Construction materials - Page 9

Graphene seems like a natural fit for the construction field, due to its potential for creating materials that are lighter and more durable. The potential is huge: concrete and asphalt, steel, various paints and much more.

Focusing on concrete, advantages found by researchers are many. It was found that graphene can increase the resistance and impermeability of the material, lower the number of other materials required so that the result is more environmentally friendly and sustainable material, and give the entire material longer life spans.

HS2 London tunnels contractor Skanska Costain Strabag JV (SCS JV) is to pioneer the on-site of 3D printing of graphene-reinforced concrete. The technology, called ‘Printfrastructure’, promises to bring big environmental benefits and cost savings, if deployed more widely.

First proof of concept trials are scheduled to begin in the spring, using 5 tonne computer-operated robots. These will initially be used to build part of the retaining walls for the mainline out of Euston station as well as materials stores on the project.

Versarien has executed the use of its graphene-enhanced concrete - this time in a residential setting. The Company poured its product for a property development company at a site in Symonds Yat. This follows the former announcenemt back in May, when the world's first graphene concrete slab was poured for commercial use at Amesbury's Solstice Park for a gym owned and run by military veterans.

Neill Ricketts, Versarien CEO, said: "We're laying a relatively small concrete slab at Symonds Yat as a forerunner for some much bigger projects."

Northwestern University researchers have added graphene nanoplatelets to cement, resulting in smarter, more durable and highly functional cement.

With cement being the most widely consumed material globally and the cement industry accounting for 8% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, civil and environmental engineering professor Ange-Therese Akono turned to nanoreinforced cement to look for a solution. Akono, the lead author on the study and an assistant professor in the McCormick School of Engineering, said nanomaterials reduce the carbon footprint of cement composites, but until now, little was known about its impact on fracture behavior.

Construction company Nationwide Engineering has reported the laying of the world's first graphene-enhanced concrete slab engineered for sustainability in a commercial setting.

Team from The University of Manchester and Nationwide Engineering laying the world's first engineered graphene concrete in a commercial setting. Credit: The University of Manchester/Nationwide Engineering

The venue for this innovation milestone is located a couple of miles east of the ancient monument of Stonehenge - the new Southern Quarter gym in Amesbury's Solstice Park, owned and run by military veterans and due to open in summer 2021. This enterprise has been made possible by a joint venture between Nationwide Engineering and The University of Manchester.

In July 2020, Thomas Swan signed an exclusive agency agreement with Concrene, for a graphene-enhanced concrete project. Now, Concrene has announced that the first commercial concrete product reinforced with graphene will be available on the US market in April 2021.

Fairview Hearthside, a licensee of the innovative nanotechnology, will manufacture a range of Concrene precast fire pits for private homes and professional outdoor venues. The fire pits offer enhanced durability, long outdoor performance and natural concrete finish.

Researchers at James Tour's lab at Rice University have developed a new process, able to convert worthless pyrolyzed plastic ash into graphene. The technique produces turbostratic graphene flakes that can be directly added to other substances like films of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) that better resist water in packaging and cement paste and concrete, dramatically increasing their compressive strength.

Similarly to the flash graphene process the Tour lab introduced before, pyrolyzed ash turns into turbostratic graphene. That has weaker attractive interactions between the flakes, making it easier to mix them into solutions.

Thomas Swan has signed an exclusive agency agreement with Concrene.

Thomas Swan’s Graphene Nano Platelet (GNP) products have been tested in a number of concrete dispersions by Concrene and have shown compressive strength improvements of greater than 20% with loading of less than 1% by weight.

Highways contractor Amey and its client Kent County Council will be testing Gipave, an Italian graphene-based asphalt supermodifier said to extend pavement life.

The trial is taking place as part of the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT) Smart Places Live Labs programme funded by the Department for Transport of the UK.

Directa Plus has reported that a deal to supply a special grade of its G+ graphene product, known as ITC1, to its partner, Iterchimica. The G+ product is the differentiating component of Gipave, an asphalt super-modifier developed by Directa Plus and Iterchimica and follows successful trials in Italy and the UK.

The agreement signed by the companies provides for the exclusive supply of the G+ graphene product to Iterchimica in the asphalt and bitumen sector worldwide and is for an initial duration of three years.