The hottest graphene material is expected to reduc

Graphene material is expected to reduce the weight of the plastic part of the vehicle by 20%

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core tip: looking back on the past, graphene material was officially separated by researchers at the University of Manchester in northern England in 2004. At present, it is still a new material only in its teens, but it has begun to move steadily towards mature mass production. In the next decade, graphene materials may bring great changes to the field of design and manufacturing, including improving the efficiency of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicle

[China Packaging News] looking back on the past, graphene material was officially separated by researchers at the University of Manchester in northern England in 2004. At present, it is still a new material only in its teens, but it has begun to steadily move towards mature mass production. In the next decade, graphene materials may bring great changes to the field of design and manufacturing, including improving the efficiency of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicle

we only need to add a very small amount of graphene to some plastics, which can significantly change the characteristics and properties of plastics. In the publicity of the automotive industry, new technologies are always described as "revolutionary", but this is often a good wish, and not everyone believes it. However, for an emerging material, as long as the word "possible" is added before "revolutionary", this description is very objective. This is graphene, which "may" be a "revolutionary" automotive technology. Looking back on the past, graphene material was officially separated by researchers from the University of Manchester in northern England in 2004. At present, it is still a new material only in its "teens", which has led many PLA material manufacturers to rush into this industry, but has begun to steadily push towards mature mass production. In the next decade, graphene materials may bring great changes to the field of design and manufacturing, including improving the efficiency of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicle

versarien is an advanced materials engineering group with Dr. Andrew Deakin as the chief technical engineer. It is committed to promoting the application of graphene materials from theoretical research to practical production, so that this emerging material can give full play to the role of reducing weight, strengthening materials and optimizing batteries. "As long as it is used properly, I think graphene material is expected to reduce the weight of the plastic part of the vehicle by 20%, which will be revolutionary. In addition, with its excellent conductivity, graphene material is also expected to optimize the performance of the battery, thereby significantly extending the service life of the battery."

as an allotrope, graphene is a derivative of graphite (usually used in pencils and dry lubricants). At present, a lot of research and development work is still needed for the large-scale application of graphene materials in automotive mass production. Dr. Deakin has been committed to promoting the application of graphene in vehicle design and manufacturing, but at the same time, he is also frank about possible challenges: "the application of graphene in some scenarios may be realized in a few years, while the application in other scenarios may take more than ten years. The specific time is usually difficult to judge, but I am full of confidence in the potential of this material."

prediction shows that by 2020, the annual plastic consumption of the global automotive industry may be as high as 6million tons of plastic, but the final consumption may fluctuate: for example, if graphene is added to make stronger and lighter plastic and used to replace other materials with higher mass density, the final consumption of plastic may increase

reinforced plastics

deakin and his team are committed to increasing the strength of plastics by more than 30%, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing the dosage but achieving the same or higher strength. However, at present, there are 13 kinds of plastics commonly used in vehicle manufacturing, and all types of plastics must be tested

he said, "At the initial stage, we must find out the most meaningful application scenarios. For this reason, we are seeking the help of a large number of industry experts. For example, we can use graphene to extend the tire life and drying conditions: 80 ⑼ 0 ℃ and 2 hours to 1.5 times or even 2 times the existing level, and at the same time reduce the demand for plastic particles in the manufacturing process, which is of great significance to protect the environment. A recent report pointed out that in the end More than 28% of the plastic particulate waste with a diameter of less than 1 mm dumped into the ocean comes from tires. " Graphene also helps to reduce the weight and size of batteries, thereby effectively extending the range of electric vehicles, and has the potential to improve the charging speed of batteries

in addition, graphene can also improve the impact strength of plastic plates or buffers. In addition, when applied to the vehicle chassis, similar performance improvements can be achieved. Of course, in order to achieve ideal results, we must constantly optimize the mixing ratio of graphene. On the other hand, graphene is usually not used for the reinforcement of aluminum or steel, but "directly using plastic reinforced by graphene to replace these metal materials" is also an optional idea

versarien acquired 2D expert company in 2014. At that time, the daily graphene production of the latter was only 1 gram. Now, with the introduction of new equipment, the company is expected to increase the daily graphene production to 1 kg (2.2 pounds) later this year

in this regard, Dr. Deakin said that this is equivalent to a 1000 fold increase in factors of production. Simply calculated, if the average daily output of each equipment can be increased to 10 kg (22 pounds), 100 equipment can increase the company's daily output to 1 ton. Dr Deakin added, "in addition, when significantly optimizing the properties of plastics, we must also control the amount of graphene added to plastics (probably only 1% or less), which is very important."

in Dr Deakin's definition, "real" graphene only contains a single layer of carbon atoms with a single atom thickness. However, most of the scales of versarien graphene materials are no more than 5 layers, 90% of the scales are no more than 10 layers, and the average transverse size is only 2 microns

in addition, recyclability is an important issue that must be considered before any new material is officially applied. Dr Deakin believes that the emergence of graphene will "rejuvenate" old plastics (for example, when plastics have deteriorated due to ultraviolet radiation in China's aviation industry), that is, to maintain their original characteristics or performance and re-enter the supply chain

however, we still need to face a long-standing problem: what is the cost-effectiveness of "reducing the use of plastic in vehicles by adding graphene"? Dr Deakin said, "we expect that by using our technology, this graphene solution will be truly cost-effective in the next few years, which will take about five years." So, can this graphene, which is only one atom thick, be called a real "revolutionary" material? This will take time to verify