Warning: high strength concrete bridge at 11:08 is from a Talga press release which includes a section on general high strength concrete, and there is no claim that this bridge uses graphene enhanced concrete!
It sounds like a product that will make longer, thinner, bridge girders that can make bridges last longer, if we put the girders back under the vehicle wheel paths to reduce cyclical fatigue loadings.
Using graphene to reduce embedded CO2 and improve the physical characteristics requires only a very, very small amount of graphene. At those low levels, it is not sufficient to generate a current sufficient to detect changes. That does not mean graphene could not be engineered into a sensing role within a structure but it is unlikely that it is near term possible to make an entire structure capable of sensing.
How is adding an admixture reducing CO2 content? We need to see how reductions of cement can be accomplished with the admixture while maintaining the workability and other properties.
Dear Eric, thanks for the comment. The answer lies in your question / comment. Adding extremely small amounts of graphene to a concrete mix (for example, 30grams per 1 metric ton) improves compressive and flexural strength of the concrete allowing approximately 9 kgs of carbon reduction through the reduction of the cement portion of the mixture/compound. It is as simple as that. What is equally important is that the cure rate is accelerated which is very important and attractive to a contractor who can then move to the next phase of the project sooner, saving money and increasing work capacity. Hope this is helpful.
The amounts of graphene used to enhance strength is not enough to create electrical conductivity. It is possible to create conductivity but it requires a higher level of graphene content.
