Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GO4APP (Graphene Oxide for advanced polymers APPlication)

Teaser

Graphene has been pointed out to be a nanomaterial with outstanding properties, but translating this properties into industrial applications a high quality, reproducible and scale up production process is needed.In this regard, Graphene oxide (GO) flakes have specific...

Summary

Graphene has been pointed out to be a nanomaterial with outstanding properties, but translating this properties into industrial applications a high quality, reproducible and scale up production process is needed.In this regard, Graphene oxide (GO) flakes have specific functionalities and capabilities that improve the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of various polymeric materials, opening a new application opportunities to a broad range of sectors.

GO4APP takes the GO a step closer to the market through specific polymer applications where this will have a direct impact in the global economy and society since GO additives will provide disruptive final advanced polymer composites with better physic-mechanical properties at lower cost.

The overall objectives of the project are:

 Clear GO cost reduction via dramatically increasing the production scale reducing the GO price and a large scale industrial use.
 To use all the competitive advantages of GO (aspect ratio, surface area, mechanical properties, functionality) as an additive material in advanced polymer composites.
 To produce tailor made GO materials to improve compatibility with different matrices. This will lead to a broad range of applications such as advanced polymers for transport, electronics and construction parts.
 Integration of GO into polymeric matrices in order to obtain dramatically improved mechanical, thermal and electrical properties.
 To be able to supply the advanced polymers industry through the large scale synthesis of GO up to 1 Ton / year due to minimum customers needs.
 To develop custom formulations to integrate GO into polycarbonate (PC), Polyurethane (PU) and 
polypropylene (PP).
 To facilitate the polymer polymer industry the development of cost-competitive advanced polymer composites. This 
will enable to create a completely new category of performance polymers. 


Work performed

During this period the basic detailed engineering of 1Ton/year plant has been designed including the technical details and services. A specific layout of the installation considering all the requirements for storage, waste management and health and safety issues has been also defined.  A Detailed HAZOP study of the process has been carried out that includes a rigorous and systematic identification of the hazards and a detailed analysis of the operation problems that can cause a non-compliance of the design objectives.
The construction of the pilot plant in progressing satisfactorily. The infrastructure is being adapted to the specific needs of the pilot plant and all the works to condition are being done.

Customized specific formulations (thermoplastic, thermoset and elastomeric graphene nanocomposites) have been developed for large and small scale companies according to their requirements.

New application cases have been detected and introduced in our development work with different partners. Thanks to our increased production and resources capabilities we have been able to get on board new collaborators for promising applications. Thanks to this collaboration we have start developing new GO grades to meet different custom needs.

Final results

GO at large scale (industrial) is one of the main objectives of this project. Enabling the large production of GO will allow customers in many industries to take advantage of the benefits that the properties of GO bring. At this time we have been able to scale up the process to supply higher quantities of GO and enable R&D experimentation by our customers.
Dramatic GO price reduction: so far the new production capacity and increase in demand, due to the development of specific applications, are allowing a significant price reduction.
Improved quality and batch-to-batch reproducibility. Reproducibility is a key factor to enable commercialization of applications using GO. Batch scale up and automated processes implemented have supported an important step forward in reproducibility. New quality controls have been implemented to control it significantly. Also narrow customer collaborations gives us feedback to check reproducibility.

Website & more info

More info: http://go4appproject.com.