Often referred to as a \u201cmiracle material,\u201d graphene is one million times thinner than a single human hair and stronger than steel. <\/p>\n
The two-dimensional carbon material, made from single layers of graphite, a material mined from the ground, is extremely lightweight, conductive, and flexible, and has the potential to deliver transformational technologies across industries, from electronics to transportation. <\/p>\n
Now, researchers at Khalifa University in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are exploring another use <\/strong>for graphene: producing drinking <\/strong>water. <\/p>\n \u201cHere in the United Arab Emirates, all of our potable water is actually desalinated water, so it\u2019s a very critical sector of the economy as well as society,\u201d says Hassan Arafat, senior director of the university\u2019s Research & Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC2D). <\/p>\n Desalination is the process of removing salt from seawater, and cleaning the water to make it drinkable. It isn\u2019t just vital in the UAE:\u00a0more than 300 million people globally rely on desalinated water. And as climate change and pollution threaten our limited fresh water supplies, that number will increase. <\/p>\n But desalination is a costly and energy-intensive process. <\/p>\n That\u2019s where graphene comes in: Arafat is working on a graphene-enhanced membrane that could make the process more efficient and cheaper. <\/p>\n \u201cThis year, we have seen a massive number of calamities due to climate change,\u201d says Arafat. \u201cWater shortage is a global problem, and it\u2019s becoming worse by the day. Knowing that we are contributing to the solution of these problems is very fulfilling.\u201d <\/p>\n RIC2D was established in 2022 at Khalifa University, with investment from the government of Abu Dhabi, to further research into graphene innovations and its production. <\/p>\n While Arafat\u2019s role as senior director gives him an overview of many projects, his own research is focused on water. <\/p>\n Arafat <\/strong>says that graphene can extend a membrane\u2019s life by preventing \u201cfouling,\u201d which happens when bacteria accumulate on the filter and degrade the quality. Using graphene to \u201cenhance the performance\u201d of filters could help reduce energy usage and cut costs for desalination, says Arafat. <\/p>\n \u201cEven in small quantities, these graphene materials significantly improve the performance of the membranes in terms of their water production,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n Currently in the development phase, the membranes will be produced and scaled up next year at the UK\u2019s University of Manchester, RIC2D\u2019s partner in graphene research, says Arafat. After that, the membranes will be tested in a desalination plant. <\/p>\n Arafat isn\u2019t the only one looking into graphene as a solution for desalination \u2014 startups like Watercycle Technologies are developing graphene-enhanced membranes to remove specific minerals from water, while Molymem is focused on dye removal \u2014 but Arafat claims that RIC2D\u2019s membrane \u201cout-performs\u201d similar water filters in recent academic literature, and the partnership with the University of Manchester allows them to scale the technology for industrial testing. <\/p>\n RIC2D is also exploring other applications for graphene such as sustainable construction materials with the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and renewable hydrogen energy solutions. <\/p>\n Despite its transformational potential, graphene has proven difficult and expensive to produce at scale. <\/p>\n One way to make it is <\/strong>by removing single layers from graphite, which has restricted its impact on mass-market solutions. However, researchers at RIC2D are working on ways to cut costs and time \u201cwithout compromising the quality,\u201d says Arafat. <\/p>\n Another production method uses plasma chemistry to extract carbon from gases such as methane \u2014 a greenhouse gas made up of carbon and hydrogen \u2014 that are by-products of the oil and gas industry. <\/p>\n The UAE is one of the top oil producers globally, and around 30% of the nation\u2019s GDP comes from hydrocarbons. However, the UAE is eager to diversify its economy and is aiming for zero emissions by 2050. <\/p>\n Graphene could help with both ambitions. <\/p>\n RIC2D collaborated with UK startup Levidian, which developed its own plasma chemistry process to extract carbon from methane. <\/p>\n By leveraging the UAE\u2019s supply chain, there is a \u201cgreat opportunity to accelerate the adoption of graphene in support of climate change,\u201d says James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Manchester, the graphene innovation center at the University of Manchester, <\/strong>which partnered with Khalifa University to establish the RIC2D lab in 2022. <\/p>\n Any carbon-based material \u2014 including waste from the oil and gas industry, or petroleum products like car tires \u2014 could be \u201ceffectively recycled or reused\u201d to create chemically manufactured graphene, says Baker. \u201c(There\u2019s) a lot of interest in the UAE around the supply chain of producing graphene, and we\u2019re working to really scale up production of this material from grams to kilograms to tons.\u201d <\/p>\n There\u2019s an added benefit in producing graphene from a gas like methane: the hydrogen extracted can be used as a fuel, says Baker. He adds that graphene-composite materials could also be used to store hydrogen in stronger pressure vessels. <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not only de-carbonizing the waste, you\u2019re using it, rather than putting it to a landfill or burning in it,\u201d Baker adds.<\/strong> <\/p>\n At the Graphene Flagship Week in September, an initiative funded by the European Union, RIC2D showcased multiple projects that are already on their way to commercialization, including a collaboration with French company Grapheal, which makes graphene-based biosensors, and a partnership with Turkish company NanoGrafen, which explores how to convert waste materials such as used tires into graphene products for composite construction materials. <\/p>\n However, \u201cthe more novel and groundbreaking and life-changing the idea is, the longer the path is to be is likely to be to its final commercialization,\u201d says Arafat. <\/p>\n Arafat hopes that his research can have an impact in the Emirates and beyond. \u201cWhile we\u2019re starting locally, we\u2019re certainly thinking globally,\u201d he says.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n Often referred to as a \u201cmiracle material,\u201d graphene is one million times thinner than a single human hair and stronger than steel. The two-dimensional carbon material, made from single layers of graphite, a material mined from the ground, is extremely lightweight, conductive, and flexible, and has the potential to deliver transformational technologies across industries, from <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Desalination solutions<\/h2>\n
Making graphene from methane<\/h2>\n
Thinking globally<\/h2>\n