Graphene films can turn methane gas into an energy source

The world is concerned about reports of methane erupting from the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, but the reality is that so far this methane is still significantly smaller than the human waste. Some of them are collected and burned to get clean electricity.

This will naturally have the consequences of air pollution, but now graphene - the miraculous material that could be about to become much more widely available - will solve the pollution.

Graphene metamaterial is said to be able to solve the pollution problem related to methane.

Methane is a much more polluted greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. However, if it can generate energy from methane, it can replace fossil fuels.

Dr. Rakesh Joshi of the University of New South Wales recently demonstrated that graphene films can separate methane from other gases more efficiently than existing systems.

Earlier, Joshi had not studied this technology with methane. Instead, he tried to use graphene to help improve the water filtration process to remove organic material from waste water and make it drinkable. The Joshi results demonstrate the ability of graphene to remove 99% of the impurities left behind by other water treatment techniques.

In the process, Joshi realized Sydney Water was a research organization, also filtering biogas to power its own operations. Joshi questioned whether graphene could do better by adjusting the size of the holes in graphene's honeycomb structure, and the answer was that metamaterial could handle methane, making it a into a greenhouse energy source that can balance renewable grids during periods of low sunshine and wind.

So far, the effectiveness of this technique has only been demonstrated at a laboratory scale, but Sydney Water's Dr. Heri Bustamante hopes that the use of graphene will allow an increase in methane to expand its use beyond. too demanding of Sydney Water.

Heri Bustamante expects the production of methane as a bus fuel could be a potential future application.

1. Graphene membrane filters seawater into fresh water
2. Has found a way to produce graphene metamaterials at 100 times cheaper