Construction materials - Page 14

A team of researchers at Brown University developed a composite catalyst using nitrogen-rich graphene dotted with copper nanoparticles. It was shown in a study that the new catalyst is able to efficiently and selectively convert carbon dioxide to ethylene, one of the world's most important commodity chemicals that is used to make plastics, construction materials and other products.

Chemical companies produce ethylene by the millions of tons each year using processes that usually involve fossil fuels. If excess carbon dioxide can indeed be used to make ethylene, like the results of this study imply, it could help make the chemical industry become more sustainable and eco-friendly. There is, however, much more work to be done before bringing such a process to an industrial scale.

XG Sciences aims to raise $24 million through an initial public offering to fund operations, as it continues to commercialize composite materials for lithium-ion batteries and other applications. Of the $24 million XGS hopes to raise through an IPO, $11.4 million will go to fund operations for the next two years, by which time the company might begin generating positive cash flow from operations. Proceeds from the IPO would also go to working capital, and to increase capacity and its sales and technical service staff.

While the company has accumulated operating losses exceeding $43 million during its development stage, the securities filing cites a growing customer list and order volume. XG Sciences projects 2016 revenues of $5 million to $10 million through the sale of graphene and graphene nanoplatelets for electronic and industrial products that use lithium-ion batteries. A number of companies are currently testing XG Sciences’ materials for applications including lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, thermal shielding, inks and coatings, printed electronics, construction products, composites and military uses.

Haydale's HCS has announced the commissioning of a composite pipe testing facility, that will be used to assess new graphene enhanced composites. The new facility for long term testing consists of 8 independently controlled tanks which can carry out short and long term pressure testing of composite pipes up to 500bar and at temperatures up to 80°C. The facility is versatile and can conduct short term burst pressure (STBP) tests, determine long term hydrostatic pressure (LTHP) rating as well as performing dynamic, fatigue and cyclic testing of composite pipes to a wide range of international standards including API 15S, ISO 14692 and ASTM D2992.

HCS is active in the design, development, testing and certification of reinforced thermoplastic and thermosetting composite pipes for the oil and gas industry. The new facility should enable HCS to accelerate the development and approval of new materials and designs that can be used in the construction of oil and gas pipelines. HCS is currently developing new graphene-enhanced polymer materials for use in pipeline construction and this facility will assist greatly in the testing, approval and certification of these novel materials.

UK-based Applied Graphene Materials is collaborating with US paint company Sherwin-Williams Protective and Marine Coatings, and corrosion management operation TWI Limited, in a venture to develop graphene-based anti-corrosion paints.

The companies added that the scheme, co-funded by the Government’s innovation body, could have a major impact on corrosion, which is estimated to cost the UK economy about £10 billion every year in repairs on equipment used in the construction, petrochemical and transport sectors.

An international research team, which included scientists from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Oklahoma State University, and Shenyang National Lab for Materials Science, showed that graphene can act as a promising surface coating that can be used to minimize metallic corrosion under harsh microbial conditions, and graphene coating offers 100-fold improvement in corrosion resistance compared to commercial polymer coatings available in the market while being nearly 4000 times thinner than several commercial coatings.

The researchers investigated how the microbial communities that colonize the protection system can affect the corrosion rates. Furthermore, they have used the graphene coating as a benchmark to compare to other popular polymer coatings such as Parylene and Polyurethane. Those coatings were initially promising, but failed due to various reasons including microbial attack fermentation, acid production etc. and the non-conformity of hand-applied coatings. The graphene coated Ni, however, maintained its integrity without noticeable surface corrosion.

SP Nano, a specialist in nanotechnology for enhanced textiles and composite materials, has received $850,000 in grant funding from the US-Israel Bi-national Industrial Research & Development (BIRD) Foundation to develop a system for graphene-enhanced carbon fiber sizing with its USA based partner, Graphene Technologies.

SP Nano is the developer of SP1, a nano-reinforcement protein agent that aims to transform the composite materials and rubber industries by enabling the production of lighter, stronger and sustainable parts. SP Nano is commercializing the use of carbon-based nanoparticles in the rapidly growing $152 billion US mechanical rubber goods (MRG) and $90 billion US composites markets. These markets includes raw materials such as carbon/glass fiber and aramid, and are commonly used in industries such as aerospace, construction, automotive and marine, wind energy and sports equipment.

University of Central Florida spin-off Garmor will take part in the NPE2015 Startup Garage and showcase its low-cost graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide in addition to products made with graphene oxide polymer and fiberglass composites that can be used in a variety of applications ranging from automotive, aerospace, and military to consumer electronics, medical, and construction.

The company will also share the methods developed for the smooth dispersion of graphene into both polar and non-polar plastics. According to Garmor, the company’s partnership with the University of Central Florida (UCF) has played an integral role in perfecting a method to optimize the incorporation of graphene in various polymers, composite materials and coating.

In 2013, researchers from the University of Alberta developed a new low-cost process to turn hemp bast fibers into graphene-like materials. Now the same team reports that those hemp fibers may be as efficient as graphene for supercapacitor electrodes, or even better. Those electrodes are made from bio waste in a simple process, and are much cheaper than graphene based electrodes.

Those fibers come from the inner bark of the hemp plant, which are often discarded. Hemp is a used in Canada to make clothing, construction materials and other products. The researchers explain that to create those fibers, they first had to really understand the structure of the plant and then tune their process which involved heating it for 24 hours at a 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and then blasting it with more intense heat, after which it exfoliates into carbon nanosheets.