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Are you living under a rock? There must be hundreds of products already using graphene. It's in batteries, sports equipment, building materials, electronics. E.

Are you living under a rock? There must be hundreds of products already using graphene. It's in batteries, sports equipment, building materials, electronics. E.g. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/graphene-5000mah-6s-75c.html https://hobbyking.com/en_us/graphene-5000mah-6s-75c.html https://www.runningxpert.com/en/inspiration/best-inov8-running-shoes https://www.runningxpert.com/en/inspiration/best-inov8-runni... https://shop.suninhouse.eu/gb/graphene-ir-heating-films/22-graphene-ir-heating-foil-50cm-220w-m2-4710000000165.html https://shop.suninhouse.eu/gb/graphene-ir-heating-films/22-g... Concretene is 30-50% stronger than standard RC30 concrete and does not require steel reinforcement, meaning significantly less material is needed to achieve the equivalent structural performance. Although the material is more expensive to produce (approximately 5% additional cost), the reduced amount of Concretene results in 10-20% overall cost saving for the end customer. https://firstgraphene.net/applications/concrete/ https://firstgraphene.net/applications/concrete/ https://elecjet.com/products/apollo-traveller-graphene-usb-c-pd-power-bank-5000mah https://elecjet.com/products/apollo-traveller-graphene-usb-c... https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ultron-most-powerful-wireless-graphene-powerbank#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ultron-most-powerful-wire...

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
I get the feeling that these "hundreds" of uses aren't really leveraging the materials' most effective properties. It would not surprise me, if the graphene does little more, than add expensive chrome to the brand. Sort of like using a UPS unit as a doorstop. Looks fancy, but maybe not its most effective implementation. Maybe like the "Truffle Oil" industry: https://www.tasteatlas.com/truffle-industry-is-a-big-scam https://www.tasteatlas.com/truffle-industry-is-a-big-scam And, as far as I know, I am not living under a rock. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
- irthomasthomas 4y ago
  I gave a concrete example. Something that is in use today. Concretene is 30-50% stronger than standard RC30 concrete and does not require steel reinforcement, meaning significantly less material is needed to achieve the equivalent structural performance. Although the material is more expensive to produce (approximately 5% additional cost), the reduced amount of Concretene results in 10-20% overall cost saving for the end customer. https://firstgraphene.net/applications/concrete/ https://firstgraphene.net/applications/concrete/
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    "Concrete example" I see what you did, there... Like I said, it looks like the only thing that is being done, is that they are using graphene to add a bit more tensile strength. I suspect that there are other materials that would work just as well (or maybe better). It's probably not the "killer feature" for graphene. Reminds me of this old The Onion story: https://www.theonion.com/bantu-tribesman-uses-ibm-global-uplink-network-modem-to-1819563905 https://www.theonion.com/bantu-tribesman-uses-ibm-global-upl...
  - dahdum 4y ago
    All I've been able to find is some test slabs they poured in 2021 and a bunch of news/pr articles. It doesn't appear to be widely available or used despite the ease of doing so (it's just an additive added at the plant).
    - irthomasthomas 4y ago
      I'm not surprised that there is a lot of inertia. No one wants to be the first to recommend changing a 40 year old recipe for pouring concrete damns. But "just an additive" is really underselling it. The concrete slab was setting so fast, and so strong, that the builders had begun gliding polishing machines over the driest part of the floor while their colleagues were still pouring the other end of the rink. "Normally, you'd have to wait a week before you could do that," he says. The installation, in October last year, took less than a day. "By adding as little as 0.1% graphene into cement and aggregate, you can potentially use less material to get the same performance," explains Mr Baker. Reducing the amount of concrete used in construction for instance by 30%, could lower global CO2 emissions by 2-3%, he estimates To put that 2-3% in perspective, the UKs total CO2 output amounts to 2% of the total. So this tiny little additive to concrete could have massive impact. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61913871 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61913871
      - MrPatan 4y ago
        Concrete innovation doesn't have a great track record
dang 4y ago
Hey, can you please edit out swipes like "Are you living under a rock"? This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Your comment would be just fine without that bit.
- irthomasthomas 4y ago
  I thought the gentle scolding was appropriate to the scale of misinformation shared in this thread. It is a disservice to the community to downplay the relevance of graphene. Modern building and urban infrastructure construction are among the largest consumers of raw materials globally, with cement and concrete manufacturing alone responsible for approximately 8% of the anthropogenic CO2 emissions globally. https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6360 And yeah, you would have to have been living under a rock if you are a hacker and you haven't heard anything about any of this stuff. This is cutting edge and it's really cool.
  - TaylorAlexander 4y ago
    Whether or not you think the tone is justified, that type of thing is just against the rules. User dang is the moderator of this site. He will rarely intervene and if he does please follow his requests.
    - irthomasthomas 4y ago
      I know who dang is, I just don't see how the phrase living under a rock is offensive? It is a very trivial thing in my culture. Perhaps it is different in America, and I should be more sensitive, but the same goes both ways. To me, that phrase is only lightly ribbing someone who is out of touch with tech...on a tech forum. As I said, in my culture this is not meant as anything offensive and you could be more generous in your interpretation of my meaning. Particularly as I went out of my way to share so many useful links on the subject.
      - deeviant 4y ago
CyberDildonics 4y ago
The battery you linked is just a lipo battery that says 'graphene' on it, it doesn't have anything to do with graphene other than using the word for marketing.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

I get the feeling that these "hundreds" of uses aren't really leveraging the materials' most effective properties. It would not surprise me, if the graphene does little more, than add expensive chrome to the brand. Sort of like using a UPS unit as a doorstop. Looks fancy, but maybe not its most effective implementation. Maybe like the "Truffle Oil" industry: https://www.tasteatlas.com/truffle-industry-is-a-big-scam https://www.tasteatlas.com/truffle-industry-is-a-big-scam And, as far as I know, I am not living under a rock. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

irthomasthomas 4y ago
I gave a concrete example. Something that is in use today. Concretene is 30-50% stronger than standard RC30 concrete and does not require steel reinforcement, meaning significantly less material is needed to achieve the equivalent structural performance. Although the material is more expensive to produce (approximately 5% additional cost), the reduced amount of Concretene results in 10-20% overall cost saving for the end customer. https://firstgraphene.net/applications/concrete/ https://firstgraphene.net/applications/concrete/
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  "Concrete example" I see what you did, there... Like I said, it looks like the only thing that is being done, is that they are using graphene to add a bit more tensile strength. I suspect that there are other materials that would work just as well (or maybe better). It's probably not the "killer feature" for graphene. Reminds me of this old The Onion story: https://www.theonion.com/bantu-tribesman-uses-ibm-global-uplink-network-modem-to-1819563905 https://www.theonion.com/bantu-tribesman-uses-ibm-global-upl...
- dahdum 4y ago
  All I've been able to find is some test slabs they poured in 2021 and a bunch of news/pr articles. It doesn't appear to be widely available or used despite the ease of doing so (it's just an additive added at the plant).
  - irthomasthomas 4y ago
    I'm not surprised that there is a lot of inertia. No one wants to be the first to recommend changing a 40 year old recipe for pouring concrete damns. But "just an additive" is really underselling it. The concrete slab was setting so fast, and so strong, that the builders had begun gliding polishing machines over the driest part of the floor while their colleagues were still pouring the other end of the rink. "Normally, you'd have to wait a week before you could do that," he says. The installation, in October last year, took less than a day. "By adding as little as 0.1% graphene into cement and aggregate, you can potentially use less material to get the same performance," explains Mr Baker. Reducing the amount of concrete used in construction for instance by 30%, could lower global CO2 emissions by 2-3%, he estimates To put that 2-3% in perspective, the UKs total CO2 output amounts to 2% of the total. So this tiny little additive to concrete could have massive impact. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61913871 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61913871
    - MrPatan 4y ago
      Concrete innovation doesn't have a great track record

dang 4y ago

Hey, can you please edit out swipes like "Are you living under a rock"? This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Your comment would be just fine without that bit.

irthomasthomas 4y ago
I thought the gentle scolding was appropriate to the scale of misinformation shared in this thread. It is a disservice to the community to downplay the relevance of graphene. Modern building and urban infrastructure construction are among the largest consumers of raw materials globally, with cement and concrete manufacturing alone responsible for approximately 8% of the anthropogenic CO2 emissions globally. https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6360 And yeah, you would have to have been living under a rock if you are a hacker and you haven't heard anything about any of this stuff. This is cutting edge and it's really cool.
- TaylorAlexander 4y ago
  Whether or not you think the tone is justified, that type of thing is just against the rules. User dang is the moderator of this site. He will rarely intervene and if he does please follow his requests.
  - irthomasthomas 4y ago
    I know who dang is, I just don't see how the phrase living under a rock is offensive? It is a very trivial thing in my culture. Perhaps it is different in America, and I should be more sensitive, but the same goes both ways. To me, that phrase is only lightly ribbing someone who is out of touch with tech...on a tech forum. As I said, in my culture this is not meant as anything offensive and you could be more generous in your interpretation of my meaning. Particularly as I went out of my way to share so many useful links on the subject.
    - deeviant 4y ago

CyberDildonics 4y ago

The battery you linked is just a lipo battery that says 'graphene' on it, it doesn't have anything to do with graphene other than using the word for marketing.