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June 6, 2019

Concrete that can seal its own cracks? PNNL chemist may have the answer

  • By adding polymers to cement, Carlos Fernandez discovered the polymers can reversibly bond to fill fractures.
    • By SAM BENNETT
    Special to the Journal

    Photo by Andrea Starr/PNNL [enlarge]
    Carlos Fernandez shows cores from his geothermal project, where his team is using polymers in cement to seal the gap created in drilling gas and oil wells.

    As a chemist with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Carlos Fernandez knows that every invention has a potentially positive impact on the environment.


     
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