GRAPHenhance: GRAPHene scaleup for strength ENHANCEd concrete

水泥煅烧产生的直接排放量(CaCO3+CaO；CO2+CaO)，加上与混凝土相关的过程排放(运输、工艺能源等)，占全球排放量的7%。NERD的专利石墨烯增强混凝土(GEC)CONCRETENE(R)为混凝土行业提供了一条大规模脱碳的途径，但大规模开采目前受到材料制造和供应链挑战的阻碍。**GRAPHEnhance项目愿景**旨在解决这些挑战，以释放CONCRETENE的脱碳潜力。CONCRETENE是一种石墨烯增强的混凝土外加剂，旨在提高性能和可持续性，也是第一个在全球范围内进行商业规模试点的GEC。该技术可以减少混凝土体积和水泥含量，以实现同等的结构性能，与OPC相比，显著减少了碳足迹(高达30%)。CONCRETENE性能的关键是石墨烯-纳米血小板(GNPs)在材料结构中的分散。使用氧化石墨烯(GO)(二次石墨烯成分)稳定了这种分散性，防止了GNP聚集，使石墨烯(GNP+GO)能够负载3-6%(比最先进的石墨烯浓度高约5倍)，并提供了第二种强度增强机制(见附录Q3)。尽管其他GEC正在开发中，但大多数是非结构性的。发展中的少数结构性全球经济共同体迄今未能克服国民生产总值分散的挑战。现有的方法导致了过量空气的加入，降低了结构性能和寿命。没有其他GEC正在开发中的方法使用NERD专利的GO稳定方法。GO供应目前是CONCRETENE商业化的主要瓶颈。NERD目前来自中国，面临的挑战包括批次之间的可变性(sp2-碳-物种形成-差异，sp3-碳-物种形成-差异，sp3-碳-物种形成-差异，含硫-物种最高1.6%-差异)，价格波动和进口关税。同样，Nerd通过其英国合作伙伴组织Thomas-Swan(TS)从加拿大黑天鹅石墨烯(BSG)获得GNP，但当前的产品并未针对CONCRETENE进行优化，需要(在英国)扩大规模以满足未来需求。**GRAPHEnhance**将为提升英国纳米材料的生产能力铺平道路。GRAPEHHance将克服与NERD的GO和GNP供应有关的挑战(批次之间的可变性、残留表面活性剂)，以敲定CONCRETENE的供应链和材料组成--认证和大规模商业化的先决条件。**关键目标**：*优化英国GNP供应*确定GO-规格，支持WB和NERD之间的商业供应协议的项目后谈判*验证ConCRETENE中制造的GO和GNP的性能，石墨烯负载量为3-6%*通过标准耐久性测试(ATSM\_C642/C1293/C452/C1138)在工业中试(运输部门)中验证由此产生的ConCRETENE配方**GRAPHEnhEnh.**合作伙伴：***Nationwide-Engineering-Research-and-Development(****NERD****)**：SME，CONCRETENE技术的所有者。*威廉-布莱斯(WB)**：领先的化学品创新者，Synthmer Group(FTSE-250)的一部分。*Thomas-Swan(TS)**(由黑天鹅石墨烯(BSG)支持)**：**特种化学品制造商，GNP IP(由BSG拥有)开发商。

Direct-emissions from cement calcination (CaCO3-\>CO2+CaO), combined with concrete-related process-emissions (transport, process-energy etc), represent \>7% of global emissions.NERD's patented Graphene-Enhanced-Concrete (GEC), CONCRETENE(r), offers a pathway to mass-decarbonisation of the concrete-sector, but large-scale exploitation is currently blocked by material-manufacturing and supply-chain challenges. The **GRAPHenhance project vision** is to address these challenges to unlock CONCRETENE's decarbonisation potential.CONCRETENE is a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete, engineered to enhance performance and sustainability, and the first GEC to reach commercial-scale pilots globally. The technology allows for reduced concrete volume and cement content to achieve equivalent structural performance, delivering significantly reduced carbon footprint (up to 30%) vs OPC.The key to CONCRETENE's performance is the dispersion of Graphene-Nanoplatelets(GNPs) within the material structure. This dispersion is stabilised using Graphene-Oxide(GO) (secondary graphene-component), which prevents GNP aggregation, enables graphene(GNP+GO) loading of 3-6% (~5x higher graphene-concentration than state-of-the-art), and provides a second mechanism of strength-enhancement (see Appendix\_Q3).Although other GECs are in development, most are non-structural. The few structural-GECs in development have so far failed to overcome the GNP-dispersion challenge. Existing approaches result in the incorporation of excess-air, reducing structural-performance and longevity.No other GEC in-development uses the GO-stabilisation approach patented by NERD.GO supply currently represents a major bottleneck to CONCRETENE commercialisation. NERD currently source from China, presenting challenges including batch-to-batch variability (sp2-carbon-speciation up to 4%-variance, sp3-carbon-speciation up to 8%-variance, sulfur-containing-species up to 1.6%-variance), price-volatility, and import-tariffs. Similarly, NERD source GNP from Canadian Black-Swan-Graphene(BSG) via their UK-based partner-organisation, Thomas-Swan(TS), but the current product is not optimised for CONCRETENE, and needs to be scaled-up (in the UK) to meet future-demand.**GRAPHenhance** will pave-the-way for upscaled UK nanomaterial production-capacity, with a **main-focus** on GO (manufacturing by William-Blythe) and GNPs (manufacturing by Thomas-Swan) tailored to CONCRETENE's requirements.GRAPEHhance will overcome challenges relating to NERD's GO and GNP supplies (batch-to-batch variability, residual-surfactants) to finalise CONCRETENE's supply-chain and material composition- prerequisites to accreditation and large-scale commercialisation.**Key objectives**:* To optimise UK-supply of GNP* To determine GO-specifications, enabling post-project negotiation for a commercial-supply agreement between WB and NERD* To validate performance of manufactured GO and GNP in CONCRETENE with graphene-loading at 3-6%* To validate the resulting CONCRETENE formulation in an industrial-pilot (transport-sector) against standard durability testing (ATSM\_C642/C1293/C452/C1138)**GRAPHenhance** partners:* **Nationwide-Engineering-Research-and-Development(****NERD****)**: SME, owner of CONCRETENE technology.* **William-Blythe(WB)**: Leading chemicals innovator, part of Synthomer Group (FTSE-250).* **Thomas-Swan(TS)** (supported by Black-Swan-Graphene(BSG))**:** Speciality-chemicals manufacturer, developer of GNP IP (IP owned by BSG).