“David Stone is the brains behind a new patented concrete technology known as Ferrock, based on iron carbonate and incorporating largely recycled materials to produce (around 95%)! It’s showing promising signs as an alternative to concrete and a far greener building material.
The name Ferrock is a reflection of its composition – largely iron-rich ferrous rock. It’s actually created from waste steel dust which is normally discarded from industrial processes and silica from ground up glass. The iron within the steel dust reacts with C02 and rusts to form iron carbonate. It’s this that is fused into the matrix of Ferrock and, like concrete, after it’s dried, it cannot be melted back into a liquid form but retains its hard, rock-like qualities.
What are the advantages?
Compared to Portland cement (made from chalk and clay and resembling Portland stone in color), which is one of the leading types in use throughout the world today, Ferrock is actually five times stronger. It can withstand more compression before breaking and is far more flexible, meaning it could potentially resist the earth movements caused by seismic activity or industrial processes. One of the unique properties of Ferrock is that it becomes even stronger in salt water environments, making it ideal for marine-based construction projects. And rather than emitting large amounts of C02 as it dries, Ferrock actually absorbs and binds it! This results in a carbon-negative process that actually helps to trap greenhouse gases.”
More at the source: Build Abroad.org
How would you cover a cellar dirt flour that’s roughly 10′ x 12′?
I see no reason why you couldn’t cover the floor with Ferrock; I have also just used gravel.
I would like to buy ferrock. Where in the dominican republic can i buy it. I want to use it in my house structure. I hate xoncrete. One of the ugliest mmaterials. If the parthenon used british portland concrete no one would visit.
As far as I can tell, this material is still not commercially available.
I am trying to get hold of Dr David Stone as I have an application for his Ferrock. I need to speak to him directly as this is an environmental application that will help many.
I am not sure how to contact David Stone. There is a video about his work shown at https://naturalbuildingblog.siterubix.com/an-environmentally-sound-alternative-to-portland-cement/ that might have some leads. I also suggest contacting the University of Arizona in Tucson since he graduated from the Chemistry Department there. Good luck with this.
dajstone AT gmail.com
David stones email
Hi Nick, I am building a home and I plan to make Ferrock. Would your environmental application help?
of course the first thing people do is patent everything sigh.
That means that only the relatively wealthy will be able to access it so really, what’s the point? It looks nice, sort of like gingerbread, but there’s really a question whether this will ever apply to those of us scrounging to build a house.
The main point is to raise awareness of alternate/greener concretes that are coming out. Some are already available in certain areas. More awareness will hopefully translate to greater demand.
Ugh. This is just like all those other wonder materials. How can I make it? Where can I get it? Short answer, you can’t. It’s not ready for market, the company isn’t marketing it in the US, the precursors might cost a corporation pennies a ton but a person can’t have it at all.
Is this this true in 2024?