Graphene is a highly prized material due to its ultra strong, flexible and lightweight qualities, but producing it at large scale has been a challenge.
A team of researchers led by the National University of Singapore (NUS) claims to have come up with a way to more efficiently produce graphene, thus making our graphene future ever more attainable.
The NUS team's technique supposedly cuts the amount of solvent needed by up to 50%.
The first step is to exfoliate pre-treated graphite under a highly alkaline condition. This prompts the graphene to cluster in a slurry – no additional solvent required – plus throws in electrostatic repulsive forces to keep the graphene layers from reforming into graphite, for good measure.
"Our technique, which produces a high yield of crystalline graphene in the form of a concentrated slurry with a significantly smaller volume of solvent, is an attractive solution for industries to carry out large scale synthesis of this promising material in a cost-effective and sustainable manner," said Professor Loh Kian Ping of the NUS Faculty of Science.
We'll have to wait and see if this method makes it into large-scale production, but it's a promising breakthrough as tech and other industries look to graphene to produce a new wave of ultra durable, highly conductive and incredibly lightweight products.
Graphene truly is disruptive technology with applications in everything from smartphones to batteries to sports cars. Chances are, a large sector across the business and manufacturing world is eyeing this latest development closely.
