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Posted on 03/15/2016 7:38:23 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Comprised of a lone hexagonal honeycomb lattice layer of tightly packed carbon atoms, graphene is one of the strongest, lightest, and most conductive compounds ever discovered. Bottom line, it's an extraordinary composite. However, a scientist from New York's Clarkson University says he's found a way to manufacture hemp waste into a material "better than graphene." Moreover, the scientist -- known to his peers as Dr. David Mitlin -- says creating this graphene-like hemp material costs but a minuscule fraction of what it takes to produce graphene.
Presented at an American Chemical Society Meeting in San Francisco, Dr. Mitlin described how he and his team were able to recycle leftover hemp bast fiber into powerful energy-storing supercapacitors. To do this, Mitlin says he first cooked the leftover fibers to achieve hydrothermal synthesis. After the hemp's lignin and semicellulose dissolve, what's left are carbon nanosheets incredibly similar to the structure of graphene. He then built the resulting sheets into electrodes and added an ionic liquid for its electrolyte to create a batch of supercapacitors boasting a high energy density.
"Obviously, hemp can't do all the things graphene can," Mitlin acknowledged. "But for energy storage, it works just as well. And it costs a fraction of the price [at] $500 to $1,000 a tonne."
Related: Polish chemists tried to make kryptonite and failed, but then made a huge discovery
Countries like Canada, China, and the United Kingdom rely heavily on industrially grown hemp for use in clothing, jewelry, building materials, among other applications. What's left over after these goods are created is the aforementioned bast fiber, which typically finds its way to landfills. Additionally, Mitlin points out that the hemp used to create the graphene-like supercapacitor is entirely legal to grow and contains absolutely zero traces of THC.
"Fifty miles down the road from my house in Alberta there was an agricultural hemp processing facility and all that bast fiber, it just sits in a high bay, and they don't know what to do with it," Mitlin tells BBC News. "It's a waste product looking for a value-added application. People are almost paying you to take it away."
With everything from electric cars to power tools having the ability to make use of supercapacitors, it seems quite possible that Mitlin's discovery could oust graphene from its reign as the gold standard of energy-storing materials.
Wow, that really rips, Man!
High speed munchies in our future?
Cool. Hemp is one of the most useful things on this planet.
Wait ... what?
Graphene is great because of its structural and chemical simplicity. Anything “grown” is not simple structurally or chemically. Sorry 2ndDiv, I think there is something wrong here.
So if they process hemp and have no use for the fiber, what are they selling? Hmmm.
The potheads just won’t let it go. Next we’ll hear that America couldn’t have put men on the moon without “hemp”. LOL! The wonder drug, man!
Dude!
Dude?
Doo-ood.
Dyewd!
All the super men and women will be glad of that. However, black men's kryptonite is around everywhere. Life is so unfair.
The miracle plant!
"Oh, WOW!"
...wait, what?
The discoverer sounds like a stoner, but worth a ping. Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
Seems to be missing lots of details but it is interesting.
So if they process hemp and have no use for the fiber, what are they selling? Hmmm.
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It seems this is the outer parts of the stem and the small branches/leaves ... it is likely the industrial processors are only interested in the long uninterrupted inner fibers. I would think that the short fibers would be useful compressed into a cardboard like packaging product or perhaps fiber flower pots (like the coconut fiber pots)..
They could be selling the seeds. Lots of stuff can be and is made from hempseed.
Hemp seeds have a ton of calories per pound.
It’s a food source in some cultures, for both humans and animals. Historically some cultures have used it as a last defense against starvation.
If he's right a new industry will be created around this invention...
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