Plastic materials from old cars are turned into graphene for new cars

Rice University and Ford Motor Company researchers convert plastic parts obtained from ‘end-of-life’ vehicles into graphene with the flash joule heating technique. The team thinks this initiative could help bring the auto industry closer to sustainable standards.

Can pave the way for recyclable vehicles

Vehicles that are no longer unusable will be able to return as an improved part for a new car, through a process called circular recycling. The vehicles have hundreds of kilograms of plastic parts, and the research team announced that they were able to create polyurethane foam for new vehicles from these plastic parts.

Ford sent more than 4.5 kg of plastic parts from bumpers, gaskets, carpets, floor mats and seats of old F-150 vehicles to Rice University laboratories. These sent pieces were used to produce graphene with the flash joule heating technique, which the university demonstrated for the first time in 2020.

The team first pulverized the plastic parts. A two-step current was then applied to the powder particles. The current applied first for 10 to 16 seconds resulted in a highly carbonized plastic material. Graphene was obtained from 85% of this carbonized plastic with the high current applied in the second step, while only 30% of the initial mass remained solid.

Containing only 0.1% by weight of graphene, the new foam was tested in tests with 34% higher tensile strength and 25% lower frequency sound absorption ability.

Analyzes, While showing that it produces graphene with a significant reduction in energy, greenhouse gas emissions and water use compared to other methods, this study also revealed the potential for circular recycling.