Principal investigator: Pastore, Christopher
University: Thomas Jefferson University
Industry partners: Laurel Materials, LLC
Because of its properties, graphene will potentially transform a myriad of industries, including materials and coatings (lighter and stronger), energy storage and conversion (due to its high super-capacitance and electrical conductivity), biosensors and drug delivery, electronics, filtration membranes, and more. Laurel Materials, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based company, has developed a patented technology to produce graphene using industrial hemp fiber. The specific characteristics of the hemp-based graphene will depend on the hemp source, which currently consists of 9 different varietals grown in Pennsylvania. Laurel Materials’ process potentially makes graphene orders of magnitude cheaper, scalable, and cleaner. This project aims to understand how the plant variety and growing conditions affect the performance of hemp-derived graphene, in order to identify the best match between plant and application. Thomas Jefferson University will characterize the different graphene materials, compare them to baseline graphene produced conventionally, and determine the best industrial applications for each hemp-derived graphene source.