Researchers depressurized a tank of liquid carbon dioxide (CO2), instantly freezing it and releasing solid flakes. These were blended into cement paste and pressed into discs roughly the size of a dime, each sealed with a thin layer of vegetable oil to keep water in and air out. The team trained lasers on each, observing for the first time the transient chemical reaction that might explain why CO2-injected cement paste gains its strength faster. Injecting CO2 into cement products like concrete is one way to store it and keep it out of the atmosphere. The process has attracted commercial interest, with a growing number of companies offering CO2-injected concrete mixes. But until now, the underlying cement chemistry hadn't been directly visualized. A new open-access paper in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society ' led by Associate Professor Admir Masic and first-authored by graduate student Marcin Hajduczek, both of the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub and MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering ' describes the chemical sequence that unfolds after CO2 meets fresh cement paste. Co-authors include MIT colleagues Santiago El Awad and Franz-Josef Ulm, alongside researchers from IIT Jodhpur and CarbonCure Technologies....

Battery recycler Redwood Materials kicked off the trend last year with a new energy-storage division and a project that attached old EV packs to a Crusoe data center in Nevada. Then Ford said it was repurposing some of its battery-manufacturing capacity to make grid-scale batteries. And now GM is announcing its own ' arguably more ambitious ' plans for an energy-storage system (ESS). GM unveiled on Tuesday two new phases in its attack on the energy-storage market. The biggest swing by far is GM's new partnership with energy-storage startup Peak Energy. For that partnership, GM is developing an entirely new sodium-ion battery chemistry tailored for grid-scale deployments. 'The way we're getting into the market is the easy way, through ESS,' Kurt Kelty, vice president of battery and sustainability at GM, told TechCrunch. 'The performance characteristics are just what is needed in that market.' GM wouldn't share with TechCrunch how much money it is investing in this energy-storage effort. But we do know the company has committed $900 million to commercialize new battery chemistries, an investment that includes a new battery-development center....

Senior reporter (and resident battery expert) Tim De Chant traveled to General Motors' sprawling Warren Technical Center outside Detroit to learn more about the automaker's plans to reduce the cost of its next slate of EVs. The upshot: GM is banking on LMR batteries and a new Battery Cell Development Center that is viewed as the bridge between its R&D efforts and full-scale production. Kurt Kelty, GM's VP of battery and sustainability, provided fresh details about the company's $900 million initiative and how this new chemistry will preserve range while slashing costs. For instance, the Chevrolet Silverado EV could be $6,000 cheaper. Read the story here. As with most companies these days, AI also makes a cameo appearance. Although I should note that AI plays more than just a supporting role at GM. I recently interviewed Sterling Anderson, GM's chief product officer, and Jason Fischer, who is executive director of virtual integration engineering, about some of the changes inside the company and how it's using AI. That story is coming next week, but I'll give you a bit of a teaser....

The nondescript 500,000-square-foot pair of off-white boxes, which house GM's new Battery Cell Development Center, might not look like much. But locked inside is the key to GM's plan to slash the cost of its EVs by nearly 10%. At a time when some car companies are pulling back on EVs, GM's new Battery Cell Development Center is part of a reboot. And it's one that GM told TechCrunch will allow it to bring a new slate of lower-cost batteries to market a year faster than planned. GM hasn't been immune to the malaise in the U.S. EV market. Last year, the automaker took a $1.6 billion charge as it reconfigured its EV production capacity, laying off thousands of workers in the process. It has also reportedly shelved, if temporarily, a refresh of its full-size EV trucks and SUVs. To get its EV strategy back on track, Kurt Kelty, vice president of battery and sustainability at GM, is pinning the company's success on a new battery chemistry known as LMR. Kelty, who previously led battery technology at Tesla, has made it his signature product in the two years he's been with the company....