Researchers at Rice University have devised a way to quickly and cheaply turn a variety of carbon sources—including mixed plastic waste, rubber tires, and organic refuse—into graphene flakes. In particular, this cost-effective method that could rely simply on trash makes it possible to supply cheap graphene for concrete production, leading to greatly strengthened concrete with a much lower carbon footprint. The researchers call their novel production method the “flash graphene” technique.
What’s the big deal?
One obvious use for flash graphene is in the production of concrete. It is estimated that 8% of human-made CO2 results from cement production, making concrete, to which cement is added as a binder, among the world’s more destructive building materials. (See this article for more about the environmental effects of concrete.) The Rice researchers assert that a concentration as low as 0.1% of flash graphene in cement as a binder for concrete could lessen its environmental impact by one-third.
If you’re interested in the science behind how graphene works as a strenthening additive in concrete, see this article.
You can watch the process of making flash graphene in the video above and learn firsthand about how the technique works.
More about the science
See the researchers’ press release for more details, and their published findings in the journal Nature.