The modern world has a problem with waste. Up to a third of all the food we produce is thrown out, and millions of pieces of plastic enter our oceans every day. However, one group of scientists may have a solution to both of these problems – turn it all into graphene.
Graphene is a form of carbon, like the graphite found in lead pencils, but only one atom thick. Researchers at Rice University in Texas have found a way of converting carbon-based material, including plastic, food and coal, into particles of graphene.
They do this by rapidly passing an electric current through the material, which causes flash heating to almost three thousand degrees Celsius. This breaks down all the carbon into flakes of graphene, which can be used for a wide range of engineering purposes.
The team is now working on how to upscale this method to process more material quickly. Maybe soon we’ll have a new way of getting rid of our waste.
Lachlan Writes Science 