A recent breakthrough from researchers at Rice University promises to make graphene out of garbage in a flash. Here’s how this miraculous transformation happens.
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Graphene is a single-atom thick layer of carbon that has a number of properties that make it almost endlessly useful.

So useful in fact, it has been dubbed a "wonder material.” But the thing is graphene is really hard to make in meaningful quantities; however, thanks to a recent breakthrough from Rice University, that all might change.

And the key to it all might be your very own trash.

The process the researchers at Rice University developed involves charging up high-voltage capacitors with electricity, then unleashing it all at once into just about any carbon containing material including anything from coal (which is basically all carbon to start with) to plastics to food waste.

Find out exactly how this process works and what this could mean for the future of graphene in this Elements.

#graphene #garbage #energy #science #seeker #elements


Read More:

Mass-Producing Graphene
https://www.americanscientist.org/art...
"Carbon, the sole constituent of graphene, is all around us. The element is the fourth most common in the entire universe. Most people think of materials in terms of atoms and molecules, where molecules are made from defined types and numbers of atoms. With graphene, counting carbon atoms is inconsequential."

Graphene – the not-so wonder material?
https://www.imeche.org/news/news-arti...
"In order for graphene to have an impact commercially and be used to develop better-quality products, such as transistors, it not only needs to be cost-effective, but also environmentally friendly."

Rice lab turns trash into valuable graphene in a flash
https://news.rice.edu/2020/01/27/rice...
"Flash Joule heating for bulk graphene, developed in the Tour lab by Rice graduate student and lead author Duy Luong, improves upon techniques like exfoliation from graphite and chemical vapor deposition on a metal foil that require much more effort and cost to produce just a little graphene."
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