Graphene might finally be coming

[ergophobe]

Paywall if you are past your free allotment:
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2022/05/18/the-wonder-material-graphene-may-have-found-its-killer-app

Summary from the newsletter, which should be open access, though evidently tracked given 160-char hash in the URL
Click here

[ergophobe]

BTW... the short version is

1. that they are finding cheap ways to make it from waste products like methane from trash and old tires and coal ash

2. and the killer app might be concrete

Yet if less than 0.1% by weight of graphene is added to the mixture, concrete ends up 30% stronger. And stronger concrete means less of it is needed, with a consequent reduction in CO2.

[rcjordan]

>  killer app might be concrete

The only thing we use more of is water.

[ergophobe]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/graphene-concrete-is-quietly-rewriting-every-rule-in-construction/ar-AA1VwgYA

"The shift is still early, but on test slabs, factory lines, and university campuses, graphene concrete is already rewriting the assumptions that have governed construction for decades."

[Brad]

Very useful for everything.  If 3D printed houses catch on this is coming along at the right time.