一種全新儲能單元，傳統燒結磚“變身”超級電容。這些“智能磚”在充電后，可以像電池一樣儲存電能，隨時為其他裝置供電，是多用途增值建筑材料領域邁出的重要一步。

　　A new energy storage unit, traditional sintered brick "transformed" super capacitor. After charging, these "smart bricks" can store electric energy like batteries and supply power to other devices at any time, which is an important step in the field of multi-purpose value-added building materials.

　　數千年來，燒結磚一直作為建筑材料，很少有其他用途。這種磚以黏土、頁巖、煤矸石或粉煤灰為原料，經成型和高溫焙燒而制得，用于砌筑承重和非承重墻體，也就是人們最熟悉的紅磚。

　　For thousands of years, fired brick has been used as building material, rarely for other purposes. This kind of brick is made from clay, shale, coal gangue or fly ash by molding and roasting at high temperature. It is used to build load-bearing and non load-bearing walls, which is the most familiar red brick.

　　讓這種紅磚“變身”為一種超級電容器儲能裝置。利用磚的多孔結構，使用氣相沉積技術為整塊磚添加了一層名為PEDOT的導電聚合物，讓磚變成一個儲能電極。

　　Let this red brick "transform" into a super capacitor energy storage device. Using the porous structure of the brick, a layer of conductive polymer named PEDOT was added to the whole brick by using the vapor deposition technology to make the brick become an energy storage electrode.

　　由于磚本身的紅色色素——氧化鐵(鐵銹)，對于誘發聚合反應來說十分關鍵。研究團隊用一個概念驗證裝置證明，可以用一塊磚直接給一個發光二極管(LED)充電。

　　Because of the red pigment of brick, iron oxide (rust), it is very important to induce polymerization. The team used a proof of concept device to demonstrate that a light-emitting diode (LED) can be charged directly with a brick.

　　根據研究團隊的計算，這些儲能磚砌成的墻將能儲存大量電能。這項工作或能為開發具有儲電功能的多用途增值建筑材料帶來啟示。

　　According to the team's calculations, the walls of these energy storage bricks will be able to store a lot of electricity. This work may bring enlightenment to the development of multi-purpose value-added building materials with power storage function.

　　在此之前，將建筑材料用于供電的構想多是“供電地磚”——即將特殊地磚應用到踩踏量較大的交通地段，地磚可以將收集到的能量儲蓄到聚合物鋰電池中，用于街邊路燈的照明、音箱、人行道的警報器、標牌以及廣告等領域。

　　Before that, the idea of using building materials for power supply was mostly "power supply floor tiles" - that is, special floor tiles should be applied to traffic sections with large amount of trampling. Floor tiles can save the collected energy into polymer lithium batteries, which can be used for street lamp lighting, speaker, sidewalk alarm, signs, advertising and other fields.