Arizona-based Urbix Resources has produced a graphene-enhanced lightweight concrete which features performance improvements and at a lower cost, according to a report by Tech Explorist.
The report says the advanced graphite company has created a 'Graphenesque additive' which it claims provides a 33% increase in compressive strength and a 32% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Nicolas Cuevas, Urbix’s chairman, says: “It is ultimately the cost of the additive versus benefits of performance that have to be compared with any incumbent technology, especially graphene products. That cost versus benefit is the real barrier that’s been keeping graphene out of commercial products until now.”
Adam Small, Urbix chief marketing officer, says: “The material performance of our solution for lightweight concrete is great. But the low costs and large-scale capabilities are what makes this achievement so profound. By leveraging our existing global graphite mining relationships, we offer near vertical integration, an aspect that is almost mandatory for any company entering the graphene space.”
According to the report, the additive is made in a similar way to Urbix's proprietary purification process which will be developed at a plant which is currently under construction in the Phoenix area.
This plan is expected to be able to produce more than 100 metric tonnes of concrete additive per month by the end of 2019 which will increase significantly after 2020.
Urbix and its associates predict the technology will be available in 2020, the report concludes.
