Forget cement the key is dedicated Martian concrete.
Mars is the most habitable planet in the solar system after Earth. In recent years, many countries, including the U.S., China, and Russia, announced to launch manned Mars missions in the next decades. Due to the dry environment on Mars, sulfur concrete concept is a superior choice for building a human village on the red planet. Studies of Martian meteorites suggest elevated sulfur concentrations in the interior.
"At Northwestern University. These guys [2] have worked out how to make Martian concrete using materials that are widely available on Mars. And, crucially this concrete can be formed without using water, which will be a precious resource on the red planet."
How
"The key material in a Martian construction boom will be sulphur, says the Northwestern team. The basic idea is to heat sulphur to about 240 °C so that it becomes liquid, mix it with Martian soil, which acts as an aggregate, and then let it cool. The sulphur solidifies, binding the aggregate and creating concrete."
Problems
"in the 1970s, materials scientists studied the possibility of using sulphur concrete to build lunar bases on the moon. 778
They quickly discovered that in a vacuum, sulphur sublimates—it turns from a solid directly into a gas. So any sulphur concrete on the moon would quickly disappear into the ether."
Tests with Martian simulants
"They used simulated Martian soil consisting mainly of silicon dioxide and aluminium oxide with other components such as iron oxide, titanium dioxide, and so on. They also tested various different sizes of particles in this aggregate."
“The best mix for producing Martian concrete is 50 percent sulphur and 50 percent Martian soil with maximum aggregate size of 1 mm,” they say. And it is strong stuff, reaching a compressive strength in excess of 50 MPa, particularly if it is compressed during curing to reduce the formation of voids. Stronger than standard earth concrete.
Bonus
"the atmospheric conditions on Mars are suitable for this stuff. “Both the atmospheric pressure and temperature range on Mars are adequate for hosting sulphur concrete structures,” Martian concrete can be recycled by heating it, so that the sulphur melts. So it can be re-used repeatedly. It is also fast-setting, relatively easy to handle and extremely cheap compared to materials brought from Earth.
All we need now are a new generation of Martian architects to design buildings made of Martian concrete that will be suitable structures for humans to live and work in.
Plagiarised extract from Technology Review
[2] For the full report by <PERSON>, <PERSON> & <PERSON> click the following link
A Novel Material for In Situ Construction on Mars: Experiments and Numerical Simulations 778