Advanced Graphene Concrete
INTRODUCTION
Wholesale Graphene (WG) has been exploring the addition of Graphene into concrete for the purpose of increased tensile strength, since July 2016. As the strongest material known to man, graphene to has shown great potential to significantly increase both strength and flexibility in concrete composites. WG believes that they have unlocked the key for graphene dispersion and unique graphene formulations and dispersion methods. WG will be filing Patents for both formulations and preparation methods.
LIST OF MATERIALS
Cement - Mastercrete Cement CEM2/ A-L 32, 5R Travis Perkins Sand – Building Sand Trade Pack Travis Perkins Aggregate – Diall 10mm Gravel Large B&Q/Home Retail Group Water – Standard tap water.
MIXING PROCESS
Our mixing process complies with BS206 Part 1 regulations. 2kg of aggregate with an average diameter of 10mm was washed and left to dry. The aggregate was then mixed with 500g of Portland composite cement and 1 kg of building soft sand in the ratio by weight of 4:2:1 in a 100L, 370W cement mixer. 200ml of water was then added and mixed for 10 minutes.
PREPARATION
The resultant mix was poured into BS206 Part 1 compliant steel test moulds of 100 x 100 x 100 mm and 150 x 150 x 150 mm. The blocks were cured by submerging in water between 18 - 20 degrees for 7 and 28 days in accordance with the BS206 part 1 standard.
ADDITIONAL COST
WG conservatively estimate that the additional cost of materials and processing will add around £25 - £30 to the finished concrete per ton, depending on commodity prices.
RESULTS
WG’s methods of mixing graphene into the concrete have been shown to increase the composites’ tensile strengths. Our internal tests were carried out using a testing hammer. This is an industry standard device and provides an indication of strength improvement using different formulations.
Standard Block Test - 7 Day Result 14.3 N/mm²
Standard Block Test 7 - 28 Day Result 26.4 N/mm²
Graphene Concrete - 7 Day Result 36.4 N/mm² (154.5% increase in Strength)
Graphene Concrete - 28 Day Result 43.1 N/mm² (63.3% increase in strength)
TESTING VERIFICATION
External tests were carried out by Southern Testing Laboratories (STL), ISO9001:2008. The results shown above are those prepared by STL, produced in N/mm². All certificates are available on request.
WG have blocks curing which are over 2 years old and will be tested as per of any IP sale and or licence agreement. One of our formulations showed a surprising result of 52N/mm² after in-house testing, however this has not yet been independently verified.
