Graphene Cement Concrete WhitePaper 2021

GRAPHENE IN CEMENT & CONCRETE APPLICATIONS - WHITE PAPER
www.thegraphenecouncil.org
GRAPHENE
gl bal IN CEMENT & CONCRETE
cement
TM
www.GlobalCement.com APPLICATIONS
Graphene in Cement &
Concrete Applications
The Graphene Council
September 2021
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ...........................................................................................................3

Key Metrics ........................................................................................................................................4
Market Estimates for Graphene in Cement & Concrete ............................................5
The Future of Concrete & Cement ................................................................................6
Global Forecast ................................................................................................................................6
Graphene’s Role in the Future of Concrete & Cement ....................................................7
What is Graphene? ..........................................................................................................10
Commercial De inition...............................................................................................................10
Physical Properties .....................................................................................................................11
Graphene Production .....................................................................................................12
Barriers in the Manufacturing and Adoption of Graphene for Industry ..............15
Companies Producing Graphene for Concrete Applications ................................17
Concrete & Cement Applications................................................................................18
What is Cement? ...........................................................................................................................18
What is Concrete? ........................................................................................................................18
Concrete Applications ................................................................................................................19
Pre-Cast Concrete ...................................................................................................................19
Marine Concrete ......................................................................................................................20
Self-Consolidated Concrete.................................................................................................20
Thermally Conductive Screeds ..........................................................................................20
Opportunities for Graphene in Concrete & Cement ......................................................20
Recent Case Studies ...............................................................................................................24
About The Graphene Council.......................................................................................27
Table of Tables
Table 1: Graphene Production De inition Based on Layers ..............................................9

Table 2: Companies Commercializing Graphene for Cement & Concrete ................15
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Ultra-high Performance Concrete Market .............................................................6

Figure 2: The Spectrum of Graphene Materials .....................................................................9
Figure 3: Top-Down/Bottom-Up Manufacturing Techniques .......................................11
Figure 4: Routes for Downstream Processing and Re ining of Graphene ................14
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The Graphene Council Graphene for Cement & Concrete
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Executive Summary
The global concrete and cement market size is projected to be valued at US
$714.7 billion by 2026, growing from an estimated US $440 billion in 2020,
representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4% during the period
2021-20261. With the global population continuing to grow, leading to increased
need for infrastructure and housing, the demand for concrete is projected to
continue to grow into the foreseeable future.
In the context of this ever-growing demand, cement-based concrete represents

the most heavily used material in the construction industry owing to its low-cost
and excellent compressive strength. However, it suffers from inherent brittleness,
low-tensile strength and rapid degradation in aggressive environments,
contributing to reduced durability and increased maintenance costs.
Another key drawback for cement and concrete is its impact on the environment
and its role in global warming. The cement industry is one of the main producers
of carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas2. According to Chatham House,
the international affairs institute, the global production of cement – the ‘glue’
that holds concrete together – accounts for a staggering eight per cent of the
world’s CO₂ production.3 The production of a ton of cement requires 4.7 million
BTU of energy, equivalent to about 182 kgs of coal, and generates nearly a metric
tonne of CO2.4
The CO2 emission from concrete production is directly proportional to the

cement content used in the concrete mix. For example, 900 kilograms (kg) of CO2
are emitted in the production of every ton of cement, accounting for 88% of the
emissions associated with the average concrete mix5.
Researchers at the University of Exeter6 found that by including graphene into

the concrete mix they could reduce the amount of cement required to make
concrete by around 50 per cent — leading to a signi icant reduction of 446
kilograms per ton of the carbon emissions.
It’s important to keep in mind that concrete as a construction material has quite
a complex chemistry, which lends itself to the use of an additive like graphene
that can offset many of concrete’s weaknesses.
Graphene is the strongest material ever discovered and has the potential to enter
several concrete markets because it can increase overall durability and resistance
to cracking, reduce water permeability and the corrosion of steel used as
reinforcement.
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Some of the bene icial properties of graphene in cement & concrete applications:
• More rapid cure rate

• Increased load strength
• Reduced water permeation
• Reduced micro-cracking and fractures
• Useful in repair compounds
• Requires less cement and concrete to achieve the same engineering
performance, resulting in a reduction of CO2 emissions
It is important to note that there is no one-size- its-all graphene type and each of
these different types and methods for producing various forms of graphene can
lead to different forms of concrete and cement with distinct properties and
capabilities. This report should explain these different types and how they all it
into the production of new and improved forms of graphene-enabled concrete
and cement.
Key Metrics
• Graphene-enabled cement can reduce the amount of materials

required to make concrete by around 50 per cent—This reduction
in material requirements leads to a signi icant reduction of 446
kilograms per ton in its carbon emissions.7
• Laboratory tests have demonstrated enormous material

improvements using graphene instead of Portland Cement—
Experiments conducted by researchers at Monash University in
Australia have shown that only 0.05% of graphene oxide (GO) is
needed to improve lexural strength of an ordinary Portland Cement
(OPC) matrix from between 41% to 59% and compressive strength
from between 15% to 33%.8
• Graphene-enabled achieves same strength as OPC in a quarter of

the cure period—Graphene achieves the same or higher
compressive and lexural pounds square inch (psi) in 7 days as
Portland Cement achieves in 28 days.9 This has a dramatic effect on
reducing the amount of CO2 gas emitted during this curing process.
• Graphene reduces maintenance of key infrastructure—

Graphene’s ability to reduce the water permeability of concrete
enables a reduction of freeze/thaw damage as well as reduced
corrosion of rebar and other metal reinforcement.
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• The total global cement and concrete market is large—The
underlying cement and graphene market is estimated to be worth
nearly half-a-trillion US dollars in 2020 and is expected to grow to
nearly three-quarters of a trillion dollars in 2026. The cement
additives market, of which graphene is a part, is estimated to be US
$25.1 billion in 201910.
• The graphene used in cement will have to maintain a low price

point to encourage adoption—Average prices of cement have
ranged from $95 to $125 per metric ton in the years 2007 to 2019. In
order for graphene to compete with other additives in these markets
its price per kilo will have to remain at or below $10 per kilo.
• Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) and Ultra-High

Strength Concrete (UHSC) are key markets for graphene—
Graphene additional cost to other cement additives can be more
easily absorbed in these high value markets to the point where
graphene costing $40 per kilo could make sense.
• Graphene has key role in infrastructure maintenance—Graphene

has been shown to prevent early age thermal cracking in concrete by
improving the thermal diffusivity of hydrated cement. As graphene is
highly thermally conductive, when suf icient amounts of the material
are added to cement paste it improves the thermal diffusivity of the
cementitious composite.
• The supply chain for graphene is able to produce industrial

volumes—The adoption of graphene by major industries, such as
automotive and home electronics, in the last couple of years has
shown that Tier 1 manufacturers trust that they can get consistent
quality and supply of the graphene they need for their manufacturing
processes. This con idence has extended to the construction industry,
in which companies have been formed throughout the world
commercializing graphene-based technologies.
MARKET ESTIMATES FOR GRAPHENE IN CEMENT & CONCRETE
The global cement additives market had an estimated value $25.1 billion in 2019,
growing at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2014 to 2019.11
If the cement additives market is currently valued at around $25 billion, we could
estimate that graphene will be able to penetrate at least 5 percent of this market
within 10 years, representing a $1.25 billion market by 2030.
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The Future of Concrete & Cement
Global Forecast
As noted earlier, global demand for concrete and cement is expected to continue
grow steadily, fueled by rising investments in infrastructure among the
developing countries of the world, which in turn is driven by economic growth
and increasing per capita income levels in these regions. Additionally, a rebound
in cement demand in industrialized markets such as the US and Western Europe
will further spur cement sales. However, gains in demand will lag the robust
advances seen from 2005 to 2010, due in large part to a deceleration in China’s
cement consumption.
China accounted for 56 percent of world cement demand in 2010. The nation’s
demand for cement is forecast to climb 4.9 percent per year going forward. The
maturing of the Chinese cement market, combined with a slowdown in the pace
of construction spending in the country, will serve to moderate the double-digit
yearly demand growth exhibited from 2000 to 2010.
The US will post the strongest demand gains of any major cement market.
Increases will be stimulated by a robust recovery in residential construction
spending. Non-residential building construction activity in the US will also rise
after a period of decline, and non-building construction growth will accelerate,
further bolstering overall cement sales.
An area that is experiencing growth into the future of cement and concrete is the
ultra-high performance concrete market. This market is projected to grow from
US$369 million in 2019 to US$550 million by 2024, at a CAGR of 8.3% from 2019
to 2024.12 This growth will be fueled in part by the increasing number of high-
rise buildings being built around the world that require specialized concrete
mixes.
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Figure 1: Ultra-high Performance Concrete Market
Source: The Graphene Report 2020, The Graphene Council
Graphene’s Role in the Future of Concrete & Cement
There are two very important characteristics of graphene that make it extremely
useful for reinforcing concrete:
• Its inherent mechanical strength

• Its ability to regain original shape and size after strain
These two characteristics are important because of the way cement reacts with
water. When cement comes in contact with water more than 70 different crystals
(part of the calcium – silicate – hydrate group, which are responsible for
concrete’s hardening and mechanical properties) change shape and size during
their evolution.
Graphene is capable of mechanically interlocking with these crystals because of

its relatively large surface area and its nano dimensions. During this process, the
nanomaterial interacts with the crystals and does not break.
This quality of graphene enables a range of improved performance

characteristics for cement and concrete applications that include:
• Faster cure rate

• Increased load strength
• Reduced water permeation
• Reduced micro-cracking and fractures
• Effective for use in repair compounds
• Requires less cement and concrete to achieve the same engineering
performance, leading to a important reduction in CO2 gas emitted
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Because concrete is so complex and is used in many different applications, it
would be wrong to assume that there will be one-size-graphene- its-all solution,
unlike other graphene applications where for example graphene oxide (GO) is
needed and nothing else works. It will take time and more R&D resources to
match the right type of graphene with different concrete applications, but the
construction industry is desperate for innovation so the demand for graphene is
clear.
It has been demonstrated that some forms of graphene can improve the
compressive strength (thus decreasing cement and aggregate content = saving
C02). However, graphene must reach a competitive price point in order to be cost
effective and used in ready-mix concrete for large residential buildings.
If a competitive price point for the graphene is met (sub $50/kg), the real-world
impacts of it on cement and concrete applications are dramatic. Functionalized
graphene oxide can transform cement from an amorphous to a polycrystalline
material at very low loadings that results in:
• A dramatic improvement in compressive strength up to (+45%) and

lexural strength up to (+25%) and reduces cracking
• Studies demonstrate that on average the addition of just 0.03 per cent
of graphene powder increased the strength of concrete by a
conservative average of 25 per cent
• Graphene achieves the same or higher compressive and lexural
pounds per square inch (psi) in 7 days as Portland Cement achieves in
28 days.
• A reduction in water permeability, enabling a reduction of freeze/
thaw damage as well as reduced corrosion of rebar and other metal
reinforcement.
• 200 grams of GO treats 1 ton of dry cement
One barrier to market adoption will be the high insurance cost due to risks
associated with life-carrying liability of residential structures and the unknown
performance of graphene reinforcement after long periods of time.
Beyond graphene’s reinforcement and strength characteristics, it also provides a

method by which to reduce CO2 emissions in the production of cement and
concrete.
According to the Portland Cement Association, for every metric ton of cement
produced approximately 900kg of CO2 are produced. This equates to
approximately 92kg of CO2 per metric ton of concrete.
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According to public statements from the company Carbon Cure, a privately held
Canadian company that helps cement produces capture and sequester CO2 into
concrete, since 2011 it has removed nearly 110,000 metric tons of CO2 that has
been injected into 1,148,036 truckloads of concrete. This is the equivalent of:
• 95.27kg of CO2 per truckload
• 3.97kg of CO2 per metric ton of concrete
While these numbers sound impressive, they represent just a 4.34% reduction of
the CO2 produced for concrete and a reduction of just 0.35% of global emissions.
By contrast, graphene materials can be added to cement and concrete to

accelerate the cure rate and reduce water permeability. Using just 0.003% by
weight of graphene in concrete equates to just 30 grams per metric ton. At these
amounts, graphene not only improves compressive strength by 35% and lexural
strength by 25%, it reduces cure time by half or more.
While these attractive performance igures have fueled research into the use of
graphene in reinforced concrete, the wide variety of graphene products on the
market has made it dif icult to accurately assess the effectiveness of graphene
products.
The variety of thicknesses, surface areas and chemistries dramatically impacts

the dispersion of the graphene into water, and later in the cement matrix. This
wide variety makes it especially challenging when the loadings of graphene
increase and the speci ic surface area is high because of the attractive forces
between the graphene sheets and graphene’s inherent hydrophobic properties.
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What is Graphene?
Graphene is a single atomic layer of carbon. Graphene is what’s known as an
allotrope of carbon—allotropes are all the different physical forms that an
element can take. Other allotropes of carbon are graphite, charcoal, and diamond.
Graphene is the two-dimensional form of carbon in which the atomic structure is
that of a hexagonal lattice. While graphene is an allotrope of carbon, it has very
different properties and physical characteristics from other forms of carbon.
Commercial De inition
Graphene, from a commercial perspective, is not one material, but instead is a

family of materials based on the original scienti ic de inition of a single atomic
layer of carbon. The large number of de initions for commercial graphene
materials is the result of the different processes by which graphene is produced.
This extremely diverse universe of graphene has led to confusion. But a

shorthand method for organizing this universe is to count the number of layers
of graphene. These materials range from a single layer of carbon atoms to those
comprising tens or even hundreds of layers in a stack, essentially nano-graphite.
Table 1: Graphene Production De inition Based on Layers

Number of Sheets Product Description
1 Graphene (monolayer)
1-3 Very few-layer graphene (vFLG)
2-5 Few-layer graphene
2-10 Multilayer graphene (MLG)
More than 10 Exfoliated graphite or “Graphene Nanoplatelets
Source: The Graphene Council, The Graphene Report 2020
Generally, the greater the number of carbon layers in the graphene material the
less exceptional its properties become. However, multilayered graphene stacks
below a certain thickness still retain enough useful and analogous properties of
monolayer graphene for them to be referred to as graphene products. A more
accurate picture is to consider a continuum of graphene materials, as seen in the
diagram below.
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Figure 2: The Spectrum of Graphene Materials
Physical Properties
Graphene has attracted the attention of tens of thousands of materials scientists

and entrepreneurs world-wide because of its exceptional properties. Below are
some of its superior properties related to cement and concrete:
• Graphene is the strongest real-world material ever tested—

Graphene’s tensile strength has been measured at 130 GigaPascals,
making it 200 times stronger than steel.13 While some materials
theorized in computer models might have simulated strength greater
than graphene, it remains the strongest ever tested.
• Graphene has a large surface area—graphene is actually all

surface. As a two-dimensional material in its purest form, it has no
top or bottom but is all one surface. This large surface area allows for
a wide range of modi ications, functionalization, and incorporation of
it into nanocomposites with other nanomaterials for cement and
concrete applications.
• Graphene is both electrically and thermally conductive—

Graphene’s thermal conductivity is 10 times higher than copper. Not
only is it electrically conductive, it is one of the most electrically
conductive materials in the world.
• Graphene is impermeable—graphene is impermeable to all gases

and compounds due to its density of electrons, except for water. This
makes it particularly attractive for cement and concrete applications,
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which offer suffer catastrophic damage from water penetration.
• Graphene is a lexible crystal—Typically, increased strength of a

material includes increased brittleness. Graphene not only has
increased strength but it is also flexible with up to a 20% bend radius
and elongation, something not available in other high-strength
materials.
• Graphene has an af inity for speci ic materials—graphene’s well-

de ined pores can be readily engineered to work with various forms
of cement.
• Graphene has high reactivity—the large surface area of graphene-

based materials makes them very effective as catalysts. This means
they can speed up the curing of cement and concrete.
Graphene Production
Because graphene is produced from a wide variety of carbon sources, no single
country has a monopoly or ability to control or limit the production of this
critical material from a raw-materials or supply-side approach. Instead, the
limiting factors for the graphene supply chain are concerned with intellectual
property, process capabilities and downstream supply chain dynamics.
Graphene can be produced from graphite, a natural (and synthetically produced)

material. Graphene can also be produced from carbon bearing gases, coal,
petroleum, bio-mass and recycled plastics, to name but a few. Therefore,
graphene can play a role in the reduction of carbon in the atmosphere through
capture and production into a usable, valuable material.
All of these production methods can be roughly divided into two groups: “Top-
down” production and “Bottom-up” production.
Broadly speaking, top-down manufacturing consists of taking something large

and chipping away at it until you have the inal version of the material or device
you want, like sculpting. For instance, lithography would be considered a top-
down manufacturing technique since you are removing bits from a chip you don’t
want. Conversely, bottom-up manufacturing means you are building up your
product up, atom by atom.
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Figure 3: Top-Down/Bottom-Up Manufacturing Techniques
Source: Kitty Cha, “Standardization of Supply”, paper presented at Manchester

Graphene Conference, June 2014
The majority of graphene manufacturing techniques from a volume perspective

involve a top-down manufacturing process using natural graphite as the
feedstock material. In addition to mechanical exfoliation, other ways of
producing graphene through a top-down approach include the chemical liquid-
phase exfoliation of graphite. All of these top-down techniques for
manufacturing graphene result in micrometer size lakes (lateral
dimensions) with from one to in excess of ten atomic layers of carbon.
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is considered a bottom-up manufacturing

technique because graphene is essentially grown as a crystal, assembling
individual carbon atoms using the right combination of gases and temperatures.
Within these divisions for types of graphene and the methods for producing
them, there are multiple distinctions that can be made about the graphene within
each group. But to give a kind of shorthand of the different kinds of graphene
these three groupings help to better understand the supply landscape:
• Graphene Oxide—Graphene Oxide (GO) lakes are basically

graphene that has been functionalized with hydrogen and oxygen. GO
and its derivative, reduced graphene oxide (rGO), are partly oxidized
graphene sheet with a carbon-to-oxygen ratio of approximately 2 to 1
for GO and 5 to 100 for rGO. GO has been demonstrated in a wide
range of prototype applications, including in barrier coatings, as a
iller in advanced composites, anti-corrosion coatings, water
iltration membranes and sensors.
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• Graphene Nanoplatelets—graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are
essentially nanoparticles made from graphite. Typically, these
nanoparticles are small stacks of graphene that are 1 to 15
nanometers thick, with diameters ranging from sub- micrometer to
100 micrometers. The most common applications for GNPs are in
composites, functional coatings, conductive inks, batteries and
supercapacitors.
• CVD Graphene Film—Graphene ilms are essentially graphene in

large domain areas and in uniform layers. The production technique
that has proven the most promising in creating these large area
graphene ilms at a mass production scale is chemical vapor
deposition (CVD). This is why we are using the nomenclature of CVD
graphene ilm to cover this class of graphene material.
In addition to the forms of graphene, the material can be further enhanced

through a process called “functionalization”. This involves adding other elements
or molecules to the edges or surfaces of the graphene to increase or enhanced
additional properties depending on how the material will be used.
The important thing to note is that “graphene” from a commercial

perspective includes an entire class of carbon-based materials that can be
“tuned” or modi ied speci ically for unique and demanding applications
that cannot be solved by other materials. It is truly an enabling technology.
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Barriers in the Manufacturing and Adoption of Graphene for
Industry
The main technical barriers to the wider adoption of graphene fall into the
following main categories. The irst ive (in italics) have been successfully
addressed. The remaining ive areas (in BOLD) are currently in various stages of
being addressed and would bene it from a national and coordinated approach:
• The ability to produce graphene materials at lab scale (proof of concept

production)
• Scale production from grams to kilograms
• Batch to batch repeatability
• Scale from pilot plant to commercial scale and ton capacity
• Identify markets and customers beyond universities and small R&D
sales
• Identify the right price/volume mix for pro itability

• Customer education (awareness, information, interest,
evaluation, adoption)
• Increased regulatory certainty (e.g., TOSCA, EPA)
• Health and safety concerns (NIOSH)
• Industry/Application adoption as a widely used material
There are several hundred companies world-wide that claim to produce

graphene, in addition to more than 5,000 companies in China that are formally
part of that nation’s national graphene strategic industrial sector.
The vast majority of graphene production takes place outside of the United States
with Canada, the European Union (and the United Kingdom in particular), Korea,
Australia, Brazil and Singapore as leading production and development centers.
China has long seen graphene as a national strategic material and has formally
included graphene in the national ive-year plan. The result is a very large and
robust supply chain for the graphene sector from graphite mine to end-use
applications.
At present, it is easier for a large United States company to import graphene

materials than it is for a domestic producer to get federal approvals to make and
sell more than 1 metric ton of graphene. This puts the United States and its
graphene companies at a disadvantage.
Equally important to the need to be able to produce graphene at commercial

scale is the need for end-users to understand how to handle and apply this
material. This requires special skills and techniques that in many cases are being
developed outside of the United States.
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As such, there are technical challenges not yet fully addressed in the value chain
to enable the uptake of graphene by industry to be more widespread. For
example, the use of graphene as a performance additive in the polymer
composite market has a clear cost bene it in terms of greater functionality,
however, there remain several key technical obstacles to overcome.
Not least of these obstacles is the requirement to achieve a cost effective, stable,
homogenous dispersion of these materials into relevant carriers (solvents,
resins, waxes, oils) or the bulk end product without agglomeration. In order to
achieve this, a number of essential factors need to come together.
Distributive mixing machines designed speci ically for industrial nanomaterial

dispersion in a bulk material need to be deployed, and often the nanomaterials
need to be chemically modi ied or “functionalized” by attaching end groups
(such as OH, COOH molecules) to prevent agglomeration after mixing and
ensure proper interfacial adhesion between nanomaterial and polymer matrix.
The fact remains, few companies in the United States have the ability to bring all
these elements together effectively, in what can be considered steps in a re ining
process that are necessary before graphene is readily usable.
One can conclude given this inhibiting factor, that only when this re ining
capacity is addressed can nanocomposites, coatings or lubricants fabricated
using graphene be produced in large-scale batch manufacture at the speed, cost
and volume that industry demands in order to effectively compete against their
more traditional counterparts.
Figure 4: Routes for Downstream Processing and Re ining of Graphene
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COMPANIES PRODUCING GRAPHENE FOR CONCRETE APPLICATIONS
While it could be argued that just about any bulk graphene producer could
supply graphene for concrete and cement applications, below you will see a table
that lists companies that have been involved in commercial use of graphene for
concrete and cement applications.
Table 2: Companies Commercializing Graphene for Cement & Concrete

Company Country URL Business Focus
The company produces
graphene derived wholly
from organic renewable
Bio Graphene sources of carbon to meet
Canada biographenesolutions.com
Solutions the demanding competitive
prices required for
applications in concrete and
asphalt.
The company uses graphene
to improve the strength of
Concrene UK www.concrene.com/
concrete and reduce its
carbon footprint.
The company uses its edge
Garmor functionalized graphene for
(now Asbury US garmortech.com/ a number of materials,
Carbons) including cement to improve
its strength from 40 to 50%
The company uses its
graphene additives for
stronger, lighter concrete
Australia structures enabling novel
First Graphene irstgraphene.net/
& UK and potentially greener
approaches in building and
infrastructure project
design.
The company markets
graphene additives that
Talga Australia www.talgagroup.com
make concrete electrically
conductive.
The company Graphene
Nano Platelet products have
been tested in a number of
Thomas Swan UK thomas-swan.co.uk/ concrete dispersions and
have shown compressive
strength improvements.
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A joint venture between
University of Manchester
University of www.graphene.manches and Nationwide Engineering
UK has developed a product
Manchester ter.ac.uk/ that could revolutionize the
concrete industry and its
impact on the environment.
The company is making one
its primary market focus for
Versarien UK www.versarien.com/
its graphene the
construction industry.
Source: The Graphene Council
Concrete & Cement Applications

Before explaining the applications of graphene in concrete and cement you irst
need to understand a bit more about them.
What is Cement?
Cement—one of the four main constituents of concrete—is the second most

widely used material on Earth, after water. There are many types of cement,
based on the inert rock, which they are made of, but the most famous one is
Portland Cement, a grey powder. Upon reacting with water, this powder
undergoes physical transformation to paste and then to solid, thus binding sand
and larger aggregates to form concrete.
Cement has been used in civil and residential infrastructure since the Roman
times. However, due to the burning phase during its production method, it
releases a lot of C02. Moreover, concrete hydration is an exothermic reaction and
releases additional heat in the atmosphere while hardening. This additional heat
only ampli ies the environmental problem associated with cement. As a result,
the industry has dedicated a lot of time and resources to ind innovative
solutions that reduce this carbon footprint.
What is Concrete?
Concrete is a composite material, made from sand and aggregates glued all
together by cement and water. Similar to a rock, it is very strong in compression,
but weak in tension. It is the most widely used construction material, found in
nearly all civil infrastructure such as roads, dams, bridges, viaducts, and
residential buildings made up from ready-mix or precast concrete.
The industry has developed over the years a range of chemical admixtures, which
in luence and change the main hydration of the cement crystals to suit different
applications of concrete and achieve better bespoke performance. There are
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more than 20 types of concrete used nowadays, and they all differ in
composition, properties and use. Therefore, it is a common misconception with
people from outside the industry that concrete is “just a cheap construction
material” that can be used literally everywhere.
Quite on the contrary, the complexity of its composite nature allows for many
new and exciting ways for “tweaking” the hydration reaction by using new
technologies and smart materials, which ultimately in luences the fundamental
mechanical properties of concrete and not only can create new, innovative
products, but signi icantly reduce the carbon emissions.
Concrete Applications
The industry has developed over the years a range of chemical admixtures for
concrete, which in luence and change the main hydration of the cement crystals
to suit different applications of concrete and achieve better bespoke
performance. There are more than 20 types of concrete used nowadays, and they
all differ in composition, properties and use. Therefore, it is a common
misconception with people from outside the industry that concrete is “just a
cheap construction material” that can be used literally everywhere.
Quite on the contrary, the complexity of its composite nature allows for many
new and exciting ways for “tweaking” the hydration reaction by using new
technologies and smart materials, which ultimately in luences the fundamental
mechanical properties of concrete and not only can create new, innovative
products, but signi icantly reduce the carbon emissions.
PRE-CAST CONCRETE
Various structural elements can be made and cast in a factory environment,

which boosts quality, volume output, extends life cycle and durability of the
concrete elements, and of course increases productivity and quality of delivery
by using less labor on site. The factory conditions are also favorable for precise
admixture dosing, curing time and environment, as well as controlling the
hydration and setting of concrete at a constant temperature.
Graphene can contribute to the rapid setting of concrete, thus, allowing the
manufacturer to remove formwork in a reduced time. The increased strength
delivered by adding graphene may lead to less steel reinforcement used which
will save costs and additional C02, and because the hydration takes place in a dry
environment there will be long-term positive impact on porosity and overall
durability (the concrete will be less prone to microcracking). Some precast
concrete elements are more expensive than the ready-mix concrete, therefore the
entry level graphene cost can be higher at $40-50/kg.
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MARINE CONCRETE
Graphene serves as a nucleus between the cement crystals at nano and micro-
level, which, when properly dispersed while mixing (or spray-coated as a
separate thin layer), can increase the water permeability of concrete by a
signi icant factor. Preliminary studies showed a fourfold decrease in water
absorption, thanks to the inherent hydrophobic nature of the nanomaterial,
coupled with decreased porosity of the composite material. Although this market
segment is more niched, most of the marine concrete is precast which creates a
huge opportunity for adding graphene for loating concrete structures, such as
houses, ships, pontoons etc.
SELF-CONSOLIDATED CONCRETE
This type of concrete has an extremely high slump (a property which

demonstrates how luid the mix is) and consequently has a high workability. It
can be used in areas where there is thick reinforcement required or the
formwork has a very complex shape. Surfactant-stabilized graphene dispersions
are preferred for this type of concrete as the surfactant molecules can act as an
“lubricant” and add to the luidity properties. This represents a relatively small
market as compared to the precast or marine ones.
THERMALLY CONDUCTIVE SCREEDS
A screed is a thin, top layer of material (sand and cement, magnesite or calcium
sulfate), poured on site on top of the structural concrete or insulation, on top of
which other inishing materials can be applied, or the structural material can be
left bare to achieve a raw effect.
A growing market in this area is what’s known as thermally conductive screeds.

Graphene because of its electrical and thermal conductivity looks to be ideally
suited for this application.
The applications that these graphene-enabled screeds would see use include in
electricity distribution, under- loor heating, domestic geothermal well, and ice-
free road-bridge-tarmac areas.
Opportunities for Graphene in Concrete & Cement
Compressive strength is of primary importance with concrete, but improvements

to permeability, toughness and lexural strength are all highly valued ( lexural
strength in concrete is actually quite poor).
Graphene is a possible candidate as an additive to improve some of these

attributes. Testing with graphene oxide (GO) has shown signi icant
improvements with both lexural and compressive strength even with loadings of
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0.05% GO by weight of cement. The GO sheets were shown to increase the
lexural strength of ordinary Portland cement matrix from between 41% to 59%
and the compressive strength increased between 15% and 33%. (Monash
University).
Addition of appropriate functional chemical groups on the graphene surface is

understood to introduce selective adsorption of different molecules and ions.
With GO, a nucleation effect which speeds up hydration process, increasing the
production of Calcium Silicate Hydrate or “C-S-H” (the main product of cement
hydration) is observed due to its surface adsorption capacity to trap calcium
ions.
An increase in C-S-H production improves the compressive strength of the

concrete. In addition to this, functional groups on the graphene surface
(carboxylic acid) will actually react with the cement hydration products to form
strong covalent bonds with the cement matrix, further explaining the
improvements to its mechanical performance (Li GY, 2005).
Due to the high aspect ratio of nano-reinforcements such as graphene and carbon
nanotubes, they have the ability to arrest the crack propagation (by controlling
the nano-sized cracks before they form micro-sized cracks) and hence greatly
improve peak toughness, making them more effective than even conventional
steel bar or iber reinforcements.
Good moisture barrier properties are important in concrete to prevent ingress of

water which can lead to ef lorescence (the deposition of soluble salts on the
surface) and with steel rebar reinforced concrete these composites can also be
vulnerable to water-soluble chloride ions, which is the primary cause of
premature corrosion of the steel reinforcement. Both of these effects from
chemically aggressive environments impair the long-term durability
performance of concrete.
The barrier properties of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) have been investigated

in cement mortar for the reduction of permeability and diffusion of harmful
agents using 2.5% GNP by weight of cement. The water penetration depth,
chloride diffusion coef icient and chloride migration coef icient were shown to
reduce by 64%, 70% and 31% respectively (Hong Jian Du, 2014).
Concrete is an exceptionally low-cost material, at approximately $50 per ton. As a

result, and despite the enormous market, large-scale integration might prove
very dif icult. Not only would graphene need to be priced at <$10 per kilo for the
example barrier property improvements above at 2.5% dosage by weight of
cement (potentially even approaching parity with the graphite feedstock), the
costs of further re ining and/or dispersion might become too high as to make
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application impossible without the producer being able to perform these
additional steps in house.
Furthermore, for strength improvements graphene must compete with much

cheaper alternatives. In order to increase the compressive strength of 1m3 of
normal concrete by 1MPa (1 N/mm2) you would need to add 5kg of extra
cement. The price of cement is approximately 10 cents per kg. Therefore, the
strength unit cost for concrete is $0.50/MPa/m3. This low margin and high cap-
ex requirement might represent an impenetrable barrier.
High performance and ultra-high-performance concretes have increasingly been

gaining traction. These are frequently reinforced with steel ibers and can
achieve compressive strengths approaching 250Mpa. Ultra-High-Performance
Concrete (UHPC) and Ultra-High Strength Concrete (UHSC) operates at such a
high-performance level that it competes with steel rather than regular concrete
grades. Advantages are lower lead times compared to steel.
UHPC and UHSC can cost in excess of $500/ton, with enhancements such as
micro-reinforcements further increasing the price. Due to the immense
importance of compression strength and other factors such as blast, ballistic and
earthquake resistance, additive premiums can be signi icant.
UHPC/UHSC is over an order of magnitude more expensive than regular

concrete, but in an environment where material usage and weight are such
essential considerations, it can actually be cheaper to use the more expensive
grades in the long run, especially factoring in the reduced maintenance costs
incurred by UHPC/UHSC.
Monash University found that adding graphene oxide nanosheets improved the
lexural and compressive strengths of cement mortar and UHSC. In particular, the
compressive strength of UHSC incorporating 0.01% (by weight of cement) of
graphene oxide nanosheets, after curing for 28 days, increased by 7.82% than
that of UHSC without graphene oxide (117.34 MPa).
The unit cost per compressive strength for UHSC is much higher ($4/MPa/m3)
(Khayat, 2017) than for normal concrete. Based on this 7.82% strength
improvement which equates to approximately 1MPa, we can determine that the
graphene would need to be priced at approximately $40/kg to compete with the
equivalent strength improvement from cement addition (UHSC typically contains
1000kg cement for every 1m3 of concrete, and the concentration is 0.01%
graphene to cement = 0.1kg graphene for $4 worth of strength improvement).
This type of high value concrete product is therefore a much more commercially
attractive target for graphene reinforcement.
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Another niche, high-value potential application for graphene in concrete is to
prevent early age thermal cracking by improving the thermal diffusivity of
hydrated cement. As graphene is highly thermally conductive, when suf icient
amounts of the material are added to cement paste it improves the thermal
diffusivity of the cementitious composite. When 5% graphene is added for
instance, the thermal diffusivity is improved by 25% at 25˚C and about 30% at
400˚C compared to pure cement paste (Sedaghat, 2014).
This enhancement could be particularly relevant to precast concrete production

since the concrete blocks are baked in an autoclave at high temperature and the
large size of the blocks can lead to a temperature gradient when cooling that can
cause cracking. By focusing on these relatively higher priced concrete products,
with graphene used not only as a reinforcing iller but also to provide property
enhancements which are particular to solving an industry challenge or goal,
graphene could ind success in a variety of cement and concrete market
segments.
The use of graphene in cement and concrete is not just some potential
application. Already, graphene-enhanced mortars and concrete are a reality, over
the last 12 months the industrial scalability and commercial reality have become
clearer.
As far as the industrial scalability issues, these will come down to the ability to
manufacture graphene to a repeatable required quality in volume and to deliver
it so it can be used easily with on-site equipment.
With the construction sector beginning to realize that graphene is delivering

real-world improvements to cement and concrete, the graphene producers are
pushing even more than ever before to create new grades of graphene that will
meet the demand.
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RECENT CASE STUDIES
University of Manchester & Nationwide Engineering
A joint venture between graphene specialists at The University of Manchester

and alumni-led construction irm Nationwide Engineering has developed a
graphene-enhanced concrete dubbed “Concretene” in May of 2021 used the
material to lay a loor slab of a new gym in the UK. The so-called Concretene was
able to remove 30% of material and all steel reinforcement. Depending on the
size of onward projects, Nationwide Engineering estimates a 10-20% saving to
its customers.
Credit: University of Manchester
The joint venture claims that tiny amounts of graphene strengthens Concretene
by around 30% compared to standard RC30 concrete, meaning signi icantly less
is needed to achieve the equivalent structural performance.
Liquid concrete sets into its solid form through chemical reactions known as
hydration and gelation, where the water and cement in the mixture react to form
a paste that dries and hardens over time.
Graphene makes a difference by acting as a mechanical support and as a catalyst

surface for the initial hydration reaction, leading to better bonding at
microscopic scale and giving the inished product improved strength, durability
and corrosion resistance.
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Crucially, Concretene can be used just like standard concrete, meaning no new
equipment or training is needed in the batching or laying process, and cost-
savings can be passed directly to the client.
Credit: Nationwide Engineering
Nationwide Engineering has three existing ive-year construction frameworks

with Network Rail and two seven-year Government Crown commercial building
frameworks. With Network Rail committing to an 11% reduction in CO2
emissions over the next four years, graphene-enhanced concrete shows
signi icant potential to help meet this target.
For example, the HS2 high-speed rail project is expected to use 19.7 million tons
of concrete, creating around 5 million tons of CO2 (around 1.4% of UK annual
CO2 emissions). And that’s just in concrete production, before you add in the
hundreds of thousands of train and lorry journeys needed to transport the
material to site.
While there is still distance to travel between a low-risk loor slab and the
performance requirements of high-speed rail, a 30% reduction in material across
a range of engineering applications would make a signi icant difference to
environmental impact and costs in the construction industry.
Rolled out across the global building industry supply chain, the technology has
the potential to shave 2% off worldwide emissions.
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Versarien
UK-based graphene producer Versarien have completed initial lab-scale trials

dispersing both different Versarien graphene powders (NaneneTM and GNP-HP
grades) as well as directly blending water-based GraphinksTM into cementitious
mortar and concrete mixes with graphene loadings optimized below 0.3 wt.% in
the cement phase.
Trials with a traditional Type 1 Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) based concrete
mix and the addition of Versarien’s GraphinksTM produced the following results
(all tests have been undertaken by an independent test house):
• Improved compression strength (+38%)

• Improved lexural strength (>14% - 45%)
• Increased split tensile strength (>15%)
• Improved water permeability (> 200% - 0-2 mm)
• Faster curing without micro-cracking
• Increased corrosion resistance
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About The Graphene Council
The Graphene Council is the largest community in the world for researchers,
application developers, producers and users of graphene. It now reaches more
than 30,000 materials scientists and product specialists working with graphene
in ields ranging from electronics, composites, energy storage, plastics, structural
materials, heat management and many more.
Among the achievements to date:
The largest community in the world for graphene researchers,

developers, producers, users and other stakeholders.
Formal members of the ISO/ANSI/IEC/ASTM/BSI Graphene Standards

development working groups.
Authors of “The Graphene Report”, the most comprehensive and up-to-

date publication that covers commercial forms of graphene materials
and their production processes, applications, markets, industries,
pricing, material standards, characterization processes and a pro ile of
approx. 200 graphene producer companies.
Producers of a weekly Graphene Intelligence Brie ing that covers

commercial, research and graphene patent ilings world-wide.
Advocates for the commercial adoption of graphene by connecting

producers and end-users to meet their mutual technical and business
requirements.
The mission of The Graphene Council is to be the most effective and

comprehensive global platform for all stakeholders with an interest in the use
and commercialization of graphene and related materials.
For more information, please visit: thegraphenecouncil.org
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References:
1https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/global-concrete-and-cement-
market-2020-to-expand-at-a-cagr-of-by-2026-complete-market-analysis-by-
growth-opportunities-market-size-growth-demand-production-2020-11-17
2https://web.archive.org/web/20070714085318/http://www.wbcsd.org/
DocRoot/1IBetslPgkEie83rTa0J/cement-action-plan.pdf
3 https://www.chathamhouse.org/2018/06/making-concrete-change-
innovation-low-carbon-cement-and-concrete
4https://cleantechnica.com/2018/04/30/graphene-makes-concrete-stronger-
while-reducing-carbon-emissions/
5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_concrete
6 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.201705183
7 Ibid
8https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
272568622_Mechanical_properties_and_microstructure_of_a_graphene_oxide-
cement_composite
9https://www.talgagroup.com/irm/PDF/b7d54586-
a7e0-419b-9a93-0f9c90ccaf17/
OutstandingTalgaGrapheneConcreteStrengthResults
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cement-additives-
10
market-31545044.html
11https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cement-additives-
market-31545044.html
12https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ultra-high-
performance-concrete-market-216557370.html
13 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11458
28
gl bal
cement
Virtual (free) and
in-person events TM
in 2021-2022 from:
Details and registration
Virtual Global CemQC 2 Virtual Global CemEnergy 3

Quality control for clinker and cement Conventional fuels for cement and lime
5 October 2021 24 May 2022
Virtual Global CemProducer 4 Virtual Global CemCCUS

Cement plant maintenance Carbon capture, use and storage for
9 November 2021 cement and lime
14 June 2022
Virtual Global CemPower
Electrical generation and efficiency Virtual Middle Eastern Cement 3
23 November 2021 Market trends and technology in the Middle
East
Virtual European Cement 5 July 2022
Market trends and technology in Europe
7 December 2021 Virtual African Cement 2
Market trends and technology in Africa
Virtual Global Ash 2 6 September 2022
Ash for cement and concrete
14 December 2021 16th Global CemFuels Conference
21-22 September 2022, Bangkok
15th Global Slag Conference
18-19 January 2022, Vienna Virtual Global CemQC 3
Quality control for clinker and cement
Virtual Global Concrete 3 4 October 2022
Global concrete business
1 February 2022 3rd Global FutureCem Conference
18-19 October 2022, Vienna
15th Global CemFuels Conference
16-17 February 2022, Lisbon Virtual Global CemProducer 5
Cement production optimisation
Virtual Asian Cement 2 1 November 2022
Market trends and technology in Asia
1 March 2022 2nd Global GypSupply Conference
15-16 November 2022, Brussels
20th Global Gypsum//15th Insulation Conference
16-17 March 2022, Estoril/Lisbon Virtual Global CemPower 2
Electrical generation and efficiency
Virtual American Cement 2 29 November 2022
Market trends and technology in the Americas
30-31 March 2022 Virtual European Cement 2
Market trends and technology in Europe
5th Global CemBoards Conference 6 December 2022
26-27 April 2022, Brussels
Virtual Global Ash 3
1st Global CemProducer Conference Ash for cement and concrete
13 December 2022
11-12 May 2022, Munich
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GRAPHENE IN CEMENT & CONCRETE APPLICATIONS - WHITE PAPER

The Graphene Council

Executive Summary ...........................................................................................................3

Table 1: Graphene Production De inition Based on Layers ..............................................9

Figure 1: Ultra-high Performance Concrete Market .............................................................6

In the context of this ever-growing demand, cement-based concrete represents

The CO2 emission from concrete production is directly proportional to the

Researchers at the University of Exeter6 found that by including graphene into

• More rapid cure rate

• Graphene-enabled cement can reduce the amount of materials

• Laboratory tests have demonstrated enormous material

• Graphene-enabled achieves same strength as OPC in a quarter of

• Graphene reduces maintenance of key infrastructure—

• The graphene used in cement will have to maintain a low price

• Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) and Ultra-High

• Graphene has key role in infrastructure maintenance—Graphene

• The supply chain for graphene is able to produce industrial

MARKET ESTIMATES FOR GRAPHENE IN CEMENT & CONCRETE

Source: The Graphene Report 2020, The Graphene Council

Graphene’s Role in the Future of Concrete & Cement

• Its inherent mechanical strength

Graphene is capable of mechanically interlocking with these crystals because of

This quality of graphene enables a range of improved performance

• Faster cure rate

• A dramatic improvement in compressive strength up to (+45%) and

Beyond graphene’s reinforcement and strength characteristics, it also provides a

By contrast, graphene materials can be added to cement and concrete to

The variety of thicknesses, surface areas and chemistries dramatically impacts

Graphene, from a commercial perspective, is not one material, but instead is a

This extremely diverse universe of graphene has led to confusion. But a

Table 1: Graphene Production De inition Based on Layers

Source: The Graphene Council, The Graphene Report 2020

Source: The Graphene Council, The Graphene Report 2021

Graphene has attracted the attention of tens of thousands of materials scientists

• Graphene is the strongest real-world material ever tested—

• Graphene has a large surface area—graphene is actually all

• Graphene is both electrically and thermally conductive—

• Graphene is impermeable—graphene is impermeable to all gases

• Graphene is a lexible crystal—Typically, increased strength of a

• Graphene has an af inity for speci ic materials—graphene’s well-

• Graphene has high reactivity—the large surface area of graphene-

Graphene can be produced from graphite, a natural (and synthetically produced)

Broadly speaking, top-down manufacturing consists of taking something large

Source: Kitty Cha, “Standardization of Supply”, paper presented at Manchester

The majority of graphene manufacturing techniques from a volume perspective

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is considered a bottom-up manufacturing

• Graphene Oxide—Graphene Oxide (GO) lakes are basically

• CVD Graphene Film—Graphene ilms are essentially graphene in

In addition to the forms of graphene, the material can be further enhanced

The important thing to note is that “graphene” from a commercial

• The ability to produce graphene materials at lab scale (proof of concept

• Identify the right price/volume mix for pro itability

There are several hundred companies world-wide that claim to produce

At present, it is easier for a large United States company to import graphene

Equally important to the need to be able to produce graphene at commercial

Distributive mixing machines designed speci ically for industrial nanomaterial

Figure 4: Routes for Downstream Processing and Re ining of Graphene

Source: The Graphene Council, The Graphene Report 2020

Table 2: Companies Commercializing Graphene for Cement & Concrete

Source: The Graphene Council

Concrete & Cement Applications

Cement—one of the four main constituents of concrete—is the second most

Various structural elements can be made and cast in a factory environment,