PROPERTIES OF HYDROCERAMIC

Hydroceramic is a brick-shaped product based on thermodynamics procedures, which is for

cooling buildings through passive functions and considerably reduce energy [ CITATION det17 \l
1033 ]. After preparing the brick, affix it to an external system that measures the room’s
temperature that surrounds it. This way, a sensor will measure these parameters sending the
information to Arduino Uno, a single-board microcontroller which, from a specific temperature
and moisture percentage set freely by the user, issues a working order to the water pump for
moisturizing hydrogel balls and this works naturally[ CITATION det17 \l 1033 ]. Its passive
embedded intelligence makes its performance directly proportional to the heat in the outdoor
environment. It cools more when it is hotter and does not lose heat when no evaporation is
occurring[ CITATION HYD14 \l 1033 ]. An experiment set up to test the effect of the hydrogel in
reducing the temperature of a closed environment determined these results[ CITATION HYD14 \l
1033 ]. Its function is simple as it is because it only uses three materials: clay, hydrogel, and
fabric[ CITATION det17 \l 1033 ]. The term ‘hydrogel’ refers to a class of substances that absorb
and retain 500 times their weight in water [ CITATION HYD14 \l 1033 ]. Chemically, they are
insoluble polymers of hydroxyethyl acrylate, acrylamide, polyethylene oxide, and
others[ CITATION HYD14 \l 1033 ]. Clay is a supporting material used at the end because it is a very
versatile material for moisturizing and evaporation procedures because of its porosity[ CITATION
det17 \l 1033 ]. At the same time, it accomplished its traditional brick function.

USES OF HYDROCERAMIC
According to MaterialDistrict (2014), hydroceramic works as an evaporative cooling device. It
reduces temperatures, increases humidity, and is capable of lowering the temperature of the
indoor environment by about 5 to 6 degrees. As a cooling aid, it works by exposing absorbed
water to a large surface area since the heat of vaporization of water is about 0.6 kilocalories per
gram, a cooling effect occurs.
Hydroceramic is a future material, as it is efficient and innovative. This material helped our lives,
especially in architecture. Siemer (2002) stated that this product can serve as a sustainable
material because the water required for its moisturizing process can come from rainwater at its
most basic application. At the same time, it will save costs too. Hydroceramic could help save up
to 28% of overall electricity consumption caused by the traditional air-conditioning and can be
used as a low-cost alternative building technology as both clay and hydrogel are relatively
inexpensive materials as stated in Material District (2014).
Bibliography
detea. (2017, November 17). HYDROCERAMIC’S FUTURE IN CONSTRUCTION. Retrieved from detea:
http://www.detea.es/en/hydroceramics-future-in-construction/#:~:text=It's%20a%20product
%20with%20brick,%3A%20clay%2C%20hydrogel%20and%20fabric

MaterialDistrict. (2014, November 27). HYDROCERAMIC: INTELLIGENT MATERIAL PROTOTYPE. Retrieved

from Material District: https://materialdistrict.com/article/hydroceramic-intelligent-material-
prototype/

Siemer, D. D. (2002). Hydroceramics, a "new" cementitious waste form material for U.S. defense-type
reprocessing waste. Materials Research Innovations, 96–104. doi:10.1007/s10019-002-0193-3