IISc-incubated startup develops eco-friendly cement, claims it saves construction cost
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has said it has developed an eco-friendly cement alternative using the Geopolymer technology. The innovation aims to not only cut carbon emissions compared to traditional Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), but also promises zero use of water. The new tech, IISc team claims, would offer 15-20% cost advantage .
The startup, Novacret claims that for every square foot of pavers it produces, it saves approximately 2.04 kg of CO2 emissions as compared to OPC. When ET spoke to one of the four cofounders, Nanjunda Rao K S who is also chief research scientist at IISc said, “ Geopolymer technology involves using industrial byproducts like fly ash from thermal power plants and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) from the steel industry as binding materials.” He added that initially fly ash and GGBS were used only as partial replacements for Portland cement in concrete but now act as complete replacement.
“The benefits are significant, geopolymer-based materials achieve full strength in just three days in tropical climates like India, compared to the 28 days required for Portland cement.” The material is suitable for precast construction, where components like paving blocks can be made in advance, studies by the startup have highlighted.
Novacret is currently running multiple pilot projects across public and private sectors such as footpaths and bus stops in Vijayanagar and Govindrajnagar constituencies in Bengaluru.
“The global market for precast construction is valued at $1.166
