A quartet of undergraduate engineering students at the American University in Cairo has developed self-luminescent concrete they say is a possible offset to the material’s poor environmental performance.

Working under the stewardship of Professor Mohamed Nagib AbouZeid, the students were able to develop a sunlight-absorbing concrete that, similar to the natural process known as bioluminescence, releases its energy at night in the form of light rays to offset the high costs of roadway illumination in line with the country’s sustainability goals and ahead of its turn as host of the UN’s COP27 summit in November. 

“The idea of our research came from wanting to make an integral construction material, just like concrete, but more sustainable and environmentally friendly in both its creation and function, especially in light of what the world has come to with energy shortages and draining of resources,” one team member recently told the regional outlet Al-Monitor.

After their three-month development process, the student team flew to Washington D.C. to present their creation at the Transportation Research Board's 101st annual meeting, where they received further guidance from industry experts as to its implementation and eventual conversion into a scalable commercial product.

A few unnamed companies have reportedly approached the students as to that score, though, as one student cautions, “this research requires more experiments to provide reliable conclusions to plenty of crucial queries that remain to be answered.” Additional steps will have to be taken in the future to ensure the delivery of the potential product to market. AbouZeid said the concrete was sourced locally and that he wants the concrete to be field-tested along a safe stretch of highway before more information can be determined regarding its weatherability and longevity. 

“The self-luminous concrete contains materials that absorb light and then emit it,” the professor said finally. “Several materials with these properties have been tested, and the ones with the strongest luminosity and durability were selected because we don’t want the glow-in-the-dark property to supersede the concrete durability and stability as a construction material.”