CNN —
Graphene, which is stronger than steel and one million times thinner than a human hair, is frequently referred to as a “miracle material.”

The two-dimensional carbon material is incredibly light, conductive, and flexible. It is derived from single layers of graphite, a mineral that is extracted from the earth. It has the potential to provide revolutionary technologies for a variety of industries, including transportation and electronics.

Currently, scientists at Khalifa University in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are investigating the possibility of using graphene for the production of drinking water.

As all of the drinkable water in the United Arab Emirates is desalinated, the industry plays a vital role in both the country’s economy and society, according to Hassan Arafat, senior director of the university’s Research & Innovation Centre for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC2D)

The process of desalinating saltwater involves eliminating salt and purifying the water to make it safe to drink. Desalinated water is essential for almost 300 million people worldwide, not just in the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, that number will rise as pollution and climate change put our finite freshwater supplies at risk.

However, the desalination process is expensive and energy-intensive.

This is where graphene comes into play; Arafat is developing a membrane that is boosted by graphene that may improve process efficiency and lower costs.

“Climate change has caused a great number of calamities this year,” claims Arafat. “The lack of water is a global issue that is becoming worse every day. It is immensely satisfying to know that we are making a difference in these issues’ solutions.

Solutions for desalination
With funding from the Abu Dhabi government, Khalifa University created RIC2D in 2022 to further research on graphene breakthroughs and production.

Arafat’s personal research is on water, even if his position as senior director allows him to oversee other initiatives.

According to Arafat, graphene can prolong the life of a membrane by preventing “fouling,” which is the accumulation of microorganisms on the filter that lowers its quality. Arafat suggests that using graphene to “enhance the performance” of filters could assist in lowering desalination costs and energy consumption.

“These graphene materials, even in small quantities, significantly improve the membranes’ performance in terms of producing water,” he continues.

Currently in the development phase, the membranes will be produced and scaled up next year at the UK’s University of Manchester, RIC2D’s partner in graphene research, says Arafat. After that, the membranes will be tested in a desalination plant. Arafat isn’t the only one looking into graphene as a solution for desalination — startups like Watercycle Technologies are developing graphene-enhanced membranes to remove specific minerals from water, while Molymem is focused on dye removal — but Arafat claims that RIC2D’s membrane “out-performs” similar water filters in recent academic literature, and the partnership with the University of Manchester allows them to scale the technology for industrial testing. RIC2D is also exploring other applications for graphene such as sustainable construction materials with the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,

Making graphene from methane

Despite its transformational potential, graphene has proven difficult and expensive to produce at scale.

One way to make it is by removing single layers from graphite, which has restricted its impact on mass-market solutions. However, researchers at RIC2D are working on ways to cut costs and time “without compromising the quality,” says Arafat.

Another production method uses plasma chemistry to extract carbon from gases such as methane — a greenhouse gas made up of carbon and hydrogen — that are by-products of the oil and gas industry

Making graphene from methane

Despite its transformational potential, graphene has proven difficult and expensive to produce at scale.

One way to make it is by removing single layers from graphite, which has restricted its impact on mass-market solutions. However, researchers at RIC2D are working on ways to cut costs and time “without compromising the quality,” says Arafat.

Another production method uses plasma chemistry to extract carbon from gases such as methane — a greenhouse gas made up of carbon and hydrogen — that are by-products of the oil and gas industry

The UAE is one of the top oil producers globally, and around 30% of the nation’s GDP comes from hydrocarbons. However, the UAE is eager to diversify its economy and is aiming for zero emissions by 2050.

Graphene could help with both ambitions.

RIC2D collaborated with UK startup Levidian, which developed its own plasma chemistry process to extract carbon from methane.

By leveraging the UAE’s supply chain, there is a “great opportunity to accelerate the adoption of graphene in support of climate change,” says James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Manchester, the graphene innovation center at the University of Manchester, which partnered with Khalifa University to establish the RIC2D lab in 2022.

Any carbon-based material — including waste from the oil and gas industry, or petroleum products like car tires — could be “effectively recycled or reused” to create chemically manufactured graphene, says Baker. “(There’s) a lot of interest in the UAE around the supply chain of producing graphene, and we’re working to really scale up production of this material from grams to kilograms to tons.”

There’s an added benefit in producing graphene from a gas like methane: the hydrogen extracted can be used as a fuel, says Baker. He adds that graphene-composite materials could also be used to store hydrogen in stronger pressure vessels.

“You’re not only de-carbonizing the waste, you’re using it, rather than putting it to a landfill or burning in it,” Baker adds.

Thinking globally

At the Graphene Flagship Week in September, an initiative funded by the European Union, RIC2D showcased multiple projects that are already on their way to commercialization, including a collaboration with French company Grapheal, which makes graphene-based biosensors, and a partnership with Turkish company NanoGrafen, which explores how to convert waste materials such as used tires into graphene products for composite construction materials.

However, “the more novel and groundbreaking and life-changing the idea is, the longer the path is to be is likely to be to its final commercialization,” says Arafat.

Arafat hopes that his research can have an impact in the Emirates and beyond. “While we’re starting locally, we’re certainly thinking globally,” he says