 One of the main ingredients in this supercapacitor is carbon black.\u00a0 To give you an idea of how new this material is \u2013 it was used to write the Dead Sea scrolls.\u00a0 So: not new.\u00a0 The other material is concrete, also ancient.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The trick is in the\u00a0surface area.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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To make the material for their supercapacitor, the team at MIT (see story\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>) stirred up a paste made of cement and water, and then introduced carbon black, a fine, charcoal-like form of carbon which is highly conductive, into the paste.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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As this cement mixture cured, the water was absorbed, and when evaporated, left behind a veinous network of tunnels when ended up being filled by the carbon black.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The resulting material is now a latticework … with a large surface area of conductive, winding, branching tunnels, without expanding the overall volume of the material, which can now serve as an electrode for the capacitor.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Capacitor<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I suppose I should digress here for a moment and tell those who don\u2019t have an electrical engineering background about capacitors.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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There is controversy over who developed the first capacitor, and there\u2019s even controversy over the invention of the predecessor of the capacitor, the Leiden (or Leyden) jar. This was invented nearly simultaneously by German cleric E. Georg von Kleist, but was followed up with more research and intent by\u00a0 by Pieter van Musschenbroek at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in approximately 1745.\u00a0 In effect, they layers of foil separated by an insulator (called a dielectric).\u00a0 You can see them in action in this video:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0they are classically represented by this symbol, a quite logical one, two plates separated by a gap (air, glass, plastic, or other dielectric).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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As current (excuse the pun) electronic components, they often look like one of these:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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However, now, the concept of this small electronic component , with this innovation, is expanded\u00a0into the very construction material itself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In part 2, I will continue with the possible implementation ideas for this technology.<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

MIT article<\/a><\/p>\n

New Scientist article<\/a><\/p>\n

IEEE Spectrum article<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2) From the People, Planet, Profits & Projects Blog by Richard Maltzman, Dave Shirley Most of you are probably familiar with\u00a0Dr. Emmett Brown. \u00a0That\u2019s a photo of him at the top of this post. He is not a famous psychologist from the University of Chicago, nor is he the leading cardiologist at the Boston Medical Center. \u00a0He doesn\u2019t even have a PMP(R) credential, and he\u2019s not even a real doctor.\u00a0 Well, he is a real doctor\u00a0character, the \u2018mad scientist\u2019 in\u00a0Back To the Future, played eloquently by Christopher Lloyd. And he uses an interesting device to power his Delorean electric vehicle: a flux capacitor. See the sign below.\u00a0 Watch out! Of course, there is no such thing. Or\u2026 is there? I have encountered two recent articles which, while not using the term \u201cflux capacitor\u201d are using the term \u201csupercapacitor\u201d.\u00a0 The articles are not from science fiction magazines, either, they are from IEEE Spectrum and from New Scientist. To me, the irony of the story is very sweet, because this is about using two ancient materials – concrete and carbon \u2013 to create capacitors which can be built into the environment to power houses and potentially vehicles. Here\u2019s the paragraph that got my attention \u2013 in an article from New Scientist magazine, August 2023: A mixture of cement and charcoal powder\u00a0could enable houses to store a full day\u2019s worth of energy in their concrete foundations. This new way of creating a\u00a0supercapacitor\u00a0\u2013 an alternative to batteries that can discharge energy much faster \u2013 could be incorporated into the foundations of both buildings and wind turbines. When paired with renewable energy sources,\u00a0it could also someday let concrete road foundations wirelessly recharge electric vehicles as they drive along. This is striking in several ways, not the least of which is the idea that the power source for homes, businesses and vehicles could be\u00a0built\u00a0into the\u00a0environment, which smacks of the whole concept of\u00a0The Built Environment, for which PMI now is offering a credential (the PMI-CP\u2122).\u00a0 Indeed, I am working with industry professionals and academics to work this into our curriculum at Boston University. The Supercapacitor But let\u2019s get back to this supercapacitor \u2013 the project that led to its development and the projects it will undoubtedly launch \u2013 projects that would make Dr. Emmett Brown quite proud. Here\u2019s an image of the supercapacitor in the lab (courtesy of IEEE Spectrum): Let\u2019s start with the ingredients.\u00a0 This is another irony.\u00a0 To power the modern world in an environmentally-responsible manner, requires the generation and storage of electricity without the need for fossil fuels, without hazardous or rare-earth chemicals (like those used in batteries).\u00a0 You would think that some brand-new whiz-kid material would be invented to do that. \u00a0Not so.\u00a0 One of the main ingredients in this supercapacitor is carbon black.\u00a0 To give you an idea of how new this material is \u2013 it was used to write the Dead Sea scrolls.\u00a0 So: not new.\u00a0 The other material is concrete, also ancient. The trick is in the\u00a0surface area. To make the material for their supercapacitor, the team at MIT (see story\u00a0here) stirred up a paste made of cement and water, and then introduced carbon black, a fine, charcoal-like form of carbon which is highly conductive, into the paste. As this cement mixture cured, the water was absorbed, and when evaporated, left behind a veinous network of tunnels when ended up being filled by the carbon black. The resulting material is now a latticework … with a large surface area of conductive, winding, branching tunnels, without expanding the overall volume of the material, which can now serve as an electrode for the capacitor. The Capacitor I suppose I should digress here for a moment and tell those who don\u2019t have an electrical engineering background about capacitors. There is controversy over who developed the first capacitor, and there\u2019s even controversy over the invention of the predecessor of the capacitor, the Leiden (or Leyden) jar. This was invented nearly simultaneously by German cleric E. Georg von Kleist, but was followed up with more research and intent by\u00a0 by Pieter van Musschenbroek at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in approximately 1745.\u00a0 In effect, they layers of foil separated by an insulator (called a dielectric).\u00a0 You can see them in action in this video: https:\/\/youtu.be\/e2EWeOVCO5o \u00a0they are classically represented by this symbol, a quite logical one, two plates separated by a gap (air, glass, plastic, or other dielectric). As current (excuse the pun) electronic components, they often look like one of these: However, now, the concept of this small electronic component , with this innovation, is expanded\u00a0into the very construction material itself. In part 2, I will continue with the possible implementation ideas for this technology. References: MIT article New Scientist article IEEE Spectrum article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_canvas","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pmiwbc-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nDoc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2) - PMI West Bengal Chapter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2) - PMI West Bengal Chapter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2) From the People, Planet, Profits & Projects Blog by Richard Maltzman, Dave Shirley Most of you are probably familiar with\u00a0Dr. Emmett Brown. \u00a0That\u2019s a photo of him at the top of this post. He is not a famous psychologist from the University of Chicago, nor is he the leading cardiologist at the Boston Medical Center. \u00a0He doesn\u2019t even have a PMP(R) credential, and he\u2019s not even a real doctor.\u00a0 Well, he is a real doctor\u00a0character, the \u2018mad scientist\u2019 in\u00a0Back To the Future, played eloquently by Christopher Lloyd. And he uses an interesting device to power his Delorean electric vehicle: a flux capacitor. See the sign below.\u00a0 Watch out! Of course, there is no such thing. Or\u2026 is there? I have encountered two recent articles which, while not using the term \u201cflux capacitor\u201d are using the term \u201csupercapacitor\u201d.\u00a0 The articles are not from science fiction magazines, either, they are from IEEE Spectrum and from New Scientist. To me, the irony of the story is very sweet, because this is about using two ancient materials – concrete and carbon \u2013 to create capacitors which can be built into the environment to power houses and potentially vehicles. Here\u2019s the paragraph that got my attention \u2013 in an article from New Scientist magazine, August 2023: A mixture of cement and charcoal powder\u00a0could enable houses to store a full day\u2019s worth of energy in their concrete foundations. This new way of creating a\u00a0supercapacitor\u00a0\u2013 an alternative to batteries that can discharge energy much faster \u2013 could be incorporated into the foundations of both buildings and wind turbines. When paired with renewable energy sources,\u00a0it could also someday let concrete road foundations wirelessly recharge electric vehicles as they drive along. This is striking in several ways, not the least of which is the idea that the power source for homes, businesses and vehicles could be\u00a0built\u00a0into the\u00a0environment, which smacks of the whole concept of\u00a0The Built Environment, for which PMI now is offering a credential (the PMI-CP\u2122).\u00a0 Indeed, I am working with industry professionals and academics to work this into our curriculum at Boston University. The Supercapacitor But let\u2019s get back to this supercapacitor \u2013 the project that led to its development and the projects it will undoubtedly launch \u2013 projects that would make Dr. Emmett Brown quite proud. Here\u2019s an image of the supercapacitor in the lab (courtesy of IEEE Spectrum): Let\u2019s start with the ingredients.\u00a0 This is another irony.\u00a0 To power the modern world in an environmentally-responsible manner, requires the generation and storage of electricity without the need for fossil fuels, without hazardous or rare-earth chemicals (like those used in batteries).\u00a0 You would think that some brand-new whiz-kid material would be invented to do that. \u00a0Not so.\u00a0 One of the main ingredients in this supercapacitor is carbon black.\u00a0 To give you an idea of how new this material is \u2013 it was used to write the Dead Sea scrolls.\u00a0 So: not new.\u00a0 The other material is concrete, also ancient. The trick is in the\u00a0surface area. To make the material for their supercapacitor, the team at MIT (see story\u00a0here) stirred up a paste made of cement and water, and then introduced carbon black, a fine, charcoal-like form of carbon which is highly conductive, into the paste. As this cement mixture cured, the water was absorbed, and when evaporated, left behind a veinous network of tunnels when ended up being filled by the carbon black. The resulting material is now a latticework … with a large surface area of conductive, winding, branching tunnels, without expanding the overall volume of the material, which can now serve as an electrode for the capacitor. The Capacitor I suppose I should digress here for a moment and tell those who don\u2019t have an electrical engineering background about capacitors. There is controversy over who developed the first capacitor, and there\u2019s even controversy over the invention of the predecessor of the capacitor, the Leiden (or Leyden) jar. This was invented nearly simultaneously by German cleric E. Georg von Kleist, but was followed up with more research and intent by\u00a0 by Pieter van Musschenbroek at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in approximately 1745.\u00a0 In effect, they layers of foil separated by an insulator (called a dielectric).\u00a0 You can see them in action in this video: https:\/\/youtu.be\/e2EWeOVCO5o \u00a0they are classically represented by this symbol, a quite logical one, two plates separated by a gap (air, glass, plastic, or other dielectric). As current (excuse the pun) electronic components, they often look like one of these: However, now, the concept of this small electronic component , with this innovation, is expanded\u00a0into the very construction material itself. In part 2, I will continue with the possible implementation ideas for this technology. References: MIT article New Scientist article IEEE Spectrum article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PMI West Bengal Chapter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-10T16:56:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-16T11:29:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/C1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"542\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"543\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dhruba\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dhruba\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dhruba\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f6ef1a1888f3db594e95fd40238b4f7b\"},\"headline\":\"Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2)\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-10T16:56:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-16T11:29:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":822,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/C1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"PMIWBC-Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/\",\"name\":\"Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2) - 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PMI West Bengal Chapter","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pmiwbc.org\/doc-brown-would-be-proud-part-1-of-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2) - PMI West Bengal Chapter","og_description":"Doc Brown Would Be Proud (Part 1 of 2) From the People, Planet, Profits & Projects Blog by Richard Maltzman, Dave Shirley Most of you are probably familiar with\u00a0Dr. Emmett Brown. \u00a0That\u2019s a photo of him at the top of this post. He is not a famous psychologist from the University of Chicago, nor is he the leading cardiologist at the Boston Medical Center. \u00a0He doesn\u2019t even have a PMP(R) credential, and he\u2019s not even a real doctor.\u00a0 Well, he is a real doctor\u00a0character, the \u2018mad scientist\u2019 in\u00a0Back To the Future, played eloquently by Christopher Lloyd. And he uses an interesting device to power his Delorean electric vehicle: a flux capacitor. See the sign below.\u00a0 Watch out! Of course, there is no such thing. Or\u2026 is there? I have encountered two recent articles which, while not using the term \u201cflux capacitor\u201d are using the term \u201csupercapacitor\u201d.\u00a0 The articles are not from science fiction magazines, either, they are from IEEE Spectrum and from New Scientist. To me, the irony of the story is very sweet, because this is about using two ancient materials – concrete and carbon \u2013 to create capacitors which can be built into the environment to power houses and potentially vehicles. Here\u2019s the paragraph that got my attention \u2013 in an article from New Scientist magazine, August 2023: A mixture of cement and charcoal powder\u00a0could enable houses to store a full day\u2019s worth of energy in their concrete foundations. This new way of creating a\u00a0supercapacitor\u00a0\u2013 an alternative to batteries that can discharge energy much faster \u2013 could be incorporated into the foundations of both buildings and wind turbines. When paired with renewable energy sources,\u00a0it could also someday let concrete road foundations wirelessly recharge electric vehicles as they drive along. This is striking in several ways, not the least of which is the idea that the power source for homes, businesses and vehicles could be\u00a0built\u00a0into the\u00a0environment, which smacks of the whole concept of\u00a0The Built Environment, for which PMI now is offering a credential (the PMI-CP\u2122).\u00a0 Indeed, I am working with industry professionals and academics to work this into our curriculum at Boston University. The Supercapacitor But let\u2019s get back to this supercapacitor \u2013 the project that led to its development and the projects it will undoubtedly launch \u2013 projects that would make Dr. Emmett Brown quite proud. Here\u2019s an image of the supercapacitor in the lab (courtesy of IEEE Spectrum): Let\u2019s start with the ingredients.\u00a0 This is another irony.\u00a0 To power the modern world in an environmentally-responsible manner, requires the generation and storage of electricity without the need for fossil fuels, without hazardous or rare-earth chemicals (like those used in batteries).\u00a0 You would think that some brand-new whiz-kid material would be invented to do that. \u00a0Not so.\u00a0 One of the main ingredients in this supercapacitor is carbon black.\u00a0 To give you an idea of how new this material is \u2013 it was used to write the Dead Sea scrolls.\u00a0 So: not new.\u00a0 The other material is concrete, also ancient. The trick is in the\u00a0surface area. To make the material for their supercapacitor, the team at MIT (see story\u00a0here) stirred up a paste made of cement and water, and then introduced carbon black, a fine, charcoal-like form of carbon which is highly conductive, into the paste. As this cement mixture cured, the water was absorbed, and when evaporated, left behind a veinous network of tunnels when ended up being filled by the carbon black. The resulting material is now a latticework … with a large surface area of conductive, winding, branching tunnels, without expanding the overall volume of the material, which can now serve as an electrode for the capacitor. The Capacitor I suppose I should digress here for a moment and tell those who don\u2019t have an electrical engineering background about capacitors. There is controversy over who developed the first capacitor, and there\u2019s even controversy over the invention of the predecessor of the capacitor, the Leiden (or Leyden) jar. This was invented nearly simultaneously by German cleric E. Georg von Kleist, but was followed up with more research and intent by\u00a0 by Pieter van Musschenbroek at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in approximately 1745.\u00a0 In effect, they layers of foil separated by an insulator (called a dielectric).\u00a0 You can see them in action in this video: https:\/\/youtu.be\/e2EWeOVCO5o \u00a0they are classically represented by this symbol, a quite logical one, two plates separated by a gap (air, glass, plastic, or other dielectric). As current (excuse the pun) electronic components, they often look like one of these: However, now, the concept of this small electronic component , with this innovation, is expanded\u00a0into the very construction material itself. In part 2, I will continue with the possible implementation ideas for this technology. 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