Trash to graphene in a flash - Better buildings through bananas

With support from the National Science Foundation, chemists have discovered a way to convert just about any carbon source, including food waste, coal and plastic, into graphene — the strongest material known. Ten milliseconds later you’ve got a material that can be used to strengthen concrete, reduce manufacturing cost and decrease environmental impacts. Could also be used to improve plastics, paints, metals and more, all while decreasing our carbon footprint and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Like I said, banana peels build buildings.

For more information about this story:
https://news.rice.edu/2020/01/27/rice-lab-turns-trash-into-valuable-graphene-in-a-flash/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1938-0

https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1605848
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1709051

WHO DID THE RESEARCH:
Rice University, Universal Matter Ltd., C-Crete Technologies

CREDITS:
Rice University, Jeff Fitlow, Stockerz/Shutterstock.com, W. Scott McGill/Shutterstock.com, Awadry/Shutterstock.com