Sources: HydroGraph Clean Power Inc., Toronto; CP staff
HydroGraph Clean Power, a commercial processor of nanomaterials, and Arizona State University School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment researchers outline the role of high purity (> 99 percent carbon) graphene to elevate concrete performance in an ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering journal report. Measured against portland cement paste control specimens, HydroGraph fractal graphene aggregate (FGA-1) and reactive graphene (RGA-1) dosed at 0.04 percent helped a) increase early compressive strength by 70 percent and 28-day strength by 15 percent; b) reduce total porosity and critical pore size; and, c) more than double yield stress. The agents’ potential to function as supplementary cementitious materials indicates a prospective reduction in embodied carbon by 10-15 percent compared to portland cement concrete.
“Our study again confirms graphene’s positive effect on cement performance,” says HydroGraph Chief Science Officer Ranjith Divigalpitiya. “As our 99.8 percent pure graphene is manufactured with a sustainable, repeatable process that has the lowest carbon footprint of all graphene producers, the net effect is better for the environment. As the global cement and concrete industry looks to lessen its carbon footprint, HydroGraph will be part of the solution.”
“This study shows that our graphene, which is manufactured through our scalable and cost-, energy- and carbon dioxide-efficient detonation synthesis, can be of a huge benefit to the engineering and environmental performance of concrete and cement,” adds ASU Professor Neithalath. The company is equipped to build 10 metric tonnes of annual FGA-1 and RGA-1production capacity based on the synthesis process, he notes, which nets material whose quality, performance and consistency follows Graphene Council Verified Producer standards.
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