Westlake Innovations Acts on Promise of Sustainable Graphene ProductionWestlake Innovations Acts on Promise of Sustainable Graphene Production

Westlake Innovations Inc., a subsidiary of Westlake Corp., has invested in Universal Matter Inc. to further its vision of becoming a leading supplier of high-quality, sustainable graphene and advanced materials to help decarbonize the planet, it said in the announcement.

Proprietary flash joule heating technology

Universal Matter has pioneered and patented flash joule heating (FJH) technology that allows for cost-effective, industrial-scale upcycling of carbon waste streams into high-quality graphene and graphitized carbon. First developed at Rice University, Universal Matter’s FJH technology creates graphene that is tunable across 1D, 2D, and 3D morphologies, granting superior properties that are critical for large industrial applications. The technology uses asphaltene, a waste byproduct of crude oil production, as a raw material for graphene. Carbon-containing raw materials such as coal, food waste, or plastic can also be used to synthesize graphene.

Facilitating graphene dispersion

Universal Matter has also developed the ability to disperse the graphene in a variety of liquid or solid media, making it easier for customers to incorporate graphene into their downstream industrial products and improve performance in materials such as asphalt, concrete, rubber, composites, paints, and coatings.

“Graphene is a material with a number of potential performance and sustainability benefits that could apply across a number of Westlake’s Performance & Essential Materials and Housing & Infrastructure Products business lines,” said John Chao, senior vice president and managing director of Westlake Innovations. “We look forward to working with Universal Matter and its management team as it moves forward on development and commercialization of its flexible technology.”