Scientists Have Come Up With A Way To Recycle Old Tires Into Graphene. It Makes Concrete Very Durable

2023 Author: Natalie MacDonald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 02:36

Researchers at Rice University of America have developed a new way to extract graphene from tire recycling. According to New Atlas, this is for the benefit of the environment, and you can add a substance to concrete, and this makes it stronger.

• Scientists relied on previous experiments in which Joule heating is used to make graphene. Almost any carbon-containing substance can be heated to more than 2700 degrees Celsius with an electric discharge. As a result, the so-called turbostatic graphene is formed. Its layers are imperfectly aligned, which makes it easier to integrate into composite materials.
• Previously, the technique was practiced in the processing of food and plastic. Now - and for their tires. Trying to extract graphene right away is bad. But now scientists have decided to take as a raw material the result of the primary processing of tires - pyrolysis. This is combustion at a low oxygen content, after which oil, which is widely used in industry, and a solid carbon residue are released.

• The latter could not be thought of as a worthy use before. Rice University discovered that it produces a high percentage of graphene. It is enough to add it in a small amount to concrete to make it 30% stronger. There are several advantages. Old tires are efficiently recycled, polluting the environment less. Increasing the strength of concrete works for the same: it can be used less and, therefore, produced less, reducing emissions into the atmosphere. And, of course, improving the characteristics of concrete.
• A year ago, the British agency Emissions Analytics found that ordinary car tires, when in use, emit 1,000 times more hazardous particles into the atmosphere than engine exhaust gases. Experts conducted an experiment: they drove on a popular family hatchback with a Euro 6d engine. By measuring the level of emissions of harmful particles, they found that 5.8 grams of harmful particles are emitted per kilometer, which is 1289 times more than the emission limit for a modern engine (4.5 milligrams per kilometer).