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from the mythbusters-approach-to-results dept.
Forget chemicals, catalysts and expensive machinery — a Kansas State University team of physicists has discovered a way to mass-produce graphene with three ingredients: hydrocarbon gas, oxygen and a spark plug.
Their method is simple: Fill a chamber with acetylene or ethylene gas and oxygen. Use a vehicle spark plug to create a contained detonation. Collect the graphene that forms afterward.
Chris Sorensen, Cortelyou-Rust university distinguished professor of physics, is the lead inventor of the recently issued patent, "Process for high-yield production of graphene via detonation of carbon-containing material". Other Kansas State University researchers involved include Arjun Nepal, postdoctoral researcher and instructor of physics, and Gajendra Prasad Singh, former visiting scientist.
"We have discovered a viable process to make graphene," Sorensen said. "Our process has many positive properties, from the economic feasibility, the possibility for large-scale production and the lack of nasty chemicals. What might be the best property of all is that the energy required to make a gram of graphene through our process is much less than other processes because all it takes is a single spark."
(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Tuesday January 31 2017, @08:55PM
Therefore, you are going to be sued to pay a patent license fee. Collecting graphene from your car is patent infringement, regardless that the motors have been generating that byproduct for more than 100 years. Soon there will be a patent license fee per kilometer (or mile) for your illegal graphene producing vehicle. Patent enforcement must become great again, no freeriders allowed!
(Score: 3, Funny) by Dunbal on Tuesday January 31 2017, @09:23PM
Clearly anyone with bunged up cylinders, spark plugs and pistons can claim prior art.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Tuesday January 31 2017, @10:13PM
I read the patent because it was interesting, toward the end there's some theoretical verbiage on why it works and detonation/ping would rapidly destroy an engine so no its not really "IC engine as prior art".
There's a whole beefy wikipedia article on graphene production. Its one of those things that's very easy to make and very difficult to make controllably and efficiently and cheaply. Like "growing plants to brew into ethanol as a fuel" it looks so simple but when you run the numbers it doesn't work well and doing it economically is very challenging (or perhaps impossible under all but unusual conditions).
Also BTW the journalist coverage implies the problem is solved however the particles are small, so if you want to do "big stuff" you have to keep doing other things. Of course little graphene particles are useful too.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday January 31 2017, @11:34PM
TIL:
> Detonation typically involves a supersonic exothermic front that accelerates through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it.
> Deflagration is typically described as subsonic combustion propagating through heat transfer.
But from the patent description, it sounds like running your engine at over 4000K would (very briefly) do the trick.
Sorting the graphene from the molten metal shards might not be the easiest step.
(Score: 2) by mr_mischief on Tuesday January 31 2017, @11:56PM
Per kilometer in the US and Liberia and per mile in the rest of the world, of course.
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Wednesday February 01 2017, @12:20AM
Please reasonable units like Calories per bushel per furlong^3 per fortnight.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday February 01 2017, @08:11AM
How many cubits to the hogshead do you get?
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1) by DECbot on Wednesday February 01 2017, @06:02PM
about a byte.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base