BENGALURU: Cement is an important component in making construction bricks. However, the cement industry is also one of the biggest polluters of the environment. What if equally strong and effective bricks could be made minus the cement? This is exactly what former students of CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru have done. They have developed such bricks using a new geopolymer technology that is environment-friendly and have formed a startup around the idea.
Mohsin Ali Khan, a former civil engineering student of the college and a team member of the project explains, “A regular brick comprises of cement, coarse and fine aggregate and usually costs around Rs 45 to 55 per square foot. It also takes around 14-21 days of curing time. Our cementless brick have a patented mixture that does not require cement, is nearly half the prize of a regular brick, takes half the curing time and is greater if not equal in strength.”
Mohsin along with his other teammates - Gowtham Reddy B, Sharath Kumara Devraju, Vinay Kumar Mansali and Mulla Parvez Ahamed have set up the startup, CO3 Structural Sytems that is also recognised by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). They are enroute to setting up a plant to manufacture the bricks.
Besides the cementless brick, they have also filed patents for two other kinds of bricks made of sewage sludge bricks and ornamental bricks made of sand. “The sewage and sludge bricks are made of waste from lakes that normally contain a lot of chemical effluents.
We have used a technology that locks these chemicals within the brick and prevents them from percolating into the soil and thus polluting the soil. The ornamental brick is made of sand and can be used for making temporary structures,” adds Mohsin, who have been furthering their project at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Cell of the college. The team and their mentor professors from the college have filed for patents for all three innovations.