Scientists have developed a new building material that is fire resistant to temperatures in excess of 1100 degrees Celsius, is made largely from recycled material and is as versatile as concrete.

Liquid Granite offers a real breakthrough in reducing fire risk in buildings as, unlike concrete, it doesn’t explode at high temperatures. It can also withstand high temperatures for longer periods, offering valuable minutes in the case of a fire.

The material is made up of between 30 and 70 per cent recycled material, mainly base products from industry. It uses less than one third of the cement used in precast concrete, which also reduces its carbon footprint.

The product was developed at Sheffield Hallam University and is available from Liquid Granite Ltd. The new material is being used by a number of organisations in building projects as it has a four hour fire rating, meaning that it provides the top level of protection in the case of a fire.

Read more . . .

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Tags: carbon footprint, cement, high temperatures, liquid granite, recycled material

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Innovation, Science Digest / Science Daily, environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.