The European Union Graphene Flagship’s G+BOARD project aims to develop a car steering wheel and instrument panel that is free of metal and graphene, to improve performance, reduce manufacturing costs and reduce fuel costs for customers. They have conductive circuits, sensors, and physical devices made of graphene or reduced graphene oxide to replace the copper wires and metal control devices currently used in car dashboards.
Manchester has isolated Graphene in 2014. Since then, the city has developed into an unparalleled center of excellence, with two world-leading centers for materials research and commercialization. More than 60 companies, including Rolls-Royce, are already studying charts. The city must be at the forefront. Figure technology. Graphene is the lightest material in the world, 200 times stronger than steel.
The G+ Board: What is it?
The dashboard should provide a unique user experience while maintaining high quality. Vehicle inventory prices are not expected to rise because the simplified assembly process will reduce costs.
Unlike most current instrument panels made of metal, graphene-based instrument panels will not increase the overall weight of the vehicle. As the automotive industry is looking for ways to reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, significant weight reduction will mean greater sustainability. The success of the entire industry.
G + BOARD The highly developed electrical system is created on polymer materials using laser writing technology. This process helps reduce the weight of components and makes them easier to recycle. Made entirely of thermoplastic resin and carbon filler.
The advantages of graphene in the automotive industry
Graphene’s high conductivity and visual transparency make it a valuable material that can be used in various types of user interfaces, mainly composed of liquid crystal displays (LCD) and touch screens. On the dashboard of the new car. For drivers and passengers, touch screen interfaces are becoming as important as driving performance, comfort, and safety.
Of course, today such sites as Zemotor, Amazon, or Cars do not offer cars with graphene today, but It is expected that with the popularization of this technology, the amount of content displayed on commercial vehicle displays will increase. It is reported that Amazon and Google are developing self-driving car products because it is expected that potential passengers will want more and more visual content options on the website. For this reason, flexibility is an important characteristic of graphene, which can be used to manufacture curved touch screens. This quality opens up many new possibilities for displaying content on the car dashboard.
Removing metal and replacing it with something lighter is good for the life of the vehicle, including lower fuel consumption and a simpler recycling process. The automotive industry has benefited a lot from it. Replacing graphene with metal is a small but beneficial step.
The Spearhead Projects, a Graphene Flagship
G+BOARD project is one of 11 such graph flagship projects. These pioneering projects represent various scientific efforts aimed at making graphene more commercially viable. Like other Spearhead projects, the G + BOARD project involves various institutions and corporate participants, including the automotive giant Fiat Chrysler, the Italian National Research Council, and the University of Cambridge. Projects
Spearhead aims to develop real products to put on the market, and the final G + BOARD product will be used for later development. After completion, various prototype dashboards will be built into the concept car and delivered to Fiat. Chrysler is ready to adopt.
In 2020, the G + BOARD project defines the technical specifications of the last set of components, which materials are important according to the application and plan objectives. As part of this project, new polymer compounds based on graphene and layered materials have also been developed. These materials were also analyzed at this time.
Improved display technology
Touch screens and the addition of other smart functions have further promoted the development of graphene plates. Most touch screens today are made of indium tin oxide, which is both expensive and durable. Graphene is a much cheaper option. It is very flexible.
The touch screen may be subjected to various physical pressures during use, including B. Contact load from the operator’s finger or stylus. Accident. Therefore, it is very important to consider the overall physical strength of the touch screen.
Graphene is a proven transparent conductor used in touch screens. It has many advantages, including physical flexibility and high structural integrity. It also has higher chemical stability, can be used in a variety of different manufacturing technologies, and has low absorption in a wide range of graphenes. At present, the most promising form of graphene used for transparent conductive films is a large-area solid. Polycrystalline graphene.
Here are five ways this material will revolutionize the automotive industry:
-
Lightweight for structural components
Graphene can be added to existing metals and polymers for additional benefits, such as: significantly Reduce vehicle weight while improving fuel efficiency and handling.
-
Stainless Steel Coating
The University of Manchester Graphene Coating provides a super-hard coating that is impermeable to air, water, and chemicals, which means that rust can be a thing of the past.
-
Sensors
Since it is only one atom thick, each atom is exposed to the environment, which means that changes can be easily identified. This feature makes it very suitable for unmanned vehicles because even in bad weather conditions, the sensor can detect the distance of obstacles.
-
Electronics
As the most conductive material in the world, it can be used to increase the density of transistors in electronic circuits and increase the response time. In addition, it can also be used as a housing for any touch screen assembly to provide interactivity.
-
Batteries
The lithium-ion battery is currently a very heavy component in electric vehicles. Graphene cannot even penetrate hydrogen atoms but allows protons to flow easily, so it can be used in battery technology to improve efficiency and reduce weight.
There are still some challenges in preparing the material for production. It is important to mix the graphene powder with the polymer uniformly, because the graphene block will weaken the finished product, and related patents are pending. Using too much graphene will make the component too strong, on the contrary, too much energy is transferred and cannot be absorbed, and too little will make it too weak.
After cleaning, the material may be used in a variety of applications. “It can replace many different parts of a car,” said Ahmed Elmarakbi, professor of automotive composites at the University of Sunderland. “Structural elements, doors, chassis-all parts of the structure made of steel or aluminum can be replaced.”
Interesting Related Article: “Assessing safety of graphene and related materials, Graphene Flagship“