Versarien Share Discussion Threads

[superg1] 26/3/2017 11:55

I've just been ambling around the web looking for graphene ink.

It's a difficult topic without enough knowledge but a big probelm was getting the right conductivity.

I did note a lack of inkjet capability and have it in my head ahead ink depositing issue s and blocking of inkjets.

I also recall mutterings about it not being a problem with Cambridge ink, IE a breakthrough.

So I tried a search for inkjet graphene ink and that took me to a Cambridge ink paper.

So jumping straight to the conclusion.

We demonstrated ink-jet printing of graphene. Liquid
phase exfoliated graphene is an ideal and low cost
material for the fabrication of transparent conductive
inks. Our graphene-ink was used to print TFTs with
µ up to∼95cm2V−1s−1
. It was also combined with PQT-12 to fabricate devices with µ ∼0.2cm2V−1
s −1 and ON/OFF ratios∼4×105
. This demonstrates the viability of graphene-inks for flexible and transparent electronics.

And the start of the document

'We demonstrate ink-jet printing as a viable method for large area fabrication of graphene devices'

Then it's well worth reading this bit in it which describes the gain of inkjet printing capability.

Flexible electronics is a rapidly expanding research area. Applications include touch screens, electronic paper (e-paper), sensors, radio frequency tags
, photovoltaic cells, and electronic textiles.

To date, it mainly relies on two fabrication strategies:
one in which substrates bearing thousands of Field-effect Transistors (FETs) are bonded to plastic by transfer printing or pick and place methods; another in which FETs are prepared directly on the target substrate by several coating,
curing and lithographic steps. Rubber stamping.
,
Embossing and ink-jet printing, reduce the number of such fabrication steps.

The paper is dated 2011 so they have come a long way since. Perhaps worth a read for some for the first few paragraphs.



It gives a idea how long it takes to come up with a viable ink.

[hastings] 26/3/2017 11:33

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck then yes, you've got it right..

[superg1] 26/3/2017 11:26

Hmmm

Any chance it was a training/sports shoe?

You will know far more than I about the ink after your visit.

[hastings] 26/3/2017 11:02

Superg1 you just keep them coming well done. On the latter re-devices, during the recent Cambridge visit I witnessed such an example in the lab, this being focused on footwear!The potential applications are immense as surely is the opportunity for VRS going forward.

[superg1] 26/3/2017 10:38

What the UOM said on graphene inks. They can see the market but they don't have a viable ink.

Note the news is near 2 years old, they are still not near creating a viable ink.




and a further twist on what the ink can be used for

[superg1] 26/3/2017 09:33

Graphene inks.

I've had a few questions from others on the topic about competitors.

The key with Cambridge is the breakthrough for an efficient process to provide a viable conductive ink that can be used in current printing presses with no modifications needed.

So it's a breakthrough on a number of fronts getting the full house of requirements straight out of the blocks.

Others struggle to get to the point of a viable ink let alone the aspect being able to print at high speed.

E.G.

When VRS acquired it I asked about the UOM/NGI ink and was told UOM will openly admit they are way behind Cambridge. I did read about UOM ink and it needs compression post print so they haven't cracked it yet.

Then another I read that post print it has to be dried at 60C for 20 minutes and so on.

That company reply I posted the other day. Their ink wasn't ink it was unspecified GNPS and if I mix it, it should create a conductive ink. Well I have no chance with that.

But bang up to date here is a recent example. Talga just announced with another to collaborate to make a conductive ink.

So they are years behind Cambridge and may not get to a viable product.

How would such partners feel trying to develop conductive inks when there is already a commercial speed, water based low cost option now hitting the market.

Many inks use harsh chemicals.

I struggle to imagine how Cambridge can improve on what they already have.

Water based, 100% gnp use, no chemical modification, 100 metres per minute print speed, can be used in commercial printers with no modifications needed.

It's proven.

[luckyorange] 25/3/2017 18:05

Had a quick look at Nippon Kayaku, but think the graphene interest relates to printable organic semi conductors (could be wrong!)

They seem to be very keen to get that to the msrket.

[luckyorange] 25/3/2017 09:59

All of that could have been in the RNS, but happy that it wasn't. All we need now are some orders to start the ball rolling, new budgets in April?!

[superg1] 25/3/2017 07:16

I just read the relevant ink paper but should have just jumped straight to the conclusion.

However reading it did make me realise how difficult and complicated it could be to produce graphene inks.

So with a furrowed brow it was nice to read the conclusion.

We report a simple and scalable route to exfoliate graphite. The resulting material can be used without any additional steps (washing or centrifugation) to formulate highly conductive inks with adjustable viscosity for high-throughput printing. A conductivity of 2 × 104 S/m was demonstrated. Our approach enables the mass production of chemically unmodified flakes that can be used in inks, coatings, and conductive composites for a wide range of applications.

So not just a huge breakthrough for inks but other areas too.

[superg1] 25/3/2017 07:00

Nippon Kayaku M/C $2.5 billion.

I thought I'd have a hunt around old Cambridge graphene centre news

January 2015

"Nippon Kayaku becomes an industrial partner of the Cambridge Graphene Centre"

"Nippon Kayaku will support the Centre for Doctoral Training in Graphene Technology, focussing on the innovative use of graphene in applications that benefit Nippon Kayaku's business portfolio. The company specialises in advanced resin materials and polymers, and is researching the benefits to be achieved from the incorporation of graphene into its composite materials mix."

Wiki

"Major products made by Nippon Kayaku are: epoxy resins, UV-curing type resins, functional films, colors for inkjet printers, catalysts, dyes pharmaceuticals,"

[superg1] 25/3/2017 06:33

You have to admire Neill Ricketts and the team.

Just over 2 months ago I didn't know Cambridge were doing graphene ink. VRS acquired it and initially I struggled to get to grips with what that could be all about and the potential market.

At some point post acquisition I asked the status of the ink. R and D potential timelines to commercial and so on.

The answer was simply 'ready to go'.

Well any company can say that but if you get to know the CEO there is no BS and flowering it up.

So in 2 months it's gone from acquired, scaled up and an order out of the door with more to follow.

It seems they haven't even had time to give the ink a name yet.

Now you know why the CEO and company is so well thought of and why such technology finds them.

[luckyorange] 24/3/2017 17:06

The next RNS should be letting us know about an order or two, could be Cambridge , 2D Tech or completely left field....... maybe :-)

[superg1] 24/3/2017 14:36

The Q and A from directors talk post ink scale up.


Q1: Neill, we saw an update earlier on your Cambridge operations, can you remind of the details and the rationale behind the acquisition of Cambridge Graphene?

A1: Sure, so things are moving very quickly for us, we announced that we’ve acquired a majority stake in Cambridge Graphene, which is a spin-out for the University of Cambridge, a couple of weeks ago. On the back of that, we had an over-subscribed placing in order to get the capital equipment required to really start to take that technology and to develop it at the University. The reason that we’re really interested in that is that they have a different type of graphene that they produce there from the graphene we produce as a result of our own patented process, the 2 processes work very closely together and in fact they operate in completely difference areas which enables us to cover all of the graphene market. The material that’s produced at the University of Cambridge is an ink and will be used in things like printable electronics and RFID tags, technologies of the future, that will enable us to really know what’s happening in our environment. So, it’s really important for us to really get going on that, we’ve got some really good enquiries and now we’re building up our capacity.

Q2: At the time of your fundraising, earlier this month, you said that you’d be using the proceeds to significantly scale up both graphene manufacturing capabilities and marketing efforts and to take advantage of the substantial commercial opportunities that you’d seen. How are you progressing with this?

A2: So, as Versarien were able to announce this morning, we’ve established a base now at the University of Cambridge, we’ve now got the kit ordered and actually commissioned in a period of about 10 days, which I think is simply staggering from our team and they’ve already sold their first order out of that facility down in Cambridge to a company looking for some graphene ink. In terms of the Nanene and the new materials we announced just a couple of months ago, I’ve just come out of a marketing meeting where we are managing expectations with some very very large customers at a very early stage in order to facilitate getting that technology really moving as well. We haven’t actually ordered the equipment for that yet until we can establish that we’ve got significant demand but it’s all ready to go and we’ll looking forward to placing all that equipment on order. We’re a relatively small team so at the moment we’ve concentrated on getting Cambridge up and running, getting it to the same sort of levels that we’ve got down in Cheltenham and then it’s all go on the Cheltenham facility.

Q3: What does it mean having the equipment in place already, what does that mean for Versarien PLC?

A3: So, we’ve got an established production base down here in Cheltenham, where I am today, and the guys are downstairs making material for the guys to sell we were just talking about in this meeting and that means that we’re up and ready, we’re able to satisfy the demands of our customers. We’ve just expanded on that by having this other capability down at the University of Cambridge and over the next couple of weeks we’ve got a very active schedule and we’ve got lots of opportunities for us to display our technology at various technology events. Having the equipment in place means that our customers are able to place orders with confidence that we’re able to supply, in fact one of our investors asked us the other day what would happen if he placed a rather significant order right now and one of our guys in the Cheltenham office said it’s not a problem, we’d be able to supply that straight out of the stock. For customers, it means that there’s a degree of confidence, in being able to place an order with us, to be able to satisfy their needs.

[superg1] 24/3/2017 14:27

I'm hoping things like Primarybid and what Vox are trying to do will start to kill off the dinosaurs and their approach, they have been so complacent and very often crooked.

We all know how useful the mandatory nomad is. It causes more trouble than it fixes and the nomads clearly don't check out companies and news to protect investors. They simply resign when they realise they are about to get exposed.

It's the biggest criminal network I can think of.

[superg1] 24/3/2017 14:23

Phoenixs

I've read some highly inaccurate articles over the years from those sources and analysts.

Brokers too I've heard some horror stories from a few re their forecasts where multiple and material errors are made and companies pay for the privilege of what is nothing more than a fee earner.

[richie32] 24/3/2017 11:20

Vasillis, yes I have been thinking that nano robotics could be a big market for VRS

[vasilis] 24/3/2017 11:11

Not sure that this recent link has been posted -


Note the paragraph -

'Graphene, which is just one atom thick, is strong, highly flexible, electrically conductive and transparent, making it ideal for gathering the sun's energy to generate power, the scientists said on Thursday.'

What goes for prosthetic limbs could equally go for a new generation of robots.

[phoenixs] 24/3/2017 11:03

FWIW. The people who write the articles are on occasion so ill informed that it is not worth reading or for that matter giving away hard earned money for a subscription.

[rogerbridge] 24/3/2017 10:31

My copy has just arrived. They also had a big spread on graphene a few weeks back and did not mention VRS.

[shavian] 24/3/2017 10:29

I'm considering cancelling my subscription to MoneyWeek!

The main cover feature in today's issue is all about spin-offs from British Universities. Lots of inches on Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge Innovation Capital etc. Lots of stuff on biomedical spin-offs from Oxford (tipping OXF), Nottingham (ONC) and Durham (KMK). Not a mention of Manchester, advanced materials, NGI or even graphene. Amazing. What a missed opportunity. Especially as SG1 and I introduced one of their reporters to Neill months ago.

Exits left, with steam blowing out of both ears. Rude letter to editor follows.

EDIT

OK, I've cooled down now. At least it keeps us off the radar of the numpties, traders and trolls for a bit longer. Got my share cert from the fund raise in the post today, so off it goes to my pension fund or ISA (not decided which yet)

[phoenixs] 24/3/2017 09:46

Just been reading report on evacuate.eu about RFIDs where it says "global item-level tagging business is expected to rise from about 180 million euros in 2008 to more than 6 billion euros in 2018 so long as RFID price tag is less than euro 0.01"

[phoenixs] 24/3/2017 08:50

The potential for VRS is indeed mind boggling. It is the most exciting company that has been brought to my attention for a very very long time.

The problem for many PIs is that promises of wealth and fortune have been made so often with AIM companies and yet so often the only people who lose their money are the PIs, not the directors, brokers, advisers etc of the companies

What I find so refreshing with Versarien is that Neill Ricketts comes across as an extremely hard working and down to earth guy. The recent fund raising could have brought in a lot more money but he declined because he does not want to have more dilution than is necessary to really develop the business. His tweets are very interesting in that one gets a pretty good idea as to what he is up to in the sense of developing the business and is very investor friendly.
Having said that, it is now down to the product/products, which by all accounts are pretty amazing.

[spike_1] 24/3/2017 08:45

sg: your last but one post - I think you mean £125 per gram ;0)

[superg1] 24/3/2017 08:42

There are a few links to look at here but rather than list them all it's easier to hop across to this one and choose what you want to look at. Note the rfid bits

[superg1] 24/3/2017 08:27

I'm not going to comment and open day folk can't but where would investors who haven't spoken to the company want opex to be.

Research levels have been £400 per gram. Bulk (up to 1 kg £125 per gram plus).

A barrier to the market is lack of a commercial supply. There are high cost applications than can deal with such costs by virtue of high end cost of the product of low weight loadings in lightweight products like fishing rods, racquets and golf clubs.

Then the other barrier is the cost of it, the lower the price goes the more market options become available.

But why chase the low end out of the blocks when the high end doesn't have a supply.

So where do fold think Opex is or should be given that some so far have been happy to pay £125 and up for up to 1 kg.

It was rumoured that early AGM GNPs were sold at £1000 per gram.