Yarmouk University students develop eco-friendly, ‘self-illuminating’ concrete 

AMMAN — A team of students from the Civil Engineering Department at Yarmouk University’s Hajjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology has developed a concrete mixture that absorbs solar light during the day and reflects it at night for up to eight hours. 

The concrete mixture is a blend of cement, sand and chemicals with light-absorption and retention properties. The team incorporated glass waste into the concrete blend to enhance its light-absorption and storage properties. The mix can provide natural illumination to buildings, urban structures and roadways in remote areas lacking access to electrical power sources. 

If used as an alternative to traditional concrete, this new mixture could help enhance sustainability in the construction industry, according to a statement from the university.

According to Faris Matalkah, the team supervisor and a faculty member at the Department of Civil Engineering, preliminary experiments indicate that the new concrete mix is capable of absorbing solar light during the daytime and emitting it at night. This has potential to contribute to lowering electricity consumption and reducing the need for artificial lighting during nighttime hours. The concrete possesses mechanical properties similar to regular concrete in terms of strength and resistance to climatic conditions,  Matalkah said.

This “self-illuminating concrete” was developed in the laboratories of Hajjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology at a cost that is 70 per cent lower compared with  luminescent concrete developed by specialised scientists in several countries around the world, Matalkah added.

The student team includes Bayan Al Ziout, Raghad Tawalbeh, Bashar Al Azam, Doha Al Shanaq and Mohammed Al Tamimi.