BATTERY BRICKS

SCIENTISTS have found a way to convert a normal red brick into an energy-storing battery.

For a thousand years, bricks have been a key part of building construction, but now scientists say they’ve found a way to make better bricks.

By coating the building material in a special black substance called a conductive polymer, the bricks can store an electrical charge.

The red colouring in bricks is iron oxide (rust), which is a key part in making the polymer work as an energy storage device.

The scientists say that, if an entire building was constructed with these bricks, they could store a “substantial amount of energy”.