Universal Matter GBR (formerly: Applied Graphene Materials) - Page 5

Applied Graphene Materials reported its financial results earlier this year (revenues of £97,000 and a net loss of £4.3 million), and the company recently released its annual report which discloses some interesting facts and updates from the year.

In FY2017 (which ended in July 2017), AGM shipped over 230 Kg of graphene dispersions to customers - almost double what it shipped in FY2016. The company's pipeline grew "notably" and it supplied over 200 samples to potential customers. AGM also says that an increasing number of companies are moving towards production - most notable Airbus.

Graphene has been attracting attention due to its exciting properties and countless ideas for applications benefiting from those properties have been thought of; However, it is rightfully claimed that graphene has yet to transform an actual industry or become a household name.

With that said, graphene seems to be slowly but surely entering the market in all sorts of products. In this post, we list 10 products already commercially available that contain graphene - and these are not all of them. Hopefully this is just the beginning and many more applications will follow.

International wheel producer Vittoria sells a range of bicycle wheels that are built from graphene-enhanced composite materials. The wheels, called Quarno (Graphene Plus inside) are available in three different editions (46, 60 and 84 mm) and contain graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) provided by Directa Plus. The company explains that the graphene grants the wheels advantages like heat dissipation (15-30°C lower) a crucial factor in the slopes, an increase in lateral stiffness (more than 50%) and puncture reduction, especially around the valve area.

Applied Graphene Materials reported a fundraising of £9 million under a placing of shares. The company said the funds would be used to support its "joint development activity" with customers, development of its Structural Ink program and to provide working capital for scaling up production capacity.

The company also reported its financial results for the year ended July 31, with a loss that narrowed modestly to £4.3 million from £4.5 million the year prior. Revenue was £97,000 (up from £75,000 the year before). Cash on hand fell to £4.7 million at the end of July from £7.7 million the year before.

Applied Graphene Materials has partnered with HMG Paints to develop and commercialize graphene-containing coatings for a variety of industries. Following an initial stage of controlled environment testing, which reportedly produced positive results, the two companies are now testing their product in a real world environment.

Tests will focus on the application of graphene-based coatings in both the commercial Vehicle and construction Equipment markets in partnership with a leading UK commercial vehicle body builder.

Applied Graphene Materials has outlined details of a new graphene-enhanced ink technology and signed a development deal with the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Center. A patent for this new development, called Structural Ink, has been registered and once fully commercialized, the product will be targeted at the advanced composites industry.

The technology will aim to enable users to increase mechanical toughness, through the addition of graphene. This is ultimately designed to improve performance, enable further weight reduction and reduce total manufacturing costs.

Applied Graphene Materials recently updated on the successful completion of the exploratory phase of its development program with Airbus Defense and Space. The program aims at using graphene for satellite applications.

Now, AGM states that based on the success of the initial work, both parties are collaborating on a final product development phase, with a desired target to qualify the material for flight use and first application by the end of 2017 or early 2018.

Applied Graphene Materials, in a recent update, said it made "significant progress" in all of its core markets of composites, coatings, oils and lubricants. Among the reported highlights of its work is its graphene-enhanced epoxy prepreg system MTC9800 to be shown at the JEC World exhibition later this month, after a year and half collaboration with SHD Composites.

In addition, the company has recently completed the first phase of a development project investigating the application of its graphene for resin infused Aerospace structures. During 2016 it continued work on its development program with Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group SE, although details of this work are still subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

Applied Graphene Materials has announced that it has supplied its graphene material for use in the production of a range of fishing rods, made by UK's Century Composites. Century has unveiled a new range of fishing rods containing the AGM's GNPs, sold under the brand Graphex.

Century has been manufacturing composite fishing rods in the UK for nearly 40 years, utilizing a range of reinforcing materials including glass, aramid, polyethylene and carbon fibers. Following a period of collaboration, AGM’s work with Century has resulted in the incorporation of graphene nanoplatelets into a high specification range of fishing rods.

Applied Graphene Materials has signed a joint development agreement with James Briggs, one of Europe’s largest consumer chemicals companies, to develop graphene-based anti-corrosive coatings. This collaboration reportedly follows the outstanding performance results from proof of concept studies into such coatings.

AGM and James Briggs have already started an accelerated product development program that aims towards early market exploitation of graphene. Under the JDA, James Briggs will incorporate graphene material into its existing paint formulations to deliver higher-performing primers with improved corrosion protection. The expectation is that a new range of primers will be launched in early 2017. Alongside this, the two businesses will be cooperating on potential applications for lubrication products given the improved friction properties offered by the application of graphene.

Applied Graphene Materials reported their financial results for H1 2016 (which ends on 31 January 2016). Revenues were £18,000 (up from £13,000 in the first half of 2015) and net loss (EBITDA) was £2.1 million. AGM has £10.2 million in cash or equivalents (AGM recently raised £8.5 million in a shares sale).

AGM's revenues were all from the supply of evaluation graphene materials to commercial partners. The company says they shipped over 70 evaluation samples to customers - and is working closely with over 20 companies via collaborations and joint-development agreements.