Zentek - Page 4

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced that it has developed a potential graphene-based antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal compound.

Recent testing results from the University Health Network/Mount Sinai Hospital Department of Microbiology in Toronto are said to indicate that this patent pending formulation could be a medical breakthrough in the treatment of numerous human-contracted pathogens including upper and lower respiratory tract infections - where COVID-19 is a major contributor - as well as drug resistant organisms.

ZEN Graphene Solutions, in partnership with Professor Mohammad Arjmand, has announced the award of a CAD$780,000 (around USD$609,600) Alliance Grant - part from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the rest from a combination of cash and in kind contributions from ZEN).

Alliance Grants are awarded through a competitive peer review process, and this proposal, titled Synthesis of Graphene Nanomaterials and Development of Their Multifunctional Polymer Nanocomposites, is ZEN’s highest single monetary grant award from NSERC to date and supports NSERC’s growing interest in nanomaterials.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced that it has signed a three year lease with an option for another 3 years on 25,680 square feet of newly built B.1 industrial zoning space in Guelph, Ontario.

The new space will become ZEN’s manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters. Engineering work plus the purchase of the equipment required to produce ZEN’s graphene-based viricidal coating at commercial scale is reportedly ongoing. The company expects to begin initial production in Q4 2020 for incorporation into masks, other PPE and for HVAC filters and prefilters.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced that it has signed a binding letter of intent (LOI) with Trebor Rx Corp. (Trebor), a Canadian personal protective equipment mask manufacturer with an initial production facility.

This LOI includes the initial purchase of ZEN’s patent pending graphene-based viricidal coating for a minimum of 100 million masks/filters. This initial minimum order is for the first year and is subject to Health Canada approvals.

Zen Graphene Solutions recently announced that it has signed a new research collaboration agreement with the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, the German Aerospace Center) to investigate the use of Albany Pure graphene-based nanomaterials in the fabrication of novel carbon aerogel composites.

The goal of this collaborative research project titled, Development of Innovative Composites based on Carbon Aerogels, is to develop electrode materials for new generation batteries and will build on the collaboration between ZEN, DLR and Dr. Lukas Bichler at the University of British Columbia‐Okanagan Campus (UBC-O) that was previously reported.

ZEN Graphene Solutions recently announced that the Naval Material Technology Management (NMTM) section of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has partnered with ZEN and Evercloak as a testing organization, and has agreed to provide in-kind donations of test services from the Naval Engineering Test Establishment (NETE).

The tests will compare the efficiency of an HVAC unit produced with the Evercloak dehumidification membrane technology to the incumbent HVAC system that is currently in use on the RCN’s Halifax-class frigates.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has reported that it has developed a novel graphene-based virucidal ink with 99% effectiveness against COVID-19. ZEN’s Virucidal ink was reportedly also 99% effective a minimum of 35 days after application to N95 mask material.

ZEN is now developing plans to expedite commercialization of this product, pending regulatory approval, and has filed a provisional patent for this graphene-based virucidal product.

ZEN Graphene Solutions recently reported that industry and university laboratories fully re-opened in late July-early August after a 4 month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic and they have re-started ZEN’s collaborative R&D programs.

In addition, ZEN announced the recent award of two NSERC Alliance COVID-19 project grants, a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship grant, and two Mitacs Accelerate grants for a total of CAD$355,000 (around USD$269,500) to its university collaborators increasing ZEN’s total research and development budget for the next 12 months to over CAD$1.4 Million (around USD$1.06 Miliion).

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced it has commenced collaborations with research teams at a number of personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers to incorporate ZEN’s virucidal graphene ink into commercial products, including masks, gloves, gowns and other clothing following Zen’s promising results for an antiviral, graphene-based ink formulation from The University of Western Ontario’s ImPaKT Facility, biosafety Level 3 lab.

The company continues to optimize its proprietary formulation for dosage and delivery mechanism for highest antiviral impact. The next phase of testing is currently underway at the ImPaKT Facility and includes a preferred mask fabric coated in ZEN’s virucidal ink exposed to and tested against the COVID-19 virus.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced that Evercloak and ZEN have been awarded CAD$125,000 (around USD$92,000) each as part of a Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) Project.

The project entitled Advancing Large-Scale Graphene and Thin-Film Membrane Manufacturing will support the scale up of graphene oxide (GO) production by ZEN to supply GO to Evercloak for their scale up and optimizing activities. NGen supports collaborative technology projects that enable the development of world-leading advanced manufacturing capabilities in Canada.