2184 Coffee Makes Concrete Stronger

[@CelticShae]

Robert, I always sincerely appreciate the way you present things. You are pragmatic, promote conservation and wise use of natural resources and our environment, and you are one of the most likable humans I've ever come across. You are a true sage for our time. I wish I could sit with you enjoying a pint of bitters and ask you all the questions I have about your content. Thank you for being here. You're a sane voice in a mad world.

[@keithalderson100]

And iron-fillings sprinkled on the surface expands it to provide a surface better able to withstand heavy engineering equipment.

[@rodh2168]

I want to share a neat concrete trick with you. When making "backyard concrete" either from pre-mixed bags or measured shovelfulls into a wheelbarrow, I suggest you add a tablespoon of dish detergent to each bag or barrow. This will create millions of tiny bubbles in the mix. Doing so will increase the workability of the mix as the bubbles act as tiny ballbearings allowing easier handling. Less water will be needed to achieve the same workability so reducing the water to cement ratio resulting in a stronger mix. Lastly the mix will be far more resistant to wear from freeze/thaw cycles. All this from a capfull of dish detergent.

[@isaacm1929]

Do you have source and testing, or just "I saw it happening"?

[@rodh2168]

@@isaacm1929 I was at one time a concrete technologist and have both used and recommended this method on many occasions.

[@fookingsog]

Are we talking about Dawn Dish Detergent or similar???🤔

[@isaacm1929]

@@rodh2168 But you have the data of detergent/concrete ratios, the used materials and purity, experiments between different detergents, types of concrete, or it's just anecdotal and I should do the experiments myself? (I'm really NOT here to debunk you. I just want to know the extent of what is a tested theory, and what is hypothetical and half-factual. Sorry if I sound too much skeptical.)

[@rodh2168]

@@isaacm1929 I really don't care if you're skeptical or not. I'm passing on my own knowledge and experience. Take it as you will. Or don't.

[@amphibiousone7972]

Your chemistry lessons are always appreciated. Thank You 🙏🤝🇺🇲

[@madmanmapper]

I dump my coffee grounds on the lawn in front of my shop in the hopes that, one day, I will have finally filled the low spot. It's been 3 years, hasn't happened yet.

[@daffyduck780]

Your comment just hit a nerve with me. I have only been filling my lawn low spot for 3 months. O well at least 2 years and 9 months to go

[@drsatan9617]

I use dirt for that. Took 15 minutes

[@AnonymousAnarchist2]

this begs the question of just how much coffee do you drink? I saved my grounds in a compost bin just for fun, thought it would last all year it was full in 3 months!

[@madmanmapper]

@@AnonymousAnarchist2 I make one french press pot per day, 6 days per week. About 3.5 coffee mugs' worth.

[@b_uppy]

It's because it decomposes. A better use of your coffee grounds is to put it around plants snails like to attack but you want to save.

[@brandonlaird6876]

I like how you snuck in a different pyrolysis video for a different item, but the process is the same. I was waiting to hear some clue, but it's almost like you chose your words exactly so you COULD reuse that bit. Brilliant! It worked 99% perfectly, only thing I noticed visually was the temp 👀

[@TheChzoronzon]

This is quite fascinating, I just learnt a bunch of things and that always make my day Thanks, professor

[@Ammoniummetavanadate]

I remember some work done on rice hull fly ash my father did back in the 90s, similar idea. Not sure if it caught on but it is super cool seeing the innovation here.

[@10sheds21]

You can grow mushrooms on coffee grounds maybe you could make biochar with them afterwards. Great video thanks

[@Br1cht]

Truly marvelous! Thanks for your always very informative videos.

[@AndreaDingbatt]

❤ Awesome process!! Any chance to Improve the Concrete is a Massive step forward!!❤ Considering the amounts produced, This is Good News!! Andréa and Critters.. ...XxX...

[@BalticHomesteaders]

Strictly speaking that’s not biochar, it’s just charcoal. Biochar is charcoal that has been charged with microorganisms that then live in the charcoal, due to the massive surface area this works rather well and then it’s used on soil to improve ecosystems and ultimately better yields. I use biochar quite a bit and make my own charcoal. As it happens coffee grounds are a fantastic soil additive as they’re high in nitrogen.

[@bethwilton8075]

Thank you for another wonderful video! I love learning, so I really enjoy your channel because I always learn something from you!❤

[@franklinpenaranda8520]

Mr. Robert, I enjoy your channel and videos and want to thank you for making them. There is so much hands-on learning going on. Here is something I have seen in certain construction sites in Colombia. The use of a red-dye hydraulic fluid on top of the concrete after it has been poured. I don't know much about concrete but found that to be interesting. It's supposed to make concrete more resistant to impact. This would definitely help Colombia's coffee exports...😅 Saludos desde Medellín, Colombia...👋

[@jamesross1003]

The reason I like this idea so much is because it uses a resource that is otherwise just mostly lost due to landfill ect. Also, it opens up other approaches for research into much stronger materials. For example, there is current research into taking carbons in an aggregate like concrete and send a current through it as it hardens to make it much stronger in the current flow direction. Basically shaping graphene from those carbons in a particular direction to enhance it's strength in one direction. It might make for a good video to revisit the graphene enhanced concrete and try to put a current through it while curing to find out if it would make it stronger in the current direction flow. If it were not for certain life entanglements I would give this a go myself. As it is I currently am a caretaker of an ill family member and it takes up almost all of my time. I have made graphene enhanced materials in the past when I had some leisure time(graphene enhanced mortar, plastics, and batteries) using sheer force and graphite to make the graphene. By far the most easy way I have found to produce graphene. Thanks Rob ever so much for the video! This and nature inspired technology are my favorites!

[@dennissorensen8765]

Sheer force? Do you have the time to go into a little more detail about that? 🤓

[@justinklenk]

Yes, please do! 👍 Brilliant, btw - I love love love it.

[@jamesross1003]

@@dennissorensen8765 Use a cheap blender that uses sheer force to blend rather than sharp blades. Put a water, protein, and graphite pieces(best to use 6mm or less in size due to damaging your blender) mixture in a blender(the kind with dull blades more like a metal finger than a blade). Blend this mixture on a high speed for quite a while. Length of time will vary on blender strength and speed. I would blend a minimum of 35 minutes and up to 4 hours with a weaker blender. Allow the mixture to sit after blending such that there will be 3 layers left in the container. Top is a foamy air filled layer, middle is a graphene attached to your proteins and water, bottom layer are left over graphite and water protein. Pipe off the middle layer to use in your application. Reuse the other 2 layers(top and bottom) with more protein, water, more graphite for your next run at graphene making. The middle layer is after pipping off ready to add as is to your concrete/plaster/clay/any aggregate type of compound. You must remove the graphene from the proteins and water for plastics ect. Do this by using a centrifuge then using it for your application after drying product. You could dehydrate the mixture and then use a kiln on the dry product(be sure to use an activated carbon layer in your vessel on top of your graphene mix to sacrifice rather than your graphene). Do this only after as much moisture as possible is removed from the mix. This would burn off proteins that they are bonded with and impurities.

[@jamesross1003]

By the way Rob does pretty much the same thing in a video showing you the process. It is on his youtube channel. The way I have described it and how is he does it is so close that I need not go into the differences. Mostly my mixture amounts are a bit different and I use a protein mix that is a bit different. I use 2 proteins, he uses whey protein only and it works just fine that way. Hope that helps. Cheers!

[@justinw1765]

The only issue is, it is still somewhat of an energy intensive material because of the necessary heating involved. There are a couple ways to reduce and/or offset this though. Hypothetically speaking, one could create a solar heater out of double wall, vacuum insulated borosilicate container where the inner glass is coated in ultra black coating and with Solar reflectors around it. That should get you up to necessary temps on sunny days at least. Another option is using a pressurized container with some water and/or a little sodium hydroxide mixed in with the material to be carbonized. This could be cooked at around 300* F to pyrolize the material (I think, it may be a bit higher).

[@jeanfrancoisbrodeur]

I suggest watching the documentary titled “Sand Wars” You cannot use desert sand to make concrete because you so need jagged edge sand to have good bonding.

[@justinw1765]

That's the whole point of the carbon, it reduces the need for the amount and degree of jagged edge sand for the concrete to bond well and have good strengths. The carbon allows you to use less high quality sand, and to use less sand in general. As he said, it's still in testing though.

[@ssaitama7335]

First of all, thank you for making all these STEM videos. I've learned a lot from them. I believe there may be a problem mixing coffee ground biochar with cement, since biochar is much lighter than cement or sand. Volume-wise, biochar is much larger than cement and sand, making it difficult to mix them together.

[@peterjunger5960]

Coffee grounds are also good for inclusion in substrate for products made of mycelium .

[@TheKlink]

romans may not have added carbon to their concrete, but the Chinese did add rice flour to the parts of their wall they made out of brick. there are sections of the wall where the wind has worn the clay brick away, leaving the mortar jutting out.

[@stevetobias4890]

That is really fascinating, Rob, especially being able to use desert sands instead of dredging up the ocean floor. That dredging will come back to bite us on the a*se when we destroy more of the ocean. Also the cost of using desert sand is much less.

[@FuhrChris]

Robert in Jewelry making what we used to do was simply place a charcoal briquette in the kiln. That would lower the amount of oxygen in the kiln. I would go with which ever is cheaper. Simply grinding down a briquette or two and then throwing that over the top of the pot and or simply placing one outside the pot and in the kiln should work. P.S. we had a little metal tray that the burned charcoal would just be lifted out of the kiln.

[@rcasparb]

The largest modern building project using geopolymer cement that I know of is the Wellcamp airport near Brisbane, Australia.

[@dennissorensen8765]

Aaah! Something starts making sense to me. In the area I live in, some homes' foundations and concrete stairs for those are made of a ridiculously hard, black concrete, that only slightly chips once in a while under a demolition hammer, weighing 20 to 30 kilograms. It practically takes a mini excavator with a larger demolition spike to make it give. They call it "Danfoss" concrete. Nobody really knows why, as Danfoss sells thermostats and all kinds of hydraulic gear, electronics etc. But they ARE an innovative company, and sometime in the past, who knows if one of their engineers already found this formula. I wonder if there might be a limit to the amount of biochar, graphite and graphene, it would make sense/yield any value to add to a concrete mix. 🤔 And what might happen to the dried milk component, you once played with, if one were to pyrolyse that and add that to concrete. Might be exactly the same, as both would end up as biochar, I suppose. But could they have different properties? 🤔 Could one ignite the coffee grinds like people did wood back in the old days, and cover it with clay or dirt to make charcoal? 🤔 This is so exciting! 🙈😊😊😊

[@AnonymousAnarchist2]

If I may ask, about how old are the homes? I now want to look up patents, it may be that Danfoss donated or sold thier waste to go into a concrete mix without a patent but a pre-existing and expired patent for mixing in bio-chars would be game changing in this legislative world we live in!

[@dennissorensen8765]

@@AnonymousAnarchist2 at least one is from around the 1960's, I would guess from the building style. I could ask, if I remember to. The owner told me that he heard from others af that kind of concrete being used elsewhere as well, and that they called that "black" mix Danfoss concrete. 😊 Sorry that I can't provide more precise info on it.

[@ErgonBill]

No milk used in obtaining coffee grounds, coffee is normally extracted with water. You must be a tea drinker.

[@AnonymousAnarchist2]

@@dennissorensen8765 no need to apologize, its just an intrest I have thank you so much for replying

[@davidconner-shover51]

I heard recently that they used chunks of lime in the aggregate, upon exposure to water, it slowly dissolves to be redeposited in the substrate, masking it self healing

[@drsatan9617]

That was discussed in the video

[@richardsandwell2285]

Brillliant, fascinating stuff, it made me wonder though how a Gunpowder mix made from the stuff would work or if it would make good battery or supercapacitor material.

[@8ank3r]

Awesome content as always thanks Rob

[@PhilR0gers]

Coffee grounds make excellent fertiliser for tomato plants, so that's where mine go. Apparently, the smell keeps rodents away, too.

[@brandonboulton2776]

The Bolton Castle in Manchester has mortar that was mixed with ox blood to make it stronger. 👍

[@MountainCatBob]

Elegant solution to address several persistent problems. Coffee grounds are also excellent compost for the garden, the place I sequester carbon based left-overs, along with ground carbon from the wood stove and table scraps. Do you think it's possible to strengthen concrete using oriented strands, like bamboo? Seems like air bubbles, moisture, and contaminants would be problematic, not to mention the trouble to place bamboo securely in a form. Just another thought experiment at this point.

[@1dandandy1]

Egyptian's used straw, so why not bamboo? Exodus 5 :18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.

[@dennissorensen8765]

It is, but I think you would want to use glass fibres, rockwool fibres or the like to avoid organic compounds in the concrete. Wood fibres will still expand and contract with moisture, f.ex. and be good for molds and so on. You can readily buy aforementioned fibres, specifically for mixing into concrete. 😊

[@1dandandy1]

@@dennissorensen8765 👍

[@AutoNomades]

@@dennissorensen8765 I saw in a (fantastic!) book called "the barefoot architect'' that vegetal fibres seems largely used in concrete, like bamboo reinforced slabs, other systems with fabric, straw, in many countries..

[@leslieapplegate65]

I use coffee grounds in my compost, the worms love it !!

[@saalkz.a.9715]

Thanks, it would be useful next time I'd have to make a new pair of concrete shoes....for a "friend of mine"... 😒

[@glenhac5973]

Yesser! Was looking into this but for ceader sawdust! Planning an off grid cabin!

[@rl3898]

My off the cuff answer to your idea is...the energy baking the coffee grounds is not worth the increase or savings.

[@johnkunze5362]

Sharp sand sticks better....why not? Also the resultant biochar concrete should be high temp?🤗💕❤️🖖,jpk

[@flygirl244]

Cheers to that! *holds up mug nearly smacking her monitor

[@johnfausett3335]

I've always wondered if hair taken off the floor in the barbershop wouldn't strengthen concrete if added. It would act like the straw in adobe bricks.

[@drsatan9617]

It biodegrades

[@johnfausett3335]

@@drsatan9617 I don't think so. Open a casket of a 100 year old corpse and the hair remains. Even the straw in adobe remains after a century.

[@drsatan9617]

@@johnfausett3335 it's keratin, which, while resistant to decay definitely does decay In the conditions of extremely dry burial chambers, it will take an extremely long time. Inside concrete where water can get to, not so long

[@shubus]

I live where they grow coffee - a LOT of coffee. People here typically throw their coffee grounds in the garden. Seems like this alternative would be viable here.

[@gigglestik3171]

How does the addition of carbon affect the thermal properties of concrete?

[@dannyobrian5957]

Sir is a scholar of thinking and tinkering

[@TimeSurfer206]

I now raise the question of, "Is it the covfefe grounds that are so special, or is it the fineness of the size of their particles?" Because if it's size, the sawdust I am getting from the wood pellets that I use as Cat Litter should char up just fine for this, too.

[@jamesstrawn6087]

So I wonder what form the present carbon recapture technologies yield.

[@Daniel-vp2on]

I love this and your video on graphene. Do you think there is any compound effect? Do you think you could get more than a 30% increase in strength in the same batch using both this and graphene?

[@dash-4150]

What about boiling hemp fibers, and using the liquid 😮

[@tristanyseult]

Didnt the Romans also use pumice in their concrete mixes as it can set underwater. Or is this the same thing. Hello from South Tankerton. If I see you about I will surely say Hello. Facinating video thanks.

[@Purenergy555]

Interesting you brought up concrete ..you should check out the research done on geopolymers very compelling and interesting studys and theorys on the pyramids and ancient structures being built with this stuff. Geopolymer institute has various videos and replications on thier theorys abeit controversial ...but just the same very interesting..love to hear your thoughts on it if you get the time to review

[@TheChzoronzon]

J. Davidovits is the kind of guy that says the Giza pyramid's stones are molded, instead of carved... ignoring the fuckton of evidence on the contrary. That willing blindness, not "controversy" I don't think this is the place for that kind of intellectual dishonesty, imho

[@azlandpilotcar4450]

Liked this video, although I think that there's simpler and more plentiful source material for biochar than coffee grounds. It would be nice to capture or use the water vapor, methane, and hydrogen driven off in the kiln. I never thought that wood or bone ash was added to early concrete for the carbon, but for the potassium and sodium hydroxide and ozidized silicon. I also remember some FWG work with concrete and graphene. Is there a combination of graphene and char that might make the concrete even stronger?

[@henrikonnou7466]

It's geopolymer !😍

[@corwinwhitehorn7759]

It also helps with making paper briquettes (after composting)

[@tenlittleindians]

How well does charred coffee grounds as a fire starter? Can it be lit with a traditional flint and steel like charred cloth?

[@tjnuvisiontablet5082]

Great video! Thanks. You mentioned aircrete. I'm interested in building with either aircrete or styrocrete and I was wondering if using graphene (discussed in one of your other videos) or this carbon method would be just as affective in it. Perhaps that is a thread you can pull on a little more.

[@AutoNomades]

Very interesting ! So why (sand) desert countries doesn't uses charcoal with their desert sand to make concrete ?

[@stephaneislistening6103]

I think it's the first time I see Robert in the outdoor after years of watching him 🙂

[@ErgonBill]

If generally adopted, might this allow the reduction of the mass of concrete by 30% also? Either way it's going to leave another margin of error for engineers etc. who need to calculate stress tests to comply with local standards which wildly vary from region to region.

[@daffyduck780]

Hmm what hapens if this is added to the graphene enhanced concrete.

[@laharl2k]

You should try collabing with practical engineering, hes done some concrete tests before, would be nice to see this idea also tested with the proper equipment

[@1fly2fly24]

With carbon in your concrete, how much conductivity would that concrete have? oould we get a level of frost free concrete w/ voltage applied?

[@SumNumber]

Use that and a large amount of Elmer's glue ! Plus through in some long strips of carbon fiber . Oh yeah we strong NOW ! :O)

[@1fly2fly24]

Would the carbon also act as a pigment making a darker concrete?

[@donnewman1438]

Have you any suggestions regarding the amount of energy used to heat the coffee ?

[@gosekinz]

just quietly the lapel mic has been pretty distorted the last couple of videos - bad battery or something else?

[@OldManSparkplug]

Great video, how would the coffee+concrete compare with the blender-graphene made from graphite flake and whey protein you did a while back? I wonder what might happen if you used them both? (the pyrolyzed coffee to replace 15% of the sand and the graphene suspension to replace some of the water?

[@Zane.Wellnitz]

Or you can add quartz sea sand, iron oxide, sea salt and hot sea water. Ancient geopolymer technique

[@Andykerrfield]

Didn't know that about the sand... Could they put jagged desert sand in a tumbler to get spherical sand? Also, imagine the discoveries that might be uncovered if all the sand was cleared from the Sahara 🤔

[@justdoeverything8883]

Why coffee? Many things can be turned into carbon/charcoal, are there special properties to coffee specifically?

[@1N2themystic]

Not understanding why biochar from coffee is different from using biochar from other organic substances like wood pellets or something.

[@HAZZA24937]

Can you combine this idea with adding graphene too? Do the effects add together or multiply?

[@kadmow]

So- flash coffee to graphene - (or activated carbon)... Value add at every level...

[@1chumley1]

*Spits out cement filled coffee*

[@malcolm2587]

Is it not called radical distillation?

[@tenlittleindians]

I'm curious how well this coffee grounds charcoal performs in black powder compounds compaired to conventional Willow tree charcoal for example. Can you make flash powders from this carbon source?

[@CUBETechie]

Im curious what happened with low heat ? Like 150°C

[@CapitanGreenhat]

0:21 nice outfit!

[@ryanjamesloyd6733]

Oh, that is super cool.

[@salilsahani2721]

Thank you :)

[@Mrs.SusieDunn]

I wonder if it would help concrete stay cooler in the summer?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

that is a very interesting question - i have no answer - for now! lol

[@undernetjack]

Is that why my bowels....er TMI....

[@peterwilson5528]

The secret of the great wall of China is rice.

[@kevintipcorn6787]

The title had me wondering if it was April already.

[@TuttleScott]

sequesters carbon but how much does it put into the air with the processing? concrete is already terrible in that respect to start with.

[@industrialmonk]

Roman concrete was self healing and lasts longer than moder concrete.

[@michaelsohocki1573]

I am concerned by the thought of the amount of energy consumed by pyrolizing enough carbon for, say...a Bank of America building. Great use of coffee grounds, absolutely--but at a breathtaking environmental price. :(

[@jdouglas4564]

Pyrolysis is the same process by which you can obtain Wood gas or synthesis gas which you could run your car on or a generator and I have seen a KZbin video of someone running a car on coffee grounds then when you’re done your spent coffee grounds could be made into concrete interesting

[@MadRat70]

If you do not use jagged sand may as well call it tofu concrete.

[@William_Hada]

Not true. As this video illustrates you can use smooth spherical sand in concrete if you add carbon or graphene to the concrete mix.

[@MadRat70]

@@William_Hada You are welcome to trust your life on it.

[@William_Hada]

@@MadRat70 A new material called Finite is being tested right now that uses smooth spherical desert sand for use as construction concrete. It's still in it's early testing phases right now and looks very promising. If a new building concrete is thoroughly tested and meets all the rigorous ASTM tests for a construction material I don't see any problem using it to build my home.

[@StrategyYouDidntKnow]

There is a bacterium that turns to limestone when exposed to water.

[@TheChzoronzon]

S. pasteurii poops limestone when feed calcium...maybe is that what you are talking about? Oir campanas...

[@StrategyYouDidntKnow]

​@@TheChzoronzon I read an article online and didn't take a look through google scholar. There is going to be a lot of variety of bacteria to choose from though. I don't think it eats calcium, It' converts moisture into limestone, probably using what's already in the concrete. Pretty sure it just stays dormant until exposed to water.

[@edwingolddelirium]

Overburden.

[@mattwernecke2342]

Ok.

[@petevenuti7355]

I just use old latex paint with my concrete.

[@johnx9318]

As long as you don't add sugar! :)

[@laharl2k]

nice as always but you should really get a better mic, its really peaking a lot xD

[@Electrowave]

Something odd with your audio in the past couple of videos.

[@tractorguy97]

Maybe this will help countries like saudi arabia and UAE make concrete

[@markoneil8286]

Thru out the video your voice was a bit distorted. The watch and subscribe at the end of was distorted, I would check mic.

[@townbell2248]

I wonder if that would make clay Pottery stronger too

[@alexissmith1713]

You'r audio has been bad outside for a bit.

[@UapArkansas]

Anyone ever tried replacing h20 with Thompson water sealer? I have alot so i will try.

[@TheChrisLeone]

You look like Toby Jones if his eyes weren't so far apart and had more hair

[@townbell2248]

Blood makes concrete stronger. I renege seeing an article about how martian homes will be made from astronauts’ blood, dirt, & etc

[@fseanb306]

I would love to learn about the various subjects you address on your channel. Old age has contributed to my intolerance of poor quality audio. Please, have some empathy with your audience! Address the problem of poor audio quality.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

that's funny thing - because old age has made me less tolerant of people's intolerances - nobody makes you watch it - have some empathy with content creator and realise there is only me doing this and not a whole team like you find in larger channels - having said that - sound is always work in progress for me and it has got a lot better

[@DoubleBob]

Great content, horrible audio quality. When it's windy, keep the lavalier on the shirt collar and do not increase mic gain via hardware. Raise volume in software.

[@sorryplease5071]

Sounds almost like a phonograph when he’s outside. 😂

[@armageddonready4071]

Hemp works better.