Graphene Coating: introduction and market status - Page 6

The ChemQuest Technology Institute recently entered a three-year collaborative agreement with Universal Matter, to push forward its graphene technology based on sustainable feedstocks.

ChemQuest will explore the benefits of the technology in applications for paints and coatings and identify the most valuable markets and opportunities for growth.

First Graphene (FGR) says that its fourth quarter (FY22) revenues reached a record 359,000 AUD. Its full-year (FY2022) revenues increased 111% to $723,000 AUD.

First Graphene says that its strong performance in the last quarter was driven by several significant orders for its graphene materials, and also new application/research development services. The composites and plastics segments contributed 46% of its revenues in the quarter, followed by cement/concrete (31%). Coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers contributed 12%.

This is a sponsored post by SP Nano

Israel-based SP Nano developed a unique dispersion technology based on a genetically engineered exceptionally stable protein that is highly suitable for carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) dispersion, including graphene, CNTs and carbon black.

Following years of intensive R&D, SP Nano is now offering its dispersions to application developers. This is the first time that carbon nanomaterials can “truly” be dispersed and achieve cutting-edge performance across a wide range of applications.

SP Nano’s dispersions are now being applied to a wide range of applications, such as

• Coatings (textiles, surfaces, powders, etc.)
• Dispersions in matrices (resins, polymers, etc.)
• Liquid formulations (coolants, inks, slurries, etc.)

Gerdau Graphene has announced that it has created a new water-based graphene-enhanced architectural paint that is significantly more durable and resistant to abrasion than traditional paints. The new paint could be used on concrete, cement, metal, and asphalt, such as on sidewalks, bicycle lanes, garages, staircases, sports courts, and a wide array of commercial and industrial areas.

Its parent company, Gerdau, reportedly began applying the new paint to its factory floors in March, making it the world’s first large-scale use of a water-based graphene-enhanced architectural paint. The company is already selling its proprietary graphene additives as development prototypes to major paint producers in the Americas.

Sparc Technologies has reported that significant progress is being made on the way to a successful commercialization of its graphene additive coating products.

Sparc has addressed the issue of graphene's tendency of re-agglomeration, that makes achieving homogeneous dispersions more challenging. Sparc's developments could benefit not only coatings companies, but also companies involved in composite materials.

Zentek has announced that it will be opening its industrial scale ZenGUARD antimicrobial production facility in Guelph, Ontario on June 17th, 2022. This facility is claimed by Zentek to be one of the largest nanomaterials-based manufacturing facilities in the world.

The opening of this facility is an important milestone for our company as it represents our successful journey from the lab, through regulatory and now to industrial commercialization. I would like to personally thank all our employees and vendor partners who put in considerable time and effort to make this happen, said Greg Fenton, CEO of Zentek. We’re now ready to begin meeting the growing interest and demand for our ZenGUARD coating.

Researchers at the Harvey Mudd College in the U.S have made an unexpected discovery that holds exciting potential for creating robust water-repellent coatings using gas-phase-synthesized graphene (GSG) and other nanomaterials.

Last summer, the researchers were working on two projects: A National Science Foundation-funded project characterizing nanocomposites and a project supported by the College’s Rasmussen Summer Research fund that involved using graphene to separate oil from water. While working on these projects, the students discovered that water droplets falling on our graphene powder were easily sliding off and bouncing from it, says Albert Dato, author of the paper. This was a completely unexpected result since we weren’t even looking into this phenomenon called superhydrophobicity.

Canada-based Nova Graphene has been awarded two contracts by Canada’s Department of National Defense's Innovation for Defense Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program, to develop graphene-enhanced materials to protect helicopter rotors from erosion & wear due to exposure to sand, ice, and water.

The ability to fly in degraded visual environments (e.g., rain or sand storms) is operationally advantageous, but tends to result in increased damage to the aircraft, especially erosion damage to the rotary wing blades. Each rotary wing blade has an integral leading edge erosion strip, which when damaged requires the replacement of the entire blade.

It was recently reported that Advanced Graphene Products (AGP) has signed a long-term deal with Nanosphere to supply large amounts of graphene, which will be added to the anti-corrosion paint used in the production of innovative next-generation automotive driveshafts. They will be installed in vehicles by various European manufacturers, including BMW.

"The contract with Nanosphere was concluded by the end of 2028, under which each year we will supply graphene for the production of as much as 60 tons of anti-corrosion paint. This is our second implementation of Polish graphene on an industrial scale. The first was to start the production of filament for 3D printers with the addition of graphene. We are very pleased that less than six months after our debut on the New Connect market, we can boast of real commercial implementations. So far, graphene has been treated as a material mainly used in R&D departments. Today we can talk about the use of graphene on a mass scale. We are working on new products with graphene that will be used in the automotive, aviation, energy and chemical industries "- commented Maciej Gałązka, President of AGP, quoted in the release.

Zentek has announced it has signed a definitive supply agreement with EkoMed Global, a globally integrated manufacturer and distributor of personal protective equipment (PPE), according to which Zentek will sell quantities of its proprietary ZenGUARD coating to EkoMed for use on EkoMed’s surgical masks and potentially other PPE in the future. The agreement also stipulates that Zentek will purchase surgical masks manufactured by EkoMed, to be treated with ZenGUARD coating and resold by Zentek.

This agreement solidifies our relationship with an established and highly competitive player in the PPE space and a potential future innovation partner; both key elements of our global ZenGUARD sales strategy, said Greg Fenton, CEO of Zentek. As we seek to gain access to new markets, reliable, high-capacity and high-quality production along with additional sales channels for our patent-pending ZenGUARD technology are crucial. We believe this agreement will establish a solid foundation for Zentek to expand access to ZenGUARD globally. As important, we look forward to working with the EkoMed team to explore incorporating ZenGUARD into other PPE products currently being manufacturing and commercialized by EkoMed.