This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: There is something slightly ridiculous about using a kitchen blender to make graphene. This is, after all, the "wonder material" associated with futuristic technologies.
You might reasonably expect its production to involve equally futuristic equipment. Producing graphene in liquid form can rely on purified graphite (better known to many as the "lead" in pencils), specialized solvents or additives, ultrapure water and carefully controlled processing. Our latest research, published in ACS Sustainable Resource Management, asked what happens if you try to make it using things you'd find in your household.
Could you start with graphite found in electronic waste, use old newspaper to help hold it in a liquid, mix everything in ordinary tap water and still end up with useful graphene? Graphene is many times stronger than steel, yet it weighs less than paper or aluminum. It is also an exceptional conductor of electricity.
Since its discovery just over 20 years ago, it has found uses in power banks and batteries, medical sensors and even stronger concrete. Many other practical applications beckon for this incredible material. Inside phones, laptops and other electronic devices are thin sheets of graphite used to spread heat away from components so they don't overheat.
When a device reaches the end of its life, that graphite generally follows suit and ends up as electronic waste. Chemically, however, it's still graphite and has the potential to become its wondrous cousin, graphene. The scale of the electronic waste problem is enormous.
Around 62 million metric tons were generated worldwide in 2022, yet only 22.3% was documented as being properly collected and recycled. Valuable metals understandably attract much of the attention, but electronics also contain less glamorous materials that could have another life. Could these graphite heat spreaders be one of them?
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