We only need to add a very small amount of graphene to some plastics to significantly change the properties and properties of plastics.
In the publicity of the automobile industry, new technologies are always described as "revolutionary", but this is often a good wish. Not everyone believes.
However, for an emerging material, as long as the word “possible†is added before “revolutionaryâ€, this description is very objective. This is graphene, which is "probably" a "revolutionary" automotive technology. In retrospect, graphene materials were formally separated by researchers from the University of Manchester in northern England in 2004. At present, they are still just new materials for teenagers, but they have steadily advanced to mature production. In the next decade, graphene materials will likely bring dramatic changes to design and manufacturing, including improving the efficiency of electric vehicles and self-driving cars.
Versarien is an advanced material engineering group led by Dr. Andrew Deakin as chief technical engineer. He is dedicated to extending the application of graphene materials from theoretical research to actual production, so that this emerging material can give full play to lowering weight, strengthening materials and optimizing batteries. The role: "As long as it is used properly, I think that graphene materials are expected to reduce the plastic part of the vehicle by 20%, which will be revolutionary. In addition, with excellent conductivity, graphene material is also expected to optimize battery performance, and thus significantly Extended battery life."
As an allotrope, graphene is a graphite (usually used for pencil and dry lubricant) derivatives. At present, a large amount of R&D work still needs to be carried out on large-scale application of graphene materials to mass production of automobiles. Dr. Deakin has been dedicated to promoting the application of graphene in vehicle design and manufacturing, but is also frankly facing possible challenges: “The application of graphene in certain scenarios may be realized in a few years, in other scenarios Applications may take more than a decade, and the exact time is often difficult to judge, but I am confident about the potential of this material."
The forecast shows that by 2020, the global automotive industry may use as much as 6 million tons of plastics per year, but the final amount may fluctuate: for example, if graphene is added to make a stronger, lighter plastic, and use it instead. For other materials with higher mass densities, the final amount of plastic may increase.
In this context, "the impact of the application of graphene in plastic materials on the environment and benefits" is in the end more than harm, or more harm than profits may be difficult to assess. However, graphene can not only help reduce the weight of plastic materials and thus reduce energy consumption, but also can simultaneously optimize the crashworthiness of materials: “The challenge at this stage is to apply graphene as much as possible to more different types of plastics, and then better Understanding the real optimization that this material can bring. At present, we have just begun large-scale testing of graphene in different materials and components."
Reinforced plastic
Dr. Deakin and his team are working to increase the strength of plastics by more than 30% to achieve the goal of reducing the dosage but achieving the same or higher strength. However, up to 13 kinds of plastics are commonly used in the manufacture of vehicles, and all types of plastics must undergo testing procedures.
Dr. Deakin said, “We must determine the way to add graphene to plastics, and the specific mixing ratio, such as 1% to 5%; then, we must improve all kinds of necessary processes and technologies; finally, we will optimize the comprehensive testing, and in turn Promote small-scale production to industrial scale."
Currently, Dr. Deakin has begun using graphene materials to optimize the performance of tires, composite body panels, CFRP materials, and batteries. He said, “At the initial stage, we must find out the most significant application scenarios. Because of this, we are looking for the help of a large number of industry experts. For example, we can use graphene to extend the tire life to current levels. 1.5 times, or even 2 times, and at the same time reducing the demand for plastic particles in the manufacturing process, which is of great significance for the protection of the environment.A recent report pointed out that in the plastic particulate waste less than 1 mm in diameter that is finally dumped into the sea, More than 28% are from tires."
Graphene also helps to reduce the weight and size of the battery, thereby effectively extending the cruising range of electric vehicles, and has the potential to increase the speed of battery charging.
In addition, graphene can also improve the impact resistance of plastic plates or bumpers, and when applied to a vehicle chassis, similar performance improvements can be obtained. Of course, in order to achieve the desired effect, the mixing ratio of graphene must also be continuously optimized. On the other hand, graphene can not usually be used for the reinforcement of aluminum or steel, but “the direct use of graphene-reinforced plastics instead of these metal materials†is also an alternative idea. Dr. Deakin explained: “If graphene-reinforced plastics are used, the torsional stiffness of the parts will remain the same or even increase, and the impact strength will increase. Therefore, more and more scenes are expected to be used in the future. Lighter plastics, CFPR and GRP materials."
Versarien acquired a 2D specialist company in 2014, when the latter produced only 1 g of graphene per day. Now, with the investment in new equipment, the company expects to increase its graphene production to 1 kg per day later this year ( 2.2 pounds). In response, Dr. Deakin stated that this is equivalent to a 1,000-fold increase in production factors. In a simple calculation, if the average daily output of each piece of equipment can be raised to 10 kg (22 lbs), then 100 pieces of equipment can increase the company's single-day output to 1 ton. Dr. Deakin added, “In addition, we must also control the amount of graphene added to the plastic (possibly only 1% or less) when we significantly optimize the performance of plastics. This is very important.â€
Dr. Deakin is silent on the details of the graphene production equipment and how it works. It only means that plastic manufacturers can easily install the equipment in the existing production plant.
In Dr. Deakin's definition, "real" graphene contains only a single layer of monolayers of carbon atoms. However, most scales of Versarien graphene materials do not exceed 5 layers, 90% scales do not exceed 10 layers, and the average lateral dimension is only 2 microns.
In addition, recyclability is an important issue that must be considered before any new materials are formally put into use. Dr. Deakin believes that the advent of graphene will “refresh†old plastics (for example, when plastics are degraded by ultraviolet radiation), that is, maintain their original characteristics or performance and re-enter the supply chain.
However, we still need to face a long-standing problem: what is the cost-effectiveness of “reducing the use of plastic by adding graphene� Dr. Deakin said: "We anticipate that by using our technology, this graphene solution will be truly cost-effective over the next few years, and it will take about five years."
So, can this kind of graphene with only one layer of mono-atoms be a truly "revolutionary" material? This will take time to verify.
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