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This New Graphene Invention Makes Filthy Seawater Drinkable in One Simple Step

Posted: 02-20-2018 02:48 AM
by Doka
Graphene/Graphair and all of the little "Graph" family connections, has become really a remarkable nano-substance! That has some really cool benefits!


This New Graphene Invention Makes Filthy Seawater Drinkable in One Simple Step


2.1 billion people still don't have safe drinking water.

MICHELLE STARR 16 FEB 2018

Using a type of graphene called Graphair, scientists from Australia have created a water filter that can make highly polluted seawater drinkable after just one pass.

The technology could be used to cheaply provide safe drinking water to regions of the world without access to it.

"It can replace the complex, time consuming and multi-stage processes currently needed with a single step."

Developed by researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Graphair is a form of graphene made out of soybean oil.

Graphene - a one-atom-thick, ultrastrong carbon material - might be touted as a supermaterial, but it's been relatively expensive to produce, which has been limiting its use in broader applications.

Graphair is cheaper and simpler to produce than more traditional graphene manufacturing methods, while retaining the properties of graphene.

One of those properties is hydrophobia - graphene repels water.

To turn it into a filter, the researchers developed a graphene film with microscopic nanochannels; these allow the water through, but stop larger pollutants with larger molecules.



https://www.sciencealert.com/graphene-f ... e-seawater

Re: This New Graphene Invention Makes Filthy Seawater Drinkable in One Simple Step

Posted: 02-20-2018 03:02 AM
by Doka
Awsome! Perhaps this can be a helpful answer to our garbage problem!




CSIRO makes high-quality graphene with soybeans

Graphene is a carbon material that is one atom thick.

Its thin composition and high conductivity means it is used in applications ranging from miniaturised electronics to biomedical devices.

These properties also enable thinner wire connections; providing extensive benefits for computers, solar panels, batteries, sensors and other devices.

Until now, the high cost of graphene production has been the major roadblock in its commercialisation.

Previously, graphene was grown in a highly-controlled environment with explosive compressed gases, requiring long hours of operation at high temperatures and extensive vacuum processing.

CSIRO scientists have developed a novel “GraphAir” technology which eliminates the need for such a highly-controlled environment.

The technology grows graphene film in ambient air with a natural precursor, making its production faster and simpler.

“This ambient-air process for graphene fabrication is fast, simple, safe, potentially scalable, and integration-friendly,” CSIRO scientist Dr Zhao Jun Han, co-author of the paper published today in Nature Communications  said.

“Our unique technology is expected to reduce the cost of graphene production and improve the uptake in new applications.”

GraphAir transforms soybean oil – a renewable, natural material - into graphene films in a single step.

“Our GraphAir technology results in good and transformable graphene properties, comparable to graphene made by conventional methods,” CSIRO scientist and co-author of the study Dr Dong Han Seo said.

With heat, soybean oil breaks down into a range of carbon building units that are essential for the synthesis of graphene.

The team also transformed other types of renewable and even waste oil, such as those leftover from barbecues or cooking, into graphene films.

“We can now recycle waste oils that would have otherwise been discarded and transform them into something useful,” Dr Seo said.

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https://www.csiro.au/en/News/News-relea ... h-soybeans