Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT), a defense contractor, has made a groundbreaking discovery in the use of graphene’s ultra filtration properties to purify water for use at a f

Lockheed Martin Corp

raction of the costs. Not only does the use of graphene to filter water save on costs, it also saves a lot of energy that goes into the removal of salts, gases and other particles from water to make it consumable. This is a major step in addressing the acute water shortage which is now becoming a concern in global security.

By using graphene, manufacturers can now make thin filter membranes from carbon. With regular nanometer sized holes, which are big enough to allow only water to sip through, these filters can block salt molecules in seawater thus making it fresh for use.

Since graphene is basically pure carbon, it can be used to make thin (one-atom thin) sheets of filters.
The filters are five hundred times thinner than the thinnest filter available in the current market. The graphene filters are also stronger by a thousand times the ordinary filters. This saves a lot in terms of the energy since only a small amount of energy is used to push the salty water through the one layered filter. Energy is used only in separating the salt from the water.

Savings could also come in the form of not having to build expensive stations used to pump water in plants where the reverse osmosis, a desalination process, is used.

With a hundred times cut in the energy consumption and pressure used currently to filter water, Lockheed Martin Corp leads the way to meeting the challenge of water scarcity. It is reported that clean water for drinking is becoming rare with each passing day globally. Increased water competition will potentially lead to failure in some countries due to instability. This calls for effective and efficient methods of harvesting and preserving water.

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Graphene Investments

In the next five years, graphene will transform the world of clean technology. This transformation is likely to impact greatly on the clean tech stocks as well. Presently, most graphene technologies are in the lab and therefore do not affect their investments. However, this is set to change when the technologies are commercialized.

In the recent past, a lot of companies have engaged themselves in developing graphene applications, and have hastened to patent their results. Although most of these developments are years from measurable revenue, they promise to turn the necks of the stock investors. For instance, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) is working on graphene water filters that are set to redefine how water as a resource is treated. A commercialized development will mean something huge worldwide since water is a crucial resource that is of great concern to all governments and other co-operations.

Already, companies such as Focus Graphite and Lomiko Metals Inc. (CVE:LMR) have demonstrated that they can oxidize graphene to produce graphene oxide which is a major breakthrough in graphene investments. Graphene oxide, for instance, is behind the manufacture of graphene super capacitors which are tipped to replace electrochemical batteries in almost all industrial and commercial applications.

Presently, there are over nine thousand patents for graphene. This shows that the graphene investments industry has enough graphite resources to supply and maintain itself. Even if graphene doesn’t meet the expectations of many as a product worth investing stocks in, the companies such as Lomiko (CVE:LMR) and Grafoid are considered as worthy investments as a result of the stakes they hold in graphite mines which support the graphene industry. If these companies are bought based on only the valuations of the mining assets that they hold, graphene industry will provide a potential for long-term investments.

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