Can you build a house using trash? Periyar University researchers say yes. A team at the university developed a method to convert waste materials such as plastic and agricultural residue into flash graphene, one of the strongest materials known, using short bursts of super-heated electricity.
Just a pinch of this graphene, added to concrete, can significantly boost its strength, say the researchers. The patented Pulsed Capacitive Discharge (PCD) instrument they built generates graphene from waste in milliseconds, offering a way to tackle plastic pollution and carbon emissions from cement.

Researchers say the PCD technique uses high-powered electric pulses to heat carbon-rich waste to over 3000 Kelvin, triggering a thermal shock that breaks down plastic and biomass molecules, rearranging their carbon atoms into graphene sheets. Plastic, which contains about 30% carbon, as well as wood chips (80%), agricultural and forest waste, can all be converted into graphene through this process.
“Just by adding 0.01% graphene by weight, the strength of concrete increases by 30%. This reduces cement usage, which in turn brings down CO2 emissions,” says R. Ramesh, Director of the Centre for New and Renewable Energy Studies at Periyar University.
Graphene, an ultra-thin material, was discovered by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who won the Nobel Prize for it in 2010. For a long time, the material was not used in mainstream applications due to cost and scalability issues. The PCD technique changes that, cutting graphene production costs by 80% to ₹40,000 per kg and consuming just 0.5 units of electricity per gram, making it scalable, energy-efficient, and sustainable.
Why does using graphene as a construction material matter? Because it is a greener alternative in the concrete industry, responsible for nearly 8% of global CO2 emissions. It reduces the need for cement and, consequently, its environmental toll. Trials with fly ash bricks and pavements are showing equally promising results.
But the innovation does not stop at construction. With its superior electrical conductivity and strength, graphene can play a key role in energy storage technologies. Flash graphene made from waste is being used to enhance batteries, including those for electric vehicles and renewable energy systems, and supercapacitors, while even offering a solution for recycling graphite from old batteries, tackling the environmental challenge of battery recycling.
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