w 34 | NRS Networks cnrsI InternatIonal magazIne C MaterialsScience ThefirstInternationalJointUnit(UMI)betweenCNRSandMIT studiesmulti-scaleporousmaterialsfromanenergeticandenvironmentalstandpoint. Global Issues Joint Response BYarbygharIbIan 01crystals of 01 Mtranscend national borders scanning electronportlandite, theprimary hydrationproduct of cementhydration, seen byany of the pressing challengesfacing governments today and require new and deeper forms of in- microscopy. 02researchers ternational collaboration. Hence the de- use an atomistic cision by CNRS and MIT to form an model of crack International Joint Unit (UMI MIT- development to CNRS), a laboratory that brings together understand the fracture mechanics researchers from both institutions on of shale gas-bearing MIT’s campus at Cambridge (US). Last rocks. June, MIT President Susan Hockfield and CNRS President Alain Fuchs inau- gurated the UMI “Multi-Scale Materials 02 b@MIT for Energy and Environment” (MSE), and U indicated that it would mark the begin- K/CSH I ning of a broader partnership between Kow a the two organizations in the areas of R K. education, training, and research. .R “MSE expands on the important © work undertaken by MIT teams at the partments have long tried to This knowledge can help render extrac- Concrete Sustainability Hub and the formulate better versions with tion techniques like hydraulic fracturing X-Shale Hub research centers,” explains b@MIT little success, primarily be- less intrusive and more efficient. Roland Pellenq, senior research scientist /CSH cause the main component, In the wake of the FukushimaU at CNRS and at MIT, and co-director of a calcium silicate hydrate disaster, nuclear fuels will also beRD the UMI with MIT professor Franz-Josef bR (CSH), resisted traditional re-assessed taking into account tighterCHo Ulm. The laboratory will study structur- R forms of investigation. safety regulations. One concern is that. ally-complex porous substances such as © Combining neutron and the uranium bars used in reactors tend to cement, shale gas, and nuclear fuels using the so-called “bottom- X-Ray scattering, electron microscopy, form pockets of rare gases. Predicting the up” method. This involves holistic analysis over length (from and nano-indentation with computa- multi-scale fracture mechanisms of nu- nanometers to microns) and time (from nanoseconds to hours) tional physics, MIT researchers working clear fuel with such gas inclusions can scales to acquire essential knowledge of materials’ in collaboration with Pellenq were able to make reactors safer. behavioral properties, which vary depending on life span and model CSH nanoscale texture and mod- “We are encouraged by the promising molecular level. ify it to make longer-lasting concrete leads and applications of our joint re- “The recent disasters in Japan and the Gulf of Mexico have with a lighter ecological footprint. search,” concludes Pellenq. “We look emphasized the need for novel technology in civil engineering,” Another exciting application is in the forward to partnering with industry both adds Pellenq. “By using fundamental physics to investigate production of shale gas, a cleaner-burning in France and the US to quickly bring molecular structure, we can produce materials and energy alternative to coal or petroleum. MSE’s these innovations to global markets.” sources that are more durable, more stable and, ultimately, more multi-scale approach looks at shale sustainable.” formations all the way down to the level contact ImIt,cambridge.on:Informat-cnrsImU For example, the production of concrete, the ubiquitous of the nanopores where the methane is Roland Pellenq building material, contributes approximately 5 to 10% of the stored, to understand why the gas is >pellenq@cinam.univ-mrs.frpellenq@mit.edu> world’s CO2 emissions. Scientists and private sector R&D de- sometimes retained rather than released.
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