Curved Graphene: Exploring the Future Potential of a New Material

Graphene, known as ”black gold”, is a pure carbon atom material extracted from graphite. Although it is as thin as a cicada’s wing, it is surprisingly strong and has good electrical and thermal conductivity. Graphene is known as the “King of materials in the 21st century” for its wide application prospects in materials science, energy, biomedicine, and other fields. The new material is used for various purposes: satellites, automobiles, and overhead crane.

Curved graphene process flow

Curved graphene is used in supercapacitors. This kind of energy storage equipment can be charged and discharged quickly and is most suitable for use in the automotive, transportation, or aerospace fields. This graphene product is used in supercapacitor batteries. A supercapacitor is an energy storage system. Compared with traditional batteries, the output power of the former in the shortest possible time is much larger to 1000 amps or higher, and it can also store electricity. The above functions are derived from the electrode material in the supercapacitor. There is a difference in the working mechanism between this electrode material and the material in the battery: in the battery, lithium ions completely penetrate the particles, while in the capacitor, lithium ions only use their surface. The surface area must be large, and graphene plays a key role here: the surface area of carbon materials is large and has a special structure. Unlike traditional two-dimensional graphene, curved graphene is bent to prevent particles from sticking to each other. After particle adhesion occurs, it will block the originally available surface area. The material containing carbon has been modified for a long time, and in the end, only carbon remains. In this process, the surface composed of carbon atoms is bent, like a crumpled piece of paper.

Applied to satellites

Supercapacitors and curved graphene are favored in many application fields, including transportation, logistics, automotive, and aerospace. In a pilot project, the European Space Agency tried a variety of high-performance energy storage systems for satellite application scenarios. Polman said that when an application requires a lot of energy in the shortest possible time (such as radar pulses), the above-mentioned system will play an important role.

This supercapacitor not only has the characteristics of releasing a lot of energy in a short period, but another major advantage is that it can be recharged frequently. Traditional batteries can generally withstand about 500 to 1,000 recharges, while the number of recharges of this kind of supercapacitor can reach one million times. Polman emphasized that the purpose of developing this product is not to replace batteries.“Supercapacitors don’t have enough energy, so they can’t replace batteries.”Companies prefer to combine these two technologies and use the technology combination in hybrid-driven vehicles to ensure the peak power consumption requirements as much as possible in the process of rapid braking and acceleration. In particular, it is worth studying the application of hydrogen energy vehicles. The fuel cells of hydrogen energy vehicles cannot absorb energy again. Concept cars in this area have already come out, and the success of fuel cell technology directly determines whether the automotive field can start mass production in the short term.

Used in automobiles

Such vehicles are playing an increasingly important role in the transition from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles. Technology is a top priority, especially in the automotive field. The focus of technology development is to recover braking energy as much as possible, while also reducing emissions. With the progress of science and technology, new energy vehicles are entering the track of accelerated development. As the battery of the “heart” of new energy vehicles, it plays a decisive role in the range and charging efficiency, and battery safety has become a key factor and core performance index restricting the development of new energy vehicles. Graphene batteries have become the dawn of technological breakthroughs with their ultra-light, super-strong, superconducting, and low-resistance characteristics.

Graphene is not only the hardest material in the world with the highest thermal conductivity but also the material with the smallest resistance in the world. It can be made lightweight, durable, suitable for high-capacity energy storage batteries, and can greatly shorten the charging time. It is an ideal battery material. According to research, the power storage of graphene batteries can reach three times that of existing products. At the same time, they have a longer service life, shorter charging time, and safer performance, which can bring a qualitative leap in the battery life of electric vehicles.

Graphene itself has excellent electrical and thermal conductivity properties. The principle of the battery is the redox reaction of the positive and negative electrodes. In this process, graphene enters the battery panel with nanoscale particles and fills the voids by “electronic bridging”. At the same time, with the high conductivity of graphene, the battery produces less heat resistance, low energy loss, and increased discharge, which greatly improves the charge and discharge efficiency. Compared with traditional lithium batteries, in an environment of high heat load, the thermal conductivity of curved graphene is more prominent, and the solid electrolyte can effectively prevent the risk of short circuits and combustion that the liquid electrolyte may cause.

Used in cranes

The graphene-toughened melamine flame-retardant sound-absorbing foam material is used in the overhead crane. It is characterized in that it is prepared from the following raw materials by weight: melamine, 37% formaldehyde solution, polyoxymethylene, flake graphite, concentrated H2SO4, NaNO3, KMnO4, 30% H2O2 solution, 1,1‑bis (tert-butyl peroxy) cyclohexane, tert-butyl benzoate peroxide, vinyl acetate, toluene, ethanol, sodium methyl silicate, P-hydroxybenzoic acid, chloroform, trimethyl phenol phosphate, N-pentane, the right amount of oxalic acid, the right amount of 5% HCl, the right amount Hexamethyltetraamine, an appropriate amount of deionized water. The material has excellent flame retardant properties, good sound absorption ability, and noise reduction greater than 10 dB.

The flame-retardant and sound-absorbing material uses melamine as the main raw material, which itself has flame retardant, heat insulation, moisture, and heat resistance, without the need to add additional flame retardant; under weak alkali conditions, melamine can react with formaldehyde to form hydroxymethyl melamine, polyvinyl alcohol reacts with the terminal hydroxyl group of hydroxymethyl melamine, and a carbon chain is added between the two triazine groups of the melamine resin to increase the distance between the rigid rings; P-hydroxybenzoic acid is used to graft and replace polyvinyl alcohol, and flexible segments are introduced into the melamine formaldehyde resin, and flexible segments are interspersed in three dimensions. In the structure, improve the performance of melamine formaldehyde resin, thereby solving the problems of melamine foam foaming difficulties and increasing the flexibility of melamine foam; use the rich oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface of graphene oxide to form a supramolecular system with melamine molecules to increase the strength of the foam material. At the same time, graphene oxide is reduced to graphene, which can reduce the content of free formaldehyde in the foam material and reduce the harm of the material to the human body.

Graphene building tower crane

The crane relates to a graphene building tower crane, which belongs to the application technology field of new materials and new energy construction machinery. Graphene is used to manufacture the crane’s tower body, lifting arm, balance arm, front cable-stayed horizontal load-bearing rope, vertical hanging rope, vertical hook, and rear cable-stayed horizontal load-bearing rope. Install the graphene tower body on a concrete fixed basis, install the graphene lifting arm and graphene balance arm in the upper part of the graphene tower body, install the balance weight on the graphene balance arm, and install the operation room above the combination of the graphene tower body and the graphene lifting arm, install the wind gauge at the top of the graphene tower body, install the graphene vertical hanging rope below the front end of the graphene lifting arm, and install the graphene vertical hook at the lower end of the graphene vertical hanging rope. The front end of the graphene lifting arm is connected to the top of the graphene tower body through the graphene front cable-stayed horizontal load-bearing rope, and the rear end of the graphene balance arm is connected to the top of the graphene tower body through the graphene rear cable-stayed horizontal load-bearing rope.

Summary

In short, curved graphene represents an exciting frontier in materials science, offering a range of possibilities that can revolutionize industries from electronics to energy storage. Its unique characteristics, including increased flexibility, strength, and electrical conductivity, make it a game changer for future technology. As research continues to tap its full potential, this innovative material can pave the way for breakthroughs in various fields. The future of curved graphene is bright, and its impact on the technical field may be far-reaching.

In conclusion, curved graphene represents an exciting frontier in material science, offering a range of possibilities that could revolutionize industries from electronics to energy storage. Its unique properties, including increased flexibility, strength, and conductivity, position it as a game-changer for future technologies. As research continues to uncover its full potential, this innovative material can pave the way for groundbreaking advancements in various fields. The future of curved graphene is bright, and its impact on the technological landscape could be profound, making it a material worth watching closely in the future.