Graphene Coating: introduction and market status - Page 2

Brazil-based WEG Coatings and Canada-based GIT Coatings have entered an agreement to strengthen each other’s marine coating product offerings across international markets.

The partnership between GIT and WEG builds on a shared vision of innovation that increases marine shipping efficiency at reduced costs while reaffirming their commitment to sustainability. Both companies will leverage each other’s strengths and expertise to enhance product offerings and provide tailored solutions to their customers. This collaboration highlights GIT’s exponential growth as an innovative and sustainable graphene-based solutions provider helping ship owners looking to reduce their fuel costs and reduce their carbon footprint.

Sparc Technologies and the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) have announced they will be trialing the Company’s ecosparc graphene enhanced coatings on steel infrastructure such as bridges and jetties in Australia. The parties have signed a trial agreement under which Sparc and the DIT will conduct collaborative field trials at the West Beach Bridge in Adelaide and the Streaky Bay Jetty on the Eyre Peninsula.

The DIT has approximately $45 billion in assets with the supply of the ecosparc enhanced expected imminently.

Hong Kong-based Pacific Basin, one of the world's leading owners and operators of dry bulk ships, has decided to apply a graphene-based propeller coating, XGIT-PROP, across its entire fleet. 

The biocide-free hard foul release coating, developed by Canadian company GIT Coatings, has demonstrated the potential to enhance vessel performance by up to 4%, the two companies stated in a release citing data from earlier tests carried out by Stolt Tankers.

Versarien has announced that it has, in line with its stated strategy to monetize intellectual property through licensing, entered into a manufacturing license agreement and a know-how license and technical assistance agreement with Montana Química ("Montana"). Montana is a Brazilian headquartered multinational business focused on the production and sale of paints, wood preservatives and other wood finishing products including stains and varnishes. The agreements cover the use of the Company's proprietary graphene and related material dispersions and formulations (Graphinks™) in products to be manufactured and sold by Montana in South America, together with Versarien providing further additional know-how, technical assistance and training to Montana.

Under the terms of these agreements, Versarien has granted a license to Montana, for an initial period of five years, to use certain intellectual property and know-how owned by the Company in their business in South America. Montana will pay Versarien initial fees of £50,000 in March 2024 in consideration of the know-how and technical assistance, including training, to be provided. Once Montana commences manufacturing under the agreement, a further payment of £25,000 will be due to the Company, together with an amount equal to 5% of the total sales revenue earned from products manufactured using Versarien's intellectual property and know-how, subject to minimum royalty payments of £25,000 per annum.

Directa Plus and Chronos Corps have launched a high-tech bag with graphene and fingerprint opening.  

Launched just in time for Fashion Week, this collaboration blends fashion and technology, showcasing the versatility of Directa Plus materials. Crafted with Coating G+®, a special water-based coating enriched with Graphene Plus, this bag not only boasts a sleek design but also offers unmatched functionality, including antimicrobial protection (antibacterial and antiviral), UV resistance, abrasion resistance, antistatic properties and thermal conductivity. It also has advanced fingerprint recognition for secure access.

G6 Materials, a high-tech company with expertise in advanced materials and developing innovative composites for a wide range of industrial uses, has recently entered into an agreement to acquire a license from Graphene Corp. regarding intellectual property rights associated with graphene coatings technology. 

The License encompasses a suite of proprietary technologies, patents, and trade secrets that will enable the Company to enhance its product offerings, drive innovation, and meet the evolving needs of its customers. The acquisition of this License aligns seamlessly with G6's vision to deliver advanced solutions that push the limits of performance, sustainability and offers innovative solutions across diverse industries. The license for this technology is for a period of up to February 1, 2026, and is non-exclusive, non-sublicensable and non-transferable.

Swinburne University of Technology and Sparc Technologies recently announced a collaboration, spearheading the evolution of smart coatings and composites through the Australian Research Council (ARC) research project. The partnership aims to revolutionize key industries, including aerospace, infrastructure, renewable energy, and more. 

Sparc Technologies' state-of-the-art facility enables the mass production of its graphene additive, Ecosparc. Denis Wright, general manager of Graphene Materials at Sparc, stating: “It is a very exciting opportunity to be contributing to this project and developing Ecosparc additives that will impart through their intrinsic properties, intelligence into coatings and composites.”

Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) has updated on the commercialization progress of THERMAL-XR® powered by GMG Graphene, announcing that Nu-Calgon has held its official launch of the CoolWorx® powered by GMG Graphene in the USA at the AHR Expo.

The product was launched under the new joint brand name "Nu-Calgon CoolWorx® powered by GMG Graphene". 

Researchers at the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton have presented their recent work on thermoelectric capture, using highly conductive graphene sheets, which aims to improve technologies that capture and convert heat into electricity and tackle the barriers standing before these methods. The aims to advance the possibility of cheap, sustainable technologies for heat capture and conversion – as well as reach a new understanding of how conductivity in graphene-based nanomaterials can be best exploited.

The team assembled nanomaterial networks of varying density and size, from few to many layers of graphene sheets, then measured electrical conductivity as the different arrays were exposed to heat. Their expectation was that the assemblies of larger, thicker sheets would exhibit the highest levels of conductivity but in fact, the opposite outcome was observed, where the smaller, thinner sheets spontaneously formed dense-packed arrays, and performed better than the many-layered samples. 

Earlier this year, Stolt Tankers entered an agreement with Graphite Innovations & Technology (GIT) for graphene-based marine coating to be applied on 25 ships. Now, Stolt Tankers has announced it is the first shipping company to apply a cutting-edge sustainable coating to the hull of one of its chemical tankers, Stolt Lotus.

The X-GIT FUEL graphene technology, developed by Graphite Innovation & Technologies (GIT) Coatings, has the potential to reduce fuel consumption and resulting greenhouse gas emissions. X-GIT FUEL is a hard foul release hull coating that creates an ultra-low friction surface to increase vessel performance, without the use of biocides, silicon oils or toxic components. The coating is expected to provide fuel savings of between five and seven percent by decreasing the friction between the hull and the water and removing marine growth as the ship travels.