Graphene material made from scrap tires helps to enhance the performance of concrete

A research team at Rice University has developed a new method that can convert waste tires into graphene, which can be used in the manufacture of concrete in the future
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On the basis of practicing environmental protection, this scheme can also significantly improve the firmness of concrete
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Specifically, through the so-called "rapid Joule heating" scheme, researchers use electric shocks to quickly heat almost all carbon sources to about 2725 ℃ (4940 ℉), thereby converting them into graphene flakes
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? (From: Rice University) This is a form of material called "turbine layer graphene".
Because the sheets are not completely aligned, the material is more soluble and can be easily integrated into composite materials
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As early as last year, the research team has passed a technical demonstration of food and plastic waste
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Now, they have turned their attention to discarded tires
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Previous efforts to directly convert tires into graphene have not achieved the best results
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But in the new study, they turned to materials left over after a general recycling process
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The so-called pyrolysis involves burning tires in a low-oxygen environment.
The product is a kind of oil that is very practical for a series of industrial processes, and solid carbon residues that are difficult to find in new application scenarios
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The good news is that the Rice University research team found that this carbon black derivative is an ideal choice for the production of flash graphene
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During the rapid Joule heating process, about 70% of the material is converted to graphene, and the yield of the mixture of crushed tire rubber and commercial carbon black is about 47%
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The flash evaporation process can be used for the preparation of graphene based on rubber waste.
Next, the research team demonstrated a special use case of a graphene material
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After adding graphene/carbon black + crushed rubber mixture to the cement in the proportions of 0.
1 wt% and 0.
05 wt%, the compressive strength of the concrete cylinder made is increased by about 30%
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Research co-author Rouzbeh Shahsavari said: Part of the increase in strength is due to the seeding effect of 2D graphene (which allows concrete to grow better), and part of it is due to the later reinforcement
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In summary, this technology can not only significantly enhance the performance of concrete, but also has considerable environmental benefits-in addition to reducing waste tires that are landfilled in garbage dumps, the additional material strength can also reduce the concrete required in the building structure.
Amount
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James Tour, another major co-author of the study, pointed out that concrete is the world's most productive material, and its carbon dioxide emissions alone account for 90% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions
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If we can use less concrete in roads, buildings and bridges, we can achieve significant emission reduction targets from the root
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