Rimere, a climate solutions company with proprietary plasma technology, and Holliday Rock, one of the leading producers of concrete and asphalt in California, have signed a new co-development agreement for Rimere’s high-quality graphene to be tested in Holliday Rock’s concrete applications.
The development and testing partnership will see graphene, a remarkably thin material composed of a single layer of atoms and known to be 200 times stronger than steel, tested in Holliday Rock’s concrete for potential incorporation into production, according to a news release. The trial is structured to determine the significance the combination has to enhance concrete’s properties in terms of strength, elasticity, shrinkage, shielding, durability, and penetration.
Rimere is currently developing and testing two independent devices, the Reformer and the Mitigator, that reduce climate harming emissions and enable the use of natural gas to accelerate the transition to a clean hydrogen future. Rimere’s Reformer device produces graphene as a co-product. It transforms natural gas into high-quality graphene and clean hydrogen without generating any CO2 emissions.
Graphene is a material with extraordinary properties and is increasingly being applied with notable success across numerous industries such as batteries and semi-conductors, composites and resins, and building materials such as concrete. It is recognized to be 200 times stronger than steel, 40 times harder than diamond, 500 percent more thermally conductive than aluminum and 160% more electrically conductive than copper.
“Holliday Rock is a very respected and forward-thinking leader in an industry that is not always thought to be so. Our partnership has been formed with innovation and sustainability in mind and this testing will explore the possibilities that graphene can offer in advancing construction materials. The results could drastically change both the very foundations of the concrete industry, but also help with the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions issues which are some of the most difficult to abate,” said CEO of Rimere, Mitchell Pratt.
“Partnering with Rimere aligns with our goal to deliver high-quality, cutting-edge, sustainable solutions as part of our offering. By integrating graphene into our concrete formulations, we hope to raise the bar for the industry, ultimately increasing the value and utility of concrete, while reducing the carbon intensity of construction,” said Sam Rade, Director of Sustainability and Strategy for Holliday Rock.
Rimere has developed a proprietary process to further functionalize its graphene into graphene oxide, an “immediate use” water-soluble form of graphene but without harsh chemicals and other labor intensive processes typically required. As part of the co-development relationship, Rimere will provide Holliday Rock with graphene oxide to evaluate its performance under typical concrete lab test conditions. The tests are aimed at proving graphene’s potential to improve the properties of concrete.
Cement production is responsible for approximately 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and is a difficult to abate sector. This co-development agreement explores practical approaches to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enhancing performance of construction materials.
