What is copper? The metal we know is only part of a much wider material story. Mining overburden, tailings, metal concentrates, rare metals like gold and silver, sulfuric acid, sulphate solution, slag, and more. All of these come as a result of processing, using, and recycling copper. This project exposes and proposes potential uses for these overlooked byproducts.
The inherent properties obtained by the processing of these by products make them highly reactive thus good as a binder. This byproduct, can be used as the main ingredient of a technology called geopolymerization which creates a high-performance alternative to traditional cement. This results in a in concrete like material with a CO2 footprint about 77% lower than standard cement.
The project was realized in close collaboration with KU Leuven and Metallo Group, Belgium. All of the products seen below are made with a combination of Copper and its byproduct counterparts.
