Graphene opens new horizons in the world of emerging technology

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Graphene is a wonder material, which is currently the centre of research for all the incubators as well as aspiring accelerators across the globe. The last decade has been full of quite confabulations regarding to this wonder material. It’s scientific definition can be somewhat complex for many, but the truth is that the property of this material opens new horizons in the world of emerging technology.

For it to continue to grow, the first step is making it cost-effective and sustainable, and making graphene something that can be mass produced. Easier said than done and soon enough, we will start seeing greater developments in this area.

Dr. Kumar Gautam (Founder and President of QRACE) and Dr Indu Tripathi (Research Director of Nanotechnology & Energy Department-QRACE), among some of the Graphene/Nano-material combinations include the ability to power electric vehicles to travel at a range of 800 km, allow ultrafast photonics computer chips to run on light instead of electricity, water desalination, create flexible smartphone or smart wearables displays, and (maybe cooler of them all) be the basis of super-sensitive elastomer skin for robots.

They further say “QRACE is actively involved and jointly working on various projects in different fields including Quantum, Energy and Nanotechnology. With COVID-19  acting as a catalyst,  Govt of India has also launched many projects for startups in different sectors, a number of groups are conducting exciting experiments in applying graphene in various fields of electronics and other opportunities are present as well. Likewise, we can also use the material for concrete and road surfaces to create composites with greatly improved performance capabilities and, as result, reducing their respective carbon footprints throughout the supply chain.

This will be of great interest towards the dream of our Honourable Prime Minister which includes business aspects of India with Middle East and Africa, where India is involved in different business sectors as new ambitious capital investments continue to drive the construction and infrastructure sectors.

60 MT of CO2 reduced by graphene

The use of graphene in concrete, for example, can make this building material stronger, more water-resistant and eco-friendly – and it is estimated that around 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year could be saved by using graphene-enhanced concrete in these regions.

Another graphene application that could have a huge impact is the development of advanced water filtration and much more efficient and effective desalination systems. This improved type of membrane infrastructure could supply the fresh water that is much needed by urban communities already feeling the impact of global warming.

So, we can start to imagine electronic vehicles with graphene-based batteries, solar panels and windmills using graphene based materials and so on. For instance, charging points that are embedded across our road network – and every time an electric car comes to a stop at traffic lights or rests in a parking space it can be charged in situ. If the vehicles of the future were using hybrid energy storage – that is, a battery power train with a graphene-enhanced super-capacitors unit – then they could be rapidly charged as their drivers happily go about town. And those batteries and super-capacitors would, of course, feature new materials that enable them to operate far more effectively compared to the energy storage devices, we are obliged to use today’s built assets.

Building a greener future

Similar advances could be made with sensor technology, which will also be highly critical if cities are to achieve the required connectivity levels needed to become smarter, more efficient and ultimately greener.

Graphene and advanced materials therefore have a huge role to play in building a better and greener future. With the call for new investment in green technology, we believe we should be thinking of advanced materials as among the most important underpinning technologies to revitalise our battered economies and, ultimately, deliver better, more sustainably future-proofed lives for us all.

As mentioned before, the isolation of graphene seemed to almost herald the coming of a miracle. But, by overcoming the hindrances, graphene is good to go. Like many other great future expectations, working and researching helped to consistently make it better and more likeable to be used. After all, there is plenty of unexplored potential for graphene.

Let us hope, then, that graphene based solar technology and the future dreams be reality soon, which will feedback into a growing Graphene-based economy and help to stimulate a pipeline to support research and applications well into the future.