Is Graphene The Cure For Microplastics?

Dear Reader,

You’ve been hearing a lot about graphene lately — much of it, if you’re one of our subscribers, directly from me. 

But here’s a fact I’m betting you’ve never heard before: graphene is one of the most environmentally non-disruptive materials in existence. 

Made of pure carbon, which is naturally occurring and non-toxic, graphene does not do the single most dangerous thing which modern plastics are famous for: It does not produce harmful byproducts as it breaks down. 

Microplastics, which can be as small as a micrometer in width and invisible to the naked eye, have been found in trace quantities in 94% of tap water samples collected from around the world.

Linked to increased cancer risk, DNA damage and birth defects, this contamination has already become global as an estimated ten million tons of plastic refuse enters the world’s oceans every year.

Each ounce of that 10,000 tons will start to decay into microplastic residue in as little as ten years… And continue to disintegrate for centuries.

This residue is gradually absorbed back into the environment, getting into our food and water supply, and into our bodies.

It's Probably Already Inside You

Graphene would never pose this risk, and being much easier to recycle than plastic, the economic benefits would cut down on waste altogether. 

But let's back up a bit.

I’m not telling you all this because I’m trying go advocate for a graphene takeover of the disposable container industry — though the idea does have plenty of merit. 

I’m telling you only to point out yet another beneficial property of the world’s first mass produced 2-dimensional nano-structure. 

The one crucial, and conspicuously missing piece of the puzzle is cost-effectiveness. 

A decade ago, graphene could cost as much as twice the price of gold, per ounce, to produce. 

Recent breakthroughs in production methodology is changing all of that now, allowing for a once experimental, space-age material to become a potentially universal ingredient to everything from common household items, to high-performance, high precision aircraft and spacecraft components. 

The Difference Science Experiment And Ubiquitous Technology Is Cost

One company in particular has mastered the process for creating some of the world’s best and cheapest graphene from natural gas.

These breakthroughs have opened doors in new product lines, and the company behind this revolutionary manufacturing technology specializes in graphene coatings and graphene-based rechargeable batteries.

I’m sure you’ve read about the batteries in past articles, and they are incredibly impressive when compared to lithium-ion counterparts, but I believe the real story here is the production process itself. 

I began by talking about how graphene could, theoretically, benefit the world if existed in place of today’s ubiquitous plastics. 

The truth is, none of this has to be theoretical at all. 

Forget Hypersonic Jets And Space Elevators… Your Water Bottle Will Be Made Of Graphene

Once the price falls far enough, you will see graphene begin to replace common items, and with that, our reliance on petroleum-based plastics will begin to come to an end. 

That is the way of industry and economics. Plastic itself was once an experimental and prohibitively expensive for any high-volume applications. 

Today it's cheap enough to toss into the ocean after a single use.

The company that’s doing this and developing the revolutionary graphene batteries I mentioned earlier is based in Brisbane Australia, but its stock trades here in North America on two major exchanges. 

You’re not going to hear much about them outside of specialized publications, but today’s graphene producers are going to be the owners of tomorrow’s world. 

And so will their shareholders. 

Get all the relevant info, right here.