Materials Science

Research thrives on diversity of thought, new perspectives, talent and creativity. By involving and supporting female researchers, today's greatest challenges can be addressed and solved. To mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, four Empa researchers whose contributions have shaped science at the national and international level share their stories and motivations.

Whether tunnels or retaining walls – many Swiss reinforced concrete structures from the 1960s to the 1980s are at risk. Corrosion can make them unstable. ETH start-up Talpa Inspection has now developed a solution to localise corrosion more easily, even in hard-to-reach places.

Mining the Atmosphere, a new Empa research initiative, aims at capturing excess CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it in building materials such as concrete. Empa researchers have now calculated the potential of this approach for the first time: Five to ten billion tons of carbon could be used annually as concrete aggregates – well enough to permanently store the current excess CO₂ within 100 years after the energy transition and thus to bring atmospheric CO₂ back to climate-friendly levels.

An architecture PhD student at ETH Zurich has developed a simple solution for building concrete floors in a more climate-friendly way. Significant amounts of concrete and steel can be saved thanks to a lightweight, robust and reusable formwork design.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a climate-friendly covering for walls and ceilings that temporarily stores moisture, creating a comfortable environment in heavily used indoor spaces. The covering components are made of mineral waste materials and are produced by means of 3D printing.

A battery that needs feeding instead of charging? This is exactly what Empa researchers have achieved with their 3D-printed, biodegradable fungal battery. The living battery could supply power to sensors for agriculture or research in remote regions. Once the work is done, it digests itself from the inside.