The Power of Flash Graphene: Turning Trash into Treasure

We waste a lot of food, and it's a staggering number according to the United Nations - about a third of all food worldwide goes to waste. But what if you could turn something like this into something ah like this? This idea kinda reminds you of Mr. Fusion from Back to the Future but scientists at Rice University have developed a method for turning virtually any material into valuable graphene.

Graphene, also known as "wonder material," is essentially a thin layer of graphite that's one of the strongest materials in the universe. In fact, it's 200 times stronger than steel. So how do you make this wonder material from trash? Professor James Tor and his team start by placing the source material, which is really anything carbon-based, between two electrodes. Then they hit it with a short electrical pulse that instantaneously heats the material to about 3,000 degrees centigrade. All the non-carbon elements come distilling or subliming out, and the only thing that remains is carbon. As it cools, it reconstructs so that it forms the most thermodynamically stable form of carbon, which is graphene sheets.

The whole process takes just about 10 milliseconds, which is why Tor calls it flash graphene. This is one of those discovered by accident moments in science - one of Tor's grad students, Dewey Long, stumbled on the technique while he was experimenting with carbon. So what was your reaction the first time that you saw tangible results when he brought it to me? I knew immediately how big this was going to be. It was one of those exciting moments you get and get a few of those in a career when you look at something and you go wow, this can really influence humanity for the good.

The upside here is pretty staggering. Right now, graphene can cost up to $200,000 per ton, but the flash graphene process is cheap and simple - it can be done with just about any source material, not just food waste. The great thing environmentally about this is that most of the trash we generate as humans is made out of carbon, so we eat carbon and all our plastic bottles and plastic is made out of carbon. We can take now plastic waste and turn it into graphene very inexpensively for about a hundred dollars in electricity per ton.

The team says that by adding less than 1% of flash graphene to concrete, it could strengthen the concrete by 35%, which means less concrete is needed during construction - cutting the carbon footprint according to rice cement production. The environmental benefits don't stop there. Flash graphene creates a cleaner use for coal rather than burning it and it creates a use for stuff that would otherwise just go sit in a landfill.

You might be wondering about that excess gas that's left over. Well, Tour even says that valuable elements like oxygen and nitrogen could be collected and used for other things. And because the process is so quick, it doesn't produce a ton of heat - in fact, you can touch that container with your finger just a few seconds after the flash.

Tour isn't the only one to see the massive potential here - he's got a grant from the Department of Energy to scale up the process along with a start-up called Universal Matter. Their hope is that they can build lots of systems and put them all around the world and deal with waste human waste food waste so what do you think is this the future of graphene or will it be gone in a flash? Let us know in the comments and if you've got an idea for what the future tweet me.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe waste a lot of food you've probably heard the numbers according to the United Nations about a third of all food worldwide goes to waste but what if you could turn something like this into something ah like this this idea kinda reminds you of mr. fusion from Back to the Future but scientists at Rice University have developed a method for turning virtually any material into valuable graphene now if you're not familiar with graphene it's been dubbed a kind of wonder material it's essentially a thin layer of graphite but it's one of the strongest materials in the universe in fact it's 200 times stronger than steel all right so how do you make this Wonder material from trash well professor James tor and his team start by placing the source material which is really anything carbon-based between two electrodes then they hit it with a short electrical pulse that instantaneously heats the material to about 3,000 degrees centigrade all the non carbon elements come distilling or subliming out and the only thing that remains is carbon and then as it cools it reconstructs so that it forms the the most thermodynamically stable form of carbon which is graphene sheets of graphene the whole process takes just about 10 milliseconds that's why tor calls it flash graphene now this is one of those discovered by accident moments in science one of torus grad students Dewey long stumbled on the technique while he was experimenting with carbon and so the impacts here seem pretty massive so what was your reaction the first time that you saw tangible results when he brought it to me I knew immediately how big this was going to be it was one of those exciting moments you get and get a few of those in a career when you look at something and you go wow this this can really influence humanity for the good the upside here is pretty staggering right now graphene can cost up to $200,000 per ton but the flash graphene process is cheap and simple it can be done with just about any source material not just food waste and the great thing environmentally about this is is most of the trash that we generate as humans is made out of carbon so we eat carbon and all our plastic bottles and plastic is made out of carbon and we can take now plastic waste and turn it into graphene very inexpensively for about a hundred dollars one hundred dollars in electricity per ton now back to that cinderblock the team says by adding less than 1% of flash graphene to concrete it could strengthen the concrete by 35% that means less concrete is needed during construction cutting the carbon footprint according to rice cement production is to blame for as much as 8% of human-made carbon dioxide and the environmental benefits don't stop there flash graphene creates a cleaner use for coal rather than burning it and it creates a use for stuff that would otherwise just go sit in a landfill and you might be wondering about that excess gas that's left over well tour even says that valuable elements like oxygen and nitrogen could be collected and used for other things and because the process is so quick it doesn't produce a ton of heat in fact you can touch that container with your finger just a few seconds after the flash and tour isn't the only one to see the massive potential here he's got a grant from the Department of Energy to scale up the process along with a start-up called universal matter our hope is that we can build lots of systems and put them all around the world and deal with waste human waste food waste so what do you think is this the future of graphene or will it be gone in a flash let us know in the comments and if you've got an idea for what the future tweet me that's it for this week I'm Andy Alton I'll see you in the futurewe waste a lot of food you've probably heard the numbers according to the United Nations about a third of all food worldwide goes to waste but what if you could turn something like this into something ah like this this idea kinda reminds you of mr. fusion from Back to the Future but scientists at Rice University have developed a method for turning virtually any material into valuable graphene now if you're not familiar with graphene it's been dubbed a kind of wonder material it's essentially a thin layer of graphite but it's one of the strongest materials in the universe in fact it's 200 times stronger than steel all right so how do you make this Wonder material from trash well professor James tor and his team start by placing the source material which is really anything carbon-based between two electrodes then they hit it with a short electrical pulse that instantaneously heats the material to about 3,000 degrees centigrade all the non carbon elements come distilling or subliming out and the only thing that remains is carbon and then as it cools it reconstructs so that it forms the the most thermodynamically stable form of carbon which is graphene sheets of graphene the whole process takes just about 10 milliseconds that's why tor calls it flash graphene now this is one of those discovered by accident moments in science one of torus grad students Dewey long stumbled on the technique while he was experimenting with carbon and so the impacts here seem pretty massive so what was your reaction the first time that you saw tangible results when he brought it to me I knew immediately how big this was going to be it was one of those exciting moments you get and get a few of those in a career when you look at something and you go wow this this can really influence humanity for the good the upside here is pretty staggering right now graphene can cost up to $200,000 per ton but the flash graphene process is cheap and simple it can be done with just about any source material not just food waste and the great thing environmentally about this is is most of the trash that we generate as humans is made out of carbon so we eat carbon and all our plastic bottles and plastic is made out of carbon and we can take now plastic waste and turn it into graphene very inexpensively for about a hundred dollars one hundred dollars in electricity per ton now back to that cinderblock the team says by adding less than 1% of flash graphene to concrete it could strengthen the concrete by 35% that means less concrete is needed during construction cutting the carbon footprint according to rice cement production is to blame for as much as 8% of human-made carbon dioxide and the environmental benefits don't stop there flash graphene creates a cleaner use for coal rather than burning it and it creates a use for stuff that would otherwise just go sit in a landfill and you might be wondering about that excess gas that's left over well tour even says that valuable elements like oxygen and nitrogen could be collected and used for other things and because the process is so quick it doesn't produce a ton of heat in fact you can touch that container with your finger just a few seconds after the flash and tour isn't the only one to see the massive potential here he's got a grant from the Department of Energy to scale up the process along with a start-up called universal matter our hope is that we can build lots of systems and put them all around the world and deal with waste human waste food waste so what do you think is this the future of graphene or will it be gone in a flash let us know in the comments and if you've got an idea for what the future tweet me that's it for this week I'm Andy Alton I'll see you in the future\n"