Six ways graphene could make the world a greener place

Graphene, the “wonder material”, continues to capture the imagination. A honeycomb of carbon atoms so thin it is considered two-dimensional, graphene is stronger than diamond, more electrically conductive than copper and more bendable than rubber.

In the decade since its discovery at the University of Manchester, tens of millions of pounds have been ploughed into researching the material. But efforts to put it to widespread use have been hampered by the expense of producing it at scale and its weaknesses, such as radial cracking.

Yet recently there have been signs that the graphene revolution is entering a new phase. Various scientists, including Shou-En Zhu and Catharina Paukner, are claiming to have discovered methods to bulk manufacture the material. Others are formulating hybrid graphene spin-offs – new substances with special properties of their own.

This would not only make graphene more efficient, it could also make it more durable. And if commercially viable and better adapted, graphene has the potential to reshape the world we live in. Here are six ways graphene could extend the longevity of products.

1. Flexible smart cards

In the UK, about 58m million credit and other bank cards were in circulation in February last year. Add the miscellaneous others which congregate in the average wallet and you’ll have an idea of the amount of plastic used annually.

A graphene smart card could change all this, as shown by the Spanish company Graphenano. Imagine a single touch-activated card that held all your personal information – credit cards, boarding passes, train tickets, Oyster cards – in one. With everything updated from a computer, a smart card could eradicate enormous amounts of plastic waste.

2. Updatable foldable newspaper

Last September, the Cambridge Graphene Centre demonstrated the first graphene-based flexible display. It could be bent this way and that, while continuing to show digital content. It was a little moment of great significance.

A bendable screen could be used in any number of ways. Like the moving images in the Daily Prophet newspaper featured in Harry Potter , real newspapers could develop foldable graphene templates that are updated wirelessly each day, cutting paper waste dramatically. Updatable foldable Ordnance Survey maps could do the same.

3. Electric car batteries

Batteries have long been the Achilles heel of electric cars. Poor charge capacity means that people are less likely to rely on them, and with the lifespan of the battery linked to the lifespan of the vehicle, electric cars often become obsolete and need replacing.

At last, there are plans to introduce a new polymeric graphene battery in 2015. Especially suited to electric cars, this battery is said to have a lifetime four-times longer than conventional hybrid ones and allows vehicles to run as much as 1,000km on a 10-minute charge. Without the need to be replaced, the graphene battery may signal a new era for the electric car.

4. Indestructible smart phones

In America the average lifespan of a smartphone is just two years. Some models fall out of fashion, others are lost, smashed or drowned in water. According to extended warranty service provider SquareTrade, as many as one third of smartphone users damage their handset in the first year of ownership.

For a prevalent product, this signifies enormous waste, yet graphene’s tough properties could change this. A recent experiment published in the journal Science suggested graphene was twice as bullet-proof as Kevlar – the standard material for ballistic armour. Imagine if such a strong material was integrated into smartphone design, replacing the glass or plastic components?

5. Paint

Not so eye-catching, but equally useful is graphene’s use as a paint. Its tough exterior is useful to withstand the wind and rain in outdoor structures, but it also has useful lubricating properties that mean it works in other situations. Applied Graphene Materials in the USA are developing graphene paints that can be used on a ship’s hulls, halting the spread of underwater corrosion and stopping barnacles from adhering to metal.

A similar enterprise is underway in Spain, where Grapheano have mixed together graphene powder and ground limestone to make a paint that they call Graphenstone. In a publicity move they proposed to paint the Valencia opera house that had been damaged by wind erosion just eight years after its completion.

6. Solar panels

Standard solar panels have a lifespan of about 40 years, but become less efficient with time and often have to be replaced. One of the main challenges is exposure to all types of weather.

Scientists at the University of Exeter claim that solar panels could be made much more weather resistant if the indium tin oxide (ITO) currently used was replaced with GraphExeter. Formulated at The Centre for Graphene Science at the University of Exeter, GraphExeter comprises several layers of graphene sheets mixed with a separate layer of ferric chloride molecules.

According to a recent press release, GraphExeter is much tougher than ITO and improves on the properties of traditional graphene, able to withstand humidity of 100% and temperatures of up to 150C, all of which promises less waste and huge improvements for the solar panel industry.

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