Mass production of graphene using high-power rapid joule heating method

• Produce 100 g of graphene in 10 min using rapid Joule heating method. • Produce 5 tons of graphene per year in the lab for industrial applications. • Energy consumption for producing 1 kg graphene is only ∼5 kWh (∼$0.5) • Mass production of doped graphene with increased hydrophobicity and conductivity. Graphene has a vast market demand in the industrial field, but the high cost and complexity of traditional production methods limit its application. The newly developed flash Joule heating method based on capacitor discharge presents a cost-effective production alternative for graphene, but the batch yield is still limited in gram-scale level. This study presents a high-power rapid Joule heating (RJH) method based on direct current power discharge to enable mass production of graphene. With this high-power RJH system, 100 g of carbon black can be rapidly heated to 3000 °C within mere minutes, promoting its graphitization transformation, thus achieving a substantial increase in graphene production efficiency. Detailed characterizations confirm the successful synthesis of high-quality turbostratic rapid graphene (RG), with production energy consumption of only ∼5 kWh kg −1 (approximately $0.5 kg −1 based on current energy prices). Therefore, one can theoretically produce 5 tons of graphene per year in the laboratory for industrial applications. Furthermore, by adding boron oxide and melamine as additives, direct mass production of boron, nitrogen, and nitrogen-boron co-doped RGs can be carried out. Doping modifies the local structure of RG, thereby enhancing its hydrophobicity and electrical conductivity. This work is anticipated to significantly accelerate the process of low-cost bulk production of graphene, thereby broadening its industrial applications.