About

Admir Masic is an Associate Professor at MIT in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Faculty Fellow in Archaeological Materials at MIT. He is also the Faculty Director of MIT ReACT. Masic holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. from the University of Turin, Italy. He is the founder of Adamantio Ltd. Science in Conservation in Turin, Italy, and has served as a Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Germany. His research focuses on the conservation of archaeological materials, integrating scientific approaches to address challenges in cultural heritage preservation. Masic actively leads a research lab at MIT, mentoring graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduate students, and is involved in fostering interdisciplinary collaborations in the field of archaeological materials and conservation science.

Research topics

• Composite material
• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Geology
• Geochemistry
• Ecology
• Crystallography
• Metallurgy
• Organic chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical engineering
• Geotechnical engineering
• Paleontology

Selected publications

• Hot mixing: Mechanistic insights into the durability of ancient Roman concrete

  Science Advances · 2023 · 124 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Geology
  • Materials science
  • Geotechnical engineering

  Ancient Roman concretes have survived millennia, but mechanistic insights into their durability remain an enigma. Here, we use a multiscale correlative elemental and chemical mapping approach to investigating relict lime clasts, a ubiquitous and conspicuous mineral component associated with ancient Roman mortars. Together, these analyses provide new insights into mortar preparation methodologies and provide evidence that the Romans employed hot mixing, using quicklime in conjunction with, or instead of, slaked lime, to create an environment where high surface area aggregate-scale lime clasts are retained within the mortar matrix. Inspired by these findings, we propose that these macroscopic inclusions might serve as critical sources of reactive calcium for long-term pore and crack-filling or post-pozzolanic reactivity within the cementitious constructs. The subsequent development and testing of modern lime clast-containing cementitious mixtures demonstrate their self-healing potential, thus paving the way for the development of more durable, resilient, and sustainable concrete formulations.

  DOI

• Carbon–cement supercapacitors as a scalable bulk energy storage solution

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2023 · 130 citations

  • Materials science
  • Composite material
  • Chemistry

  The large-scale implementation of renewable energy systems necessitates the development of energy storage solutions to effectively manage imbalances between energy supply and demand. Herein, we investigate such a scalable material solution for energy storage in supercapacitors constructed from readily available material precursors that can be locally sourced from virtually anywhere on the planet, namely cement, water, and carbon black. We characterize our carbon-cement electrodes by combining correlative EDS-Raman spectroscopy with capacitance measurements derived from cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge experiments using integer and fractional derivatives to correct for rate and current intensity effects. Texture analysis reveals that the hydration reactions of cement in the presence of carbon generate a fractal-like electron-conducting carbon network that permeates the load-bearing cement-based matrix. The energy storage capacity of this space-filling carbon black network of the high specific surface area accessible to charge storage is shown to be an intensive quantity, whereas the high-rate capability of the carbon-cement electrodes exhibits self-similarity due to the hydration porosity available for charge transport. This intensive and self-similar nature of energy storage and rate capability represents an opportunity for mass scaling from electrode to structural scales. The availability, versatility, and scalability of these carbon-cement supercapacitors opens a horizon for the design of multifunctional structures that leverage high energy storage capacity, high-rate charge/discharge capabilities, and structural strength for sustainable residential and industrial applications ranging from energy autarkic shelters and self-charging roads for electric vehicles, to intermittent energy storage for wind turbines and tidal power stations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nacre toughening due to cooperative plastic deformation of stacks of co-oriented aragonite platelets

  Communications Materials · 2020 · 54 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Materials science
  • Composite material
  • Crystallography

  Abstract Nacre’s structure-property relationships have been a source of inspiration for designing advanced functional materials with both high strength and toughness. These outstanding mechanical properties have been mostly attributed to the interplay between aragonite platelets and organic matrices in the typical brick-and-mortar structure. Here, we show that crystallographically co-oriented stacks of aragonite platelets, in both columnar and sheet nacre, define another hierarchical level that contributes to the toughening of nacre. By correlating piezo-Raman and micro-indentation results, we quantify the residual strain energy associated with strain hardening capacity. Our findings suggest that the aragonite stacks, with characteristic dimensions of around 20 µm, effectively store energy through cooperative plastic deformation. The existence of a larger length scale beyond the brick-and-mortar structure offers an opportunity for a more efficient implementation of biomimetic design.

  DOI

• Exploration of Biomass-Derived Activated Carbons for Use in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

  ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · 2020 · 53 citations

  • Materials science
  • Nanotechnology
  • Chemical engineering

  Increasing redox reaction rates on carbon electrodes is an important step to reducing the cost of all-vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). Biomass-derived activated carbons (ACs) hold promise as they may obviate the need for post-synthetic modifications common to conventional materials. While initial efforts have shown that these materials can enhance VRFB performance, the wide selection of potentially inexpensive feedstocks and synthesis routes lead to a collection of electrocatalytic materials with disparate physical, chemical, and electrochemical properties, challenging the development of generalizable design principles. Here, we employ a hydrothermal processing (HTP) technique to produce elementally diverse ACs, varying biomass feedstock composition, and HTP temperature. Specifically, we study ACs derived from chitin, which contain nitrogen and oxygen functionalities, and ACs derived from pine wood, which contain oxygen functionalities. Using Vulcan XC72 as a comparator, we apply spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational techniques, finding electrochemically accessible surface area, rather than the heteroatom composition, to be the more representative performance indicator. Evaluation of the best-performing AC in a VRFB reveals ∼100 mW cm–2 improvement in peak power density when deposited into felt electrodes. The feedstock-processing-property relationships studied in this work represent a systematic approach to advancing biomass-based functional materials for use in energy applications.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• Peter Fratzl

  15 shared

• Hyun-Chae Loh

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  12 shared

• James C. Weaver

  10 shared

• Marco Nicola

  University of Turin

  9 shared

• Linda M. Seymour

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  8 shared

• Roberto Gobetto

  University of Turin

  8 shared

• Luc Robbiola

  Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès

  8 shared

• Markus J. Buehler

  8 shared

Labs

• Masic Lab @ MITPI

Education

• Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  2010

• M.S., Materials Science and Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  2006

• B.S., Chemistry

  University of Sarajevo

  2003

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