Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) from Polystyrene
Markets for GQDs in 2023 were $125B and are anticipated to grow 22% per year to $550B by 2031
Styrofoam™ is a Dow Chemical Company trademark for a specific type of extruded polystyrene (EPS) foam used only for art supplies and insulation – which is why we refer to it as ‘polystyrene’.
Polystyrene is not cost-effective to recycle, and is therefore excluded from most traditional recycling operations.
Astera’s plastic recovery process, known as pyrolisis, can use polystyrene and convert it into a number of viable and profitable products – like GQDs, aviation fuel, ethylene, and propylene.
GQDs have been acknowledged as appropriate for various applications, such as eliminating pollutants and organic dyes through catalysis, absorbing heavy metals, and purifying microbial contamination through filtration.
Therefore GQDs have many different uses, including solar panels, LEDs, wastewater treatment, biomedical applications, and many more.
SOURCES:
Polystyrene’s recycling challenges
https://www.wastewiseproductsinc.com/blog/the-problem-with-recycling-styrofoam/?srsltid=AfmBOopTyL6RrI3dfpsnDc4Nea2Mfi4akLixS7TnIUO9vgLbrYl7L94h
Microwave pyrolysis (MP) of polystyrene produces GQDs
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0026265X23013000
One of the byproducts of MP of polystyrene is aviation fuels.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165237021004113
In addition the oils from the conversion process can be processed into aviation fuels, while the major gasses produced are ethylene and propylene.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7827018/
GQDs have many different uses, including solar panels, LEDs, wastewater treatment, biomedical applications, etc
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/graphene-quantum-dot#:~:text=The%20quantum%20dot%20structure%20has,further%20acting%20as%20a%20disinfectant.
Markets for GQDs in 2023 were $125B and are anticipated to grow 22% per year to $550B by 2031.
https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/product/graphene-quantum-dots-market/