Vietnamese startup makes super materials from recycled animal fat

Nano Life, which has applied for a patent in the US, impressed the jury board at Vietnam Startup Wheel 2018, an important event for startups, when presenting the project on using recycled animal fat to make graphene. 

Considered a ‘super material of the future’, graphene can be used to create ultra light material panels, thinner than plastic wrap by 60,000 times.  

Graphene could be 200 times more durable than steel and has good thermal conductivity. With such characteristics, it is expected to be the ideal material for electronic components in the future.

Besides being ultra-light, ultra-thin, super durable and heat-conducting, graphene can also be used in many other fields. 

In 2014, scientists from Rice University discovered that graphene, when mixed with vanadium oxide, will create cathodes that can charge 90 percent of battery capacity just after 20 seconds. Even after about 1000 cycles of usage, the battery charging capability will remain unchanged.

Michigan Technological University found that graphene can replace platinum, an important but expensive component in solar cells.

As for mobile devices, graphene not only can be used in battery and chip manufacturing, but is also to make ultra soft and ultra durable wearable devices and phones.

Leading electronics manufacturers such as Apple, IBM and Samsung are racing to conduct research the new material. More than 5,000 patents related to the material have been announced since 2003, when graphene was successfully extracted.

Despite the preeminent characteristics, graphene still cannot be used on a large scale, mostly because of its high production costs.

According to Nano Life, graphene is now mostly synthetized from coal, a process which is unfriendly to the environment. Graphene is priced at US$50-US$100 per square centimeter.

Meanwhile, Nano Life can make graphene from recycled animal fat at a cost just equal to 20 percent. The technology not only allows to cut down the production cost, but also helps treat organic waste and protect the environment.

If considering the smartphone market alone (1.55 billion smartphones were sold in 2017), the low-cost graphene production would have a market worth billions of dollars.

Nano Life has filed for patent in the US and will focus on developing the market. Once the production process is set up, the team hopes 1 ton of graphene can be made every month in the first year of production.