Making UltraSand (Graphene Coated Sand) From Ordinary Sugar For Water Filtration

[@mikeslay9548]

Thank you so much sir! I enjoy your videos almost daily! For years! Your channel is one of my favorite learning environments. Exquisite!

[@joeglory425]

A possible improvement would be to use either an oil and soap mixture or soap alone in place of sugar. I think this could eliminate the slow approach to the caramelization temperature. If I had a kiln I would test this! Several years ago I read a patent for putting a selective coating (high absorption / low emissivity) on aluminum foil. They put a thin coat of oil on aluminum and baked it in the oven. In experimenting I found adding soap to the oil made it turn black much faster.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

a small amount of acid in the sugar solution will help but you want a very very very thin layer formed on the sand. If you do the reaction too quickly you won't get a thin even coat you'll just get lumps of carbon and sand. Remember the sand acts as a catalytic converter changing the carbon to graphite. It need to be in intimate contact to do this and the long heat treatment is to achieve this not just the conversion to carbon

[@mrvos96]

Great video! I have read about this method but gave up because of the high temperatures and inert atmosphere. I'm glad that someone without a super fancy lab did it. Congratulations, mrvos

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

I never realised - I must look into this - thanks mate - this is the reason i share for good ideas like yours - rob.

[@creative_cooper]

Got it, good thing the powdered charcoal isn't really a big problem, would try increasing the time frame... One more thing, you said using paper as a separator between the AC and coated sand, won't it burn off?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

it will carbonise but still be enough to separate the two.

[@GreenCaulerpa]

Have you tried catalytically induced low energy graphitization using a metal salt? My theory is, that after heating the solution to 150-700 degrees Celsius, you have graphite coated sand with metal salt and reduced metal salt residues in it (you may want to vary with metal salt concentration, but I think 5% is good), to wash them away use a soft acid (acedic acid, formic acid or other organic acids) and so the residues are dissolved in it or if they are reduced, they form new salts with the soft acids and will dissolve in the acid to form a corresponding acid base pair and therefore through the removal of residues tiny pores will be created, and now the carbon compound sand should have been activated.Could this work?? Sorry for my bad english, but I'm just a 14yr old German student 😇😅

[@husseinali2217]

hi robert for activation process,I put the sample( wet with sulfric acid ) into the oven and leave it at 120C for 1 hr as you said ,but the problem was after that period the sample didn't dry ,and still wet !!!

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

it's not wet mate - it's the acid you probably need to washit again then dry again - or at least i am guessing that

[@Anyone_out_there]

Would you be interested in showing an experiment by dipping fabric in graphene oxide and baking it out to test its properties ie. thermal tolerance, durability, penetration from sharp objects?

[@AbhimanyuRathi]

Hello Robert Murray-Smith , Thanks a lot for this lovely explanation. Is this GO or reduced GO? And can we use quartz sand instead of river sand? Please do respond. Thanks!

[@marksims6311]

You are one of my true heroes. I really mean it. :-)

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

Mark Sims cheers mate

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

Hiya, No i haven't thought about it much to be honest. I always thought it was more of an analytical tool rather than a synthetic one. What did you have in mind?

[@iainwaller9128]

Hi Robert I’m loving your videos. And really enjoy your style. My Q is related to using ultrasand to build a marine desalination unit for a yacht. I’m curious regarding maintenance. Do you need to clean the sand occasionally? How and how often? If I also use the ink and sponges as a final capture point for salts, how long will the ink last in this use scenario?

[@chisaomusician7752]

Vicktor Petrik's water filter products sold online give a life cycle rating for each filter, but in his oil cleaning videos shows that the graphene can be reused after throwing it into a very hot kiln which burns off all the accumulation. Graphene has a very high burning point so wont damage. The other suggestion was from a Texas student whom won a science fair, said all that was needed is a vinegar bath to reuse the filter. Boiling vinegar is usually quicker for cleaning pots than 24 hour sitting vinegar. I am just learning about this and need to figure out how to make this also. So stupid that I just can't buy a bag from someone who has more tools than I.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

I would worry about the time - the time is critical to the graphetisation process

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

I had a read through and i think you 100% right - i must try this

[@jitendra04021977]

Any pointers on where can I buy?

[@creative_cooper]

planning on adding a bit of variation to my own and I'm wondering if I'm still good to go; 1) using a hot plate(on low and high) instead of an oven for the 1st 2 heating steps(95c and 200c) 2) cutting the heating time from 6hrs down to 2-3hrs cause it's almost impossible to get 6hrs constant power from where I'm from. 3) using powdered charcoal instead of activated carbon(I have no clue as to where I'll get the latter) so sir RMS, am I still good to go?

[@linnane1993]

Hi Rob, I am doing a thesis on low cost ways for making fresh water for agricultural use in Ireland and I was wondering is there anyway that I can activate the sand without using sulphuric acid as I do not have the facilites to use this? This is very interesting and I hope you can help me out :)

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

look at activated carbon for ideas

[@madhuri3152]

Robert Murray-Smith My son has created ultra sand. They need to do activation step. As sulfuric acid is hazardous they are not allowed to use sulfuric acid. Is there any alternative process to activate filter

[@aishwarya174]

what did you say about the activated carbon again?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

that is interesting - do you have the patent reference?

[@mattkkma]

Brilliant. Your videos and experiments are absolutely captivating. As we speak I'm pulling material together to make your green Graphene. Was wondering if you thought graphene coating of fine sand or similar might have accessible surface area benefits for supercapacitor electrodes?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

+Matthew Ma very likely mate

[@gszikra]

The video is appreciated. I have access to lots of sand (desert). But I would like to use something else than sugar. I think, may be cellulose from hay bales. It would be interesting to make a few tons and sell it on ebay, one kilogram at a time.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

go for it

[@chisaomusician7752]

Waiting for you to sell. Eager buyers here.

[@randytravis5893]

Is it possible to get the graphene off the sand and use it? It seems this might be a way to mass produce graphene.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

+Randy Travis It is doable mate - for example HF acid will dissolve it - but a mechanical method and a cyclone separator may work well

[@dansw0rkshop]

Why is it pixelly? I'm playing at the 720p setting.

[@R2NOTU]

Thank you for tye video .do you have a hard copy available ? The acoustics and the accent I can only make out some of what your saying . do you do a text with the videos .I'm getting older and my hi frequency hearing is going on me ..here's a idea for you they have fornd that with a squirrel cage fan and 2,000 pounds of CaCl you can pull 700 gals of water from the air it was tested in dessert locations .and I've seen some new carbon filters made from grapheme that can remove almost everything from the water but the grapheme swells a little do there putting a type of plastic coating on it to stop the swelling graphenes hole is the same size as a water molecule but when it swells it gets bigger .the point I'm trying to make here is with the grapheme and the fan with the CaCl is a lot of free water anywhere on the planet .does that sound like a worthy project ???? Your own personal water as much as you need ??? For drinking and aquaponics ect !!!😀

[@stage274]

Amazing! Can you please explain what the acid does? What do you mean activate the graphene?

[@Marie-dd1ex]

How would I add silver nanoparticles to the filter, would I do every step and then add the nanoparticles

[@peergoggles9644]

well one of the big problems with graphene production is reproduction or defects in the structure, using cymatics by way of something like a piezoelectric substrate you could create patterns or circuits that give the nano arrays different characteristics, both in tenacity and conductivity. as well as reproducing experiments in a much more controlled environment. or transfer nano arrays to substrates that would not be conducive to things like lithography.

[@chisaomusician7752]

Cymatics only produce patterns on large flat surfaces. Sand is too 3D and the 2d graphene too tiny to create patterns on it from any frequency in the audible range. But that doesn't rule out the possibilities. It would be really good if you knew the atomic pitch of all the elements involved.

[@BilalGhalib]

Hey Robert! I'm preparing to follow the procedure and while I was pondering the economics I began wondering what happens when the graphine pulls the salt from a saline solution. Does the sand become saturated irreversibly? What is the process for identifying how many grams of ultrasand (assuming a medium good production ;D) can hold x grams of salt? Is there a way to de-saturate it so it begins to work again? Thanks again for all your hard work and extremely informative videos!

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

the eesd enrgy density is already higher than they report mate - but thanks for the heads up

[@chisaomusician7752]

Try heating it up again in the kiln. salt has a melting point of 800 °C and should just burn away if saturated.

[@chisaomusician7752]

Also could try boiling in the used g-sand in a bath of vinegar or ascorbic acid to clean. Measure how long it takes to stop working.

[@muaznafys9445]

What is the optimum ratio and sand you prefer?

[@joeglory425]

I love the videos, though I haven't done any experimenting since Spring. How much resistance does the bulk unactivated graphene coated sand have?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

Not unless you changed the functionality. Mostly it is good for organic contaminants , heavy metals and bacteria

[@ancapftw9113]

I'm cheap, so I'm going to try to just mix confectioners sugar with sand, then pour in battery acid (10% sulfuric acid) then pulverized it. Should give me carbon coated sand that's already activated.

[@HiNinqi]

What was your outcome?

[@jonathanklein4611]

Hi Robert, thank you very much for all your videos. This is really really great. Do you have any idea of the size of the molecules your Ultrasand can filter? Systems like the LifeSaver bottle have a 15nm pore size filter but are way to much expensive to really bring them to the third world. I wonder if your method can work as well as these filters and if not, do you have an idea of what improvement could we make to do so. Thanks in advance for your help

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

+Jonathan KLEIN stick it in an unglazed clay pot and then put that in a larger glazed pot pour soiled water into the sand in the unglazed pot centre and you will have clean drinkable water in the outer glazed pot

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

no probs mate

[@richharrisonline]

Can this be used for an air electrode in metal-air batteries?

[@peergoggles9644]

hi robert, have you ever considered using cymatics in your graphene experiments?

[@jatimyw]

Lets say Graphene Coated Sand being used continuously for water filtration, how long does it last? can it's performance restored just by backflush?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

sorry mate i didn't measure it - pretty high i imagine because of the grain boundaries

[@akshayhemnani6431]

Hello sir. I am student and i am trying to buy the graphene coated sand for a project and i was wondering where could i get it . Also if possible i request your assistance in making graphene coated sand (maybe over a call ). Looking for your reply

[@Anyone_out_there]

Could this possibility filter out radioactive substances?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

yes

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

Jacob Waterman cheers mate

[@akshaysable4761]

Can u explain the activated carbon process Which paper should i use

[@Gamingchairenthusiast122]

Can you make graphene glass from that sand?

[@anaizhrin581]

I've been wondering this possibility as well

[@richinsmile]

After Activating it with H2SO4 , should we clean directly with water(deionised). since acid and water heat is liberated in large amounts. does it effects the adsorption. i have done batch adsorption on 600PPM water but cannot find any improvement in adsorption results. please let me know if any precautions to be taken.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

here's the original paper - pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/am300889u

[@richinsmile]

Thank you so much. We have gone through this paper they havent mentioned about aftermath H2SO4 cleaning. Any how thank you, we will do still more trails. 👍😊

[@ayowalcott8219]

Hi Robert. Is there any scientific paper that you can refer me to, one that maybe has detailed methods for making graphene coated sand? Thanks!

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

Ayo Walcott just do a google search mate

[@johnmcfadden9336]

hi rob would a solution of silica gel used to saturate a sheet of htc wood and baked in a kiln turn the carbon into graphite, if so would it be an inprovement for your super caps . if it was very week solution would it make graphene. i cant stop checking youtube for your next uploads , someone clone rob so we can increase hes output.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

I don't know mate - but it's worth a try after all silicon is catalytic for graphite

[@carolynmmitchell2240]

john mcfadden look up crispr kit on google, we can clone him with the $2000 kit I think

[@MB-hs4vp]

Do you have any more info on SiO2's catalytic effect? It was my understanding that Graphite only forms at much higher temperatures from carbon.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

there is loads of stuff that will catalyse graphetisation. In fact just put that in google scholar and you will run up hundreds of papers

[@MB-hs4vp]

I've read a few, but they seem vague on the actual mechanism and they all require a far higher temp. Most focus on catalysts other than SiO2, or at least the free-to-read stuff does so I'll continue to look around. Really enjoying the videos and book though.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

M Barnekow yeah they can be - a lot of what i do on the vids is the result of quite a lot of experimentation and that is about all you can do - at least the papers give you a rough starting point from there you have to experiment

[@delbertbenterud9452]

This is incredible stuff, I have a problem with well water that is high in SO4 (Sulfates) roughly 2000 PPM, would this filter sand help to filter out the SO4 of the water?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

+Delbert Benterud if you combine it with CDI - yes

[@forax4007]

i would think this has more applications to it. making a strait up philter that last longer or you can just add bleach to water or even distilling the water with a couple of metal pots

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

good idea mate

[@lamar7592]

I am testing coating fused quartz glass with graphene using this process.. If I want multiple layers of graphene, would you suggest going through the entire process then repeating? What would your strategy be?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

more concentrated sugar solution, longer time or repeat process - i would try all three and whatever else occurred to me - this is experimentation mate

[@lamar7592]

I know it's experimentation, but it is good to go in with a well thought out strategy to save time, money, etc. Thank you.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

sure

[@AnDyity]

Will this filter fluoride?

[@akshaysable4761]

Sir can u please tell me the exact proportion Means how much grams of sugar is required to make 20 gms ultra sand

[@happyvalley808]

Love your work, Thanks for sharing !

[@ankushdhawan3610]

Is this Graphene coated Sand or GO coated?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

+Ankush Dhawan graphene

[@ankushdhawan3610]

+Robert Murray-Smith Thank You for the response - what does the H2SO4 at the end do-does that oxidize the graphene to make GO? What does activation of graphene do?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

+Ankush Dhawan search google scholar and read mate - the answer is there and a bit long to put into a comment post - plus - i hate to answer his kind of question as the learning has to be - in part - your responsibility - the answer is easy to find - i suggest you go and find it - that means you will have invested something of yourself in the process and you will actually learn

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

I'll add it to my to do list

[@craigglewis]

I will get sand tomorrow and start the process :) Are others working on this? Any success? I have lots of sand and looking to setup

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

I think you have an awesome plan there mate - let me know how you get on

[@craigglewis]

@@ThinkingandTinkering Got two 20Lt buckets of sand (snow and ice too) Did not want to wait, tell the spring lol. Got one bucket sifted, washed and now drying it for a day or two with wood stove. Now, to learn to use the ceramic Kelm and get the sugar solution. Oh yes, need to get or make activated carbon. :)

[@andresgonzalez1718]

Sirs: Robert Murray Buenos Dias, I am writing from Colombia - South America, let me introduce myself, my name is Andres Gonzalez, I am a Civil Engineer from Univerisdad de la Salle in Bogota, I have taken the time to contact them, because I am interested in the GRAPHENE theme, as water filtration and purification systems. I would like to know more about the topic of water filtration that you are working on, in South America the water is very polluted and there are populations very far from the cities that suffer from diseases due to the type of water they consume. Well, I wish you a good day.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

it's there for everyone mate - if i can do it so can anyone

[@linnane1993]

does anybody know of how much sugar you should mix with the water and how much sand should be mixed with this in order to get an effective mixture? also has anybody done the 6 hour step in the oven?

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

that's where the experimentation comes in mate - you will have to try a few batches - remember this is not a recipe channel

[@joeglory425]

It is United States patent 4,376,801 titled Selective Coating for Solar Collectors.

[@wajeehasultan2690]

the problrm we are facing is that we cant reach to 95 degrees celsius on magnetic stirrer for mixing sugar solution and sand. please recommend solution.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

+Wajeeha Sultan I have no idea - how can i have? i don't know anything about your set up, what you have available, your budget - or indeed very much information at all - i don't even know what your level of chemistry is or why you are trying to make this - do you want a small batch or a large batch that you repeat often - is this a lab experiment or are you trying to set up an industrial process.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

nice idea - give it a go and let me know.

[@MichaelSkinner-e9j]

If you see Hank Green posing as me with my face and Doing anything crazy online: yelling, or whatever- please record and send it to me. That’s just horrible and it needs to stop

[@Nabunoche]

Hello Robert is there any way i can contact u directly, if so please let me know, thanks.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

Cesar Alvarez you can write to my e-mail mate at [e-mail]

[@samyakjhaveri3710]

Hello there Robert, I have been working on a project to make clean drinking water available to the villages of India but the problem is that the water here has very high TDS levels(above 800 or so).I just wanted to ask that would the Graphene-Oxide-Coated-Sand filter remove the DISSOLVED Salts from the water or not. . . .And one more question: How can i get Graphene Oxide in India

[@Fortitudoo]

ur brilliant

[@maxentiusumbu3931]

Itsc easy man

[@xadam2dudex]

piece of cake...I pump out a couple metric tons in my Easy-Bake Oven tonight

[@chisaomusician7752]

Send me some when it comes out.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

sorry mate i didn't measure it - pretty high i imagine because of the grain boundaries

[@wajeehasultan2690]

the problrm we are facing is that we cant reach to 95 degrees celsius on magnetic stirrer for mixing sugar solution and sand. please recommend solution.

[@ThinkingandTinkering]

+Wajeeha Sultan please don't multipost the same question