Graphene enhances the properties of plastics while reducing raw material usage by 30 percent.
Gerdau Graphene, a nanotechnology company that provides advanced graphene-enhanced materials for industrial applications, announced that it has created next-generation graphene-enhanced plastics for polymer at a Brazilian government-funded Center for Advanced Materials in São Paulo, Brazil. The new graphene-enhanced polymeric resin masterbatch formulation for propylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) was created in collaboration with the Brazilian EMBRAPI SENAI/SP Advanced Materials division, and is currently undergoing a series of industrial application trials at the Gerdau Graphene facility. New thermoplastic products produced using these formulations will be stronger and offer better overall performance while being cheaper to produce and generating significantly less waste throughout the value chain.
Graphene, considered the strongest substance on earth, is a dense sheet of carbon 1 to 10 atoms thick that can be modified for a variety of uses and added to industrial materials. Since its discovery in 2004, graphene’s extraordinary chemical, physical, electrical, thermal and mechanical properties have attracted worldwide attention, and its discoverer has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Graphene can be mixed with plastics, giving the plastic masterbatch incredible strength, making the combined plastic even stronger. In addition to improving physical and mechanical properties, graphene enhances barrier properties to liquids and gases, protects against weathering, oxidation, and UV rays, and improves electrical and thermal conductivity.
Post time: Sep-05-2022