Graphene Concrete is Here

Earlier this week, researchers at University of Virginia announced that they had made significant progress in perfecting a 3D-printable, graphene-enhanced concrete. 

The material, which is a cocktail of graphene, limestone and calcined clay cement, is said to be lighter, stronger, and easier to work with. It’s also easier on the environment to produce with a 31% decrease in carbon emissions over traditional concrete.

Osman Ozbulut, a professor at UVA’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, commented in an interview with TechXplore. 

“Our goal was to design a printable concrete that performs better and is more eco-friendly. The addition of graphene to LC2 cement offers a unique opportunity to lower carbon emissions while maintaining the strength and flexibility required for 3D printed construction.” 

Though still deep in research and development, graphene-supplemented concrete could become a staple of the construction industry in the not-too distant future. 

For the last several months, I’ve been harping on the rapidly developing graphene market with one of my primary premises being that graphene’s next step is to become an essential component of every-day goods and materials. 

Graphene Isn’t Here Until It’s Everywhere

And with this news, another bit of the puzzle falls into place. 

Now, to those who’ve been following the story for the last decade or so, the promises of graphene has been lofty to say the least. 

Back in the mid 2010s, we were told to expect space-elevators and thousand pound street cars courtesy of the world’s first mass-produced nanostructure, but the real revolution isn’t in the novelties… It’s in the casual. 

Perhaps the most casual of all currently popular technologies is the ubiquitous rechargeable battery. 

It’s in everything that makes our modern lives tick, and it’s gaining more market share every day as renewable energy becomes more prevalent, and EVs slowly move to replace ICE vehicles. 

A lithium-free, graphene based battery, however, has been elusive. 

Though you’ve probably seen plenty of ‘graphene batteries’ advertised online, there’s currently nothing on the market employing graphene in any essential role. 

Typically, there are graphene parts in the battery casing, or something to that effect, with actual charging and discharging still left to good old lithium. 

No Battery Like It On The Market Today

Right now, however, that’s all changing. 

There’s a company operating out of Queensland, Australia that’s well on the way to a commercial-ready lithium free, graphene based rechargeable battery. 

These batteries, which are in advanced testing at the company’s Brisbane facility, promise 3-5 times the charge capacity and operational life compared to today’s high-performance lithium batteries. They’ll also be a 70x improvement in charge speed. 

That means charging a phone or a car will take less than a minute. 

Seems almost magical, right? Well, the reality of graphene is that when used effectively, it does have the ability to improve performance by orders of magnitude. 

These batteries are not on the market yet, but next year, that may change. 

The first batteries to appear will be in a small coin and pouch format. Ultimately, the company behind this innovation plans to expand to cover all classes of consumer goods — including cars. 

Will Graphene Unseat The $250B/Year Lithium Battery Market

If that were to happen, graphene could end up killing off the lithium-ion industry altogether, like DVDs killing VHS. 

One year they’ll be here, and the next year, they’ll be museum pieces. 

The thing is, at the moment, analysts aren’t prediciting a lithium market collapse. In fact, they’re predicting rapid growth for years to come, with annual sales crossing the quarter-trillion dollar mark by the end of the decade.

That’s what’s at stake here.

This company is itself a fairly early stage operation, so I doubt you’ve heard of them. But make no mistake, the industry is keeping a close watch over these graphene-based batteries. 

These innovations are simply too compelling, and everyone’s got a dog in the fight — particularly the Chinese, who stand to lose trillions if the battery industry starts to move away from lithium. 

Want to learn more? I would if I were you. 

This company may be flying under the radar, but it’s also trading on 2 North American exchanges, which means that anybody who catches wind of the work they’re doing can own shares within minutes. 

You don’t want to miss this story.