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Potentially—but not yet in real buildings. Researchers have demonstrated cement-based supercapacitor prototypes and reported substantial gains in energy storage, but the household-scale figures are estimates, not working building installations. The idea is to make concrete do two jobs: carry structural loads and store electricity for later use.
What is a cement-based supercapacitor?
It is an energy-storage electrode made from a cement-based composite—not ordinary concrete that can simply be wired into a building. In the 2023 study, researchers combined cement, water, and carbon black. As the cement hardens, carbon forms an interconnected conductive network through the material. An electrolyte supplies mobile ions, while the network’s internal surface provides sites for storing charge. The 2023 study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined this carbon-cement supercapacitor approach.
MIT’s 2025 update describes the newer material as electron-conducting carbon concrete, or ec³. The team investigated the carbon network and revised electrolyte formulations and preparation. In particular, adding electrolyte to the mixing water allowed them to cast thicker electrodes without relying on electrolyte to penetrate the material later. MIT’s 2025 report describes the updated approach.
What has been demonstrated—and what is estimated?
The reported results combine laboratory measurements, prototypes, and projections. Keeping those categories separate matters: a demonstration that powers a small device does not prove that a building foundation can supply a home.
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- Maxwell super capacitor 16V 1000F
- High Power density: up 6700w/kg
- Low ESR: can be used as a rechargeable battery and ideal for back up purposes
- Quick charge: charging 10 seconds to 10 minutes to reach its rated capacity of more than 95%
- long life: up to 8 million to 120 million cycles
| Reported result | What it means |
|---|---|
| 20–220 Wh/m³ | The 2023 PNAS paper estimated volumetric energy capacity across materials with different carbon-black surface areas. This is a range across studied formulations, not a measured output for a building installation. Source: PNAS, 2023. |
| About 45 m³ for roughly 10 kWh | MIT’s 2023 article used this as an estimated volume that could store about an average household’s daily electricity use. It was a scale-up example, not a demonstrated household foundation. Source: MIT News, 2023. |
| About 5 m³ for average daily home needs | MIT’s 2025 article reported this updated estimate following the improved design. It remains a projection from research performance, not a tested home-scale system. Source: MIT News, 2025. |
| Over 2 kWh/m³ | MIT reported this performance for a version using organic electrolytes and compared a cubic meter’s capacity with enough electricity to run a refrigerator for a day. The comparison is MIT’s illustration of capacity, not a claim of building deployment. Source: MIT News, 2025. |
| Tenfold increase | MIT described the 2025 design as having an order-of-magnitude increase in energy-storage capacity over the earlier design. Source: MIT News, 2025. |
| 12-volt prototype and miniature arch | MIT reported that a stacked 12-volt prototype powered a small computer fan and a video-game console through USB. A miniature arch supported its own weight plus an additional load while powering an LED. These were prototypes, not full-size structural installations. Source: MIT News, 2025. |
How could energy-storing concrete fit into a building?
The concept is to incorporate electrode material into substantial structural elements—such as slabs, walls, foundations, domes, or vaults—so the building’s structure also provides storage volume. The researchers also describe potential infrastructure uses, including roads. The attraction is multifunctionality: a material already needed for construction could potentially store and release electricity as well.
That does not mean the concrete itself would replace a building’s electrical system. A practical installation would need a complete system to connect the storage material to generation, controls, loads, and safety equipment. The cited reports discuss future possibilities and research prototypes; they do not report a full-scale smart building powered by ec³.
What are the main engineering trade-offs?
Energy density and space
MIT notes that conventional batteries retain higher energy density. Cement-based storage’s possible advantage is integration into structural volume, rather than matching a battery’s storage in a compact package. Whether that exchange makes sense depends on the building design and the required storage capacity.
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- Maxwell Durablue super capacitor 16V 500F with balance circuit board×1set
- long life: up to 8 million to 120 million cycles
- High Power density: up 6700w/kg
- Low ESR: can be used as a rechargeable battery and ideal for back up purposes
- Quick charge: charging 10 seconds to 10 minutes to reach its rated capacity of more than 95%
Rapid charge and discharge
Supercapacitors can charge and discharge rapidly, a potential advantage noted in MIT’s 2023 account. That characteristic may suit some uses, but it does not by itself establish how a building-scale system would perform over real operating cycles.
Strength and storage capacity
MIT’s 2023 account says that increasing the amount of carbon black can raise storage capacity while slightly weakening the concrete. Designers would therefore have to balance electrical performance with the structural requirements of each element; maximizing storage alone is not a viable design objective.
Electrolyte and fabrication
The 2025 work shows that electrolyte selection and preparation matter. Incorporating electrolyte into the mixing water helped the researchers make thicker electrodes, while an organic-electrolyte version was associated with the reported performance above 2 kWh/m³. Those laboratory advances are not yet evidence of a standardized construction product or a proven field installation method.
Rank #3
- Maxwell Durablue super capacitor Module 18V 500F with balance circuit board (3.0V 3000F ×6pcs)
- long life: up to 8 million to 120 million cycles
- High Power density: up 6700W/kg
- Low ESR: can be used as a rechargeable battery and ideal for back up purposes
- Quick charge: charging 10 seconds to 10 minutes to reach its rated capacity of more than 95%
Durability, approval, and cost
The cited studies and MIT reports do not establish field longevity, code approval, installed cost, or commercial adoption. Those questions would need answers before engineers could specify the material for occupied buildings, alongside the usual structural, electrical, fire-safety, and construction requirements.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Could it make buildings smarter?
Energy storage could eventually help a building use electricity generated at a different time, including renewable power. MIT also reported an early sensing observation: the miniature arch’s LED output changed under load. That suggests a possible signal worth studying, but it is not a validated structural-health-monitoring system and does not yet show that ec³ can reliably diagnose building conditions.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe broader ambition is multifunctional concrete. As MIT associate professor Admir Masic put it, “A key to the sustainability of concrete is the development of ‘multifunctional concrete,’ which integrates functionalities like this energy storage, self-healing, and carbon sequestration.” In this case, the energy-storage function is the one under investigation; the quote is a wider research vision, not proof that all of those functions are commercially available.
What would need to happen before construction use?
- Demonstrate durable performance in full-size structural elements over relevant service conditions.
- Show that storage capacity and electrical behavior remain reliable without compromising required structural performance.
- Establish practical connections, controls, and safety provisions for integrating the material with building power systems.
- Provide evidence supporting code approval, construction methods, lifecycle performance, and installed cost.
Until those steps are established, building teams should treat cement-based supercapacitors as an emerging materials-research concept rather than a specification-ready source of building power. The prototype results are promising, but the reported household volumes remain modeled estimates.
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