Applied Graphene Materials Share Discussion Threads

[the initiate] 07/6/2022 10:58

The cycloid, is the strongest non - linear construct.
Ever attempted flattening, the lid, of a Saucepan?
Here we are, after five years, merely, improving, paints?
In the new book: 2076AD, the Author relates how it had become.
The largest of the Chinese made revolving 0.03 micron finely filtered, Cycloidal Habitations, ( 120 PODS ),are 120 metres in diameter. Yet: Not, requiring any internal support.
45% their curved surface, covered by, solar cells.
The future, is, tomorrow.
You may ask: "Why Chinese"? Well, at 2076: China, has intrinsically, conquered the fiery Planet Earth. Due to the much higher level of, radio-activity, and the fear of cancers, as a consequence of the terrible: `rare metals` and, the, `rare water` wars, most Chinese, are living undergrouind, at, higher levels, due to the Sea level, being two and a half metres higher than,as it was at: 2022ad.
The 10 billions, of the humans, needed, very substantial. cheap, mass produced habitations.
That is, why, merely, tinkering with, paints, is relatively un-important.
Be now, ever watching the latest tech` news, for who, will be, first, to adapt graphene?,on a massive scale.
The Initiate.

[amanitaangelicus] 06/6/2022 17:49

Flip me ... that sounded like a Dr Who sketch. It s a feed the bod special here. Lovely money if u can get it. The share price never does owt but gan doon.

[the initiate] 03/6/2022 14:05

Incidentally, contributors to our, hopeful Chat-room, may be interested to read in IPOscience, of some 2016 Swedish and Ukrainian, considerations, regarding the future bonding possibilities, of the synthethis, of plentiful silicates, with graphene?
Carbon and Silica, being the more plentiful, on our, little fiery planet.
One should admit to being heavily into Glencore.
Look forward to reading of comments.
The Initiate.

[the initiate] 03/6/2022 12:56

SURELY, THE BREAK-THROUGH WILL OCCUR, WHEN, SAY: about 2% OF GRAPHENE IS ADDED TO, A SILICON LIKE FINE HEATED MATERIAL IN MIST FORM, APPLIED ELECTRO-STATICALLY, TO A COMPUTERISED DEFINED CYCLOIDAL FORMER, AND, BUILT UP TO, AN, OPTIMUM THICKNESS, OF,16 mm FOR,`OPEN PLAN`, HABITATION?

For mass produced low cost habitation, The Cycloid, is the future. Replacing, the ancient triangle construct, that has served us, so very well?

WITH GOOD INTENT: MESSING ABOUT, IN THE UNDERFUNDED LITTLE LABORATORY, PLAYING WITH MINISCULE IMPROVMENTS OF PAINTS? I, MEAN, WHAT`S THAT, ALL TINKERING ABOUT?
THERE MUST BE, THOSE, SUCH AS, GLENCORE; WITH, THEIR, BILLIONS, INSTEAD OF, A MERE, WORKING CYCLIC CAPITAL, OF, ONLY, 15 MILLIONS, WHO, MUST NOW, TAKE UP ARMS?
NATUREALLEMENT, WE REMAIN, EVER HOPEFULL, OF: `GETTING IN AT THE BOTTOM`?
OBVIOUSLY, WHEN IT DOES, TAKE OFF, OUR HUNDRED, WILL SHOOT UP, TO TWO THOUSAND?

AM I BEING UNFAIR? PLEASE, LET ME KNOW?
The Initiate

[amanitaangelicus] 03/6/2022 08:48

Squeeze that teat ...will get taken over for nowt, and the gravytrain for the spinoff boys will end.Hopefully.

[oakville] 27/5/2022 08:20

The next bombed out stock to have a run?

[amanitaangelicus] 23/5/2022 20:07

Still milking ya yeats is oor Pottsie? Yeah ...thought so ... lovely.

[amanitaangelicus] 23/5/2022 19:17

Still milking ya yeats is oor Pottsie? Yeah ...thought so ... lovely.

[cordwainer] 23/5/2022 15:54

From the latest newsletter of Frontier IP (FIPP). I thought it is a very good introductory article to investors new or otherwise mildly confused by the industry..

GRAPHENE: THE WONDER MATERIAL FULFILLING ITS PROMISE
Graphene has been touted as a wonder material with a host of substantial benefits across many industries since it was first synthesised by a pair of University of Manchester academics armed with a pencil and a roll of sticky tape in 2004. It is the strongest material in the world, flexible and light, and has extraordinary electrical, thermal and optical properties.

These have seen graphene’s use being explored in applications as varied as coatings,
composites, batteries, medicines, photonics and optoelectronics. Some believe that
graphene and graphene-related materials could be enabling materials across nearly all fields of technology. It is used in smartphones, sports equipment, cars, clothing and paints.

But it has yet to achieve the impact so often promised. A stronger training shoe is unlikely to change the world. As yet no significant applications have been commercialised on the scale anticipated more than 15 years ago.

This lack of commercialisation at scale is reflected in there having been no significant scale up in graphene manufacture. Demand is currently estimated at below 1,000 tons a year.

We believe, however, that graphene’s true potential is close to being realised, and
will have its biggest impact on photonics and optoelectronics.

What is graphene?

Graphene was originally derived from graphite. On the strictest definition, it is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. It is extremely thin. A single gramme can cover an area the size of a football field. For this reason, graphene and graphene-related materials are referred to as two dimensional materials. The Graphene Council says that the term “graphene̶1; can be applied to material that is up to and including 10 layers of carbon atoms. Any thicker is technically a graphite nanoflake. Graphene-related materials are graphene with an added element, such as boron, to further enhance a particular property – a process known as functionalisation.


There are two broad ways of manufacturing graphene: graphene flakes and chemical vapour deposition (CVD): exfoliation of large pieces of graphite, or growing sheets one layer at a time.

Graphene flakes and their uses

Flakes are currently used in applications such as composite materials, coatings, including inks and paints, sensors, lasers and in medicines. They are made directly by exfoliating graphite blocks either mechanically or by using chemicals. There are two main mechanical processes: physically shearing a graphite block or immersing a block in a liquid mixture and using sound waves to vibrate flakes off. Chemical processes create a graphene oxide, which is reduced to a graphene flake. Neither process produces consistent results: mechanical processes produce flakes
that range in thickness from a single layer to more than 10 layers and varying widths; while chemical methods result in graphene with impurities and a poor crystalline structure.

Despite this, graphene flakes still have advantages denied to graphite and other carbon materials, such as strength, stability, and relatively high thermal and electrical conductivity (although lower than pure graphene).

Functionalising graphene adds cost but does significantly improve the required properties that are being sought. This is likely to be the route for larger scale applications but for more specialist areas, this can also be achieved by other means too.

The benefits of chemical vapour deposition

Chemical vapour deposition one layer at a time results in a much purer, higher quality graphene, extending the scope of the material’s application into a host of other technologies and into areas where it has the potential to have a major impact. No graphite is involved in the process. Instead, a carbon-rich gas, such as methane, is mixed with a reactant, which causes graphene to be deposited on a substrate in a single layer to create a graphene sheet, or film. The manufacturing process is high cost and consumes a lot of energy, However, the past decade has seen significant advances in manufacturing at scale.

Graphene produced in this way can be used in high-end applications, such as photoelectronics, optoelectronics, flexible displays, photonics, and semiconductors.
Although manufacturing costs more, the graphene is still derived from carbon, which
is easily available, unlike the rare earth minerals traditionally used in semiconductors.

And the purer graphene is being used for higher value applications. These include data and telecommunications infrastructure. Among other things future developments in areas such as 5G and 6G networks and the Internet of Things will need better photonics – technology that uses light to transmit and process information – to happen. In laboratory conditions, graphene has already shown itself to be the ideal material to enable faster transmission while consuming much less energy. This is just one example of the material’s potential for transformative impact. There will be many more to come.

[cordwainer] 22/4/2022 16:02

I'm afraid this will only drift lower unless and until revenues get a big jolt of life. Consumer and business confidence in general taking a dive - possibly the next excuse after covid and supply issues. Not adding.

[sphere25] 06/4/2022 11:14

20th November 2013.

That is when AGM listed and guess what?

That is how long they have been promising jam. Not only have they warned today, but in all that time they have delivered sales of...

Dare you even look?

There are alot of these about in Jam City:

HAYD, VRS, WAND, NANO, KMK, FUM, XSG, POS, SRT, OPTI.

Those are the ones I can think off the top of my head but they just don't deliver. All you get are jam filled promises and eventual share price destruction. I can see the latter two beginning to deliver some jam, so perhaps something bullish will follow, but on the whole they are hard work.

You can almost categorise these shares into locations within the market. More recently we have Covid ClobberVille:

ABDX, ODX, AVCT, NCYT

They are falling over themselves to buy GDR too, except the broker has just pulled the forecasts as there is no forward visibility and a placing will be on its way if the usual non delivery of sales (or even limited sales) happens. There is a short building a position there too who must be looking to close into a future placing on non-delivery.

If you look at just the above examples, how many of these are going to come out and deliver to the upside for holders in years to come? I would be surprised if it is more than a few.

How about IPO Town next - we won't even go there!

The reality is that trading these jam filled risky sorts into any momentum and euphoria and taking profits along the way is the best strategy imo. Beyond lobbing into profitable spikes, the percentages simply aren't on our side.

All imo
DYOR

[serratia] 08/1/2022 20:29

mjneish,

Information is everywhere. Companies sometimes post technical reviews/applications. Manchester Uni the home of graphene produces many reviews/tech updates then there are scientific review papers. The understanding of what graphene can do and how it does it is a continuing process.
The definitions of the graphene family has evolved as the properties of the different forms started to be understood. Definitions span the different types. There are more but 3 main types are graphene,few layer graphene (FLG) and nanoplatelets.
Graphene is a single layer material made by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). FLG covers sub 10 layer together with some other characteristics. Nanoplatelets are upwards of 10 layers.
For the best polymer (plastic) performance FLG is the product of choice. You will see some benefit from say 15 layer nanoplatelets but less and above around 20 layers very little effect.
The other graphene properties such as heat transfer, electrical conductivity water resistance are available via nanoplatelets.
Different companies have different production methods most making variations of nanoplatelets. Their focus is on the functions that fit best their type of material.

[serratia] 08/1/2022 16:32

mutantcar,

You are correct Haydale don't make graphene they buy it and add functional groups.

[mutantcar] 08/1/2022 14:01

Hi serratia,You seem to have some knowledge of Haydale. I seem to recall hearing that they don't actually make their own graphene. Is that your understanding?Sorry if this has been discussed previously, I don't really follow this thread.What's your view on Versarien?Thanks

[mjneish] 08/1/2022 13:43

Thanks for that. Your understanding of the technicalities is well above mine and, dare I say, that of nearly everyone on this forum. Could you pick all of this up from reading company reports and news on their websites or did you have to delver further?

I've come across a number of companies manufacturing nanoplatelets. You sure know of many more. Silly question: is a nanoplatelet a nanoplatelet? That is, are they all the same or will each company have its own twist on it that will make its properties different from those of other companies?

[serratia] 07/1/2022 23:16

mjneish,

It's very important to DYOR. I try not to speculate forward sales as that's guesswork. Cash needs are a function of revenue.
In the past graphene producers were unable to relate the properties of their graphene to the functions they were trying to improve. For example if the graphene was much above 10 layers it didn't perform too well in polymer strengthening. The same for sub 10 layer material where the lateral size was to short. This led to customer disappointment with the results. The spec of XG Sciences was not optimal for polymer strength and it cost them a lot of money as they scaled up to chase that market. A run through their accounts and product spec will highlight the issue.
Companies need to target their type of graphene into the area where it's structure adds benefit. This has become clearer as form / function are understood.
Any critical analysis of a company who ever it is leads to outrage by holders. That's social media for you. I look in depth at each player and risk my own cash. That doesn't mean there's no space for multiple graphene companies as long as they work with the applications available for their type of graphene.

I'll highlight the the learning curve of one AIM company. They may make a go of it but the timeline is common to a few companies around the world. Haydale -
Pure graphene with no chemical groups attached to the molecule would be very,very difficult to disperse say in a target polymer. Haydale knew this and developed a process for adding functional groups to graphene to help it blend/disperse. A logical development. It turns out that some of the processes for making graphene leave some functional groups attached. Methods were developed for dispersion of this slightly functionalised graphene. Each polymer is different and dispersion methods are worked out for each of them. This to some extent was a disappointment for Haydale as they set out to functionalise graphene which isn't always necessary.
Now who knows, there is a chance that they can add a group which adds a beneficial property but companies have got round the problem they set up to solve.
They're still out there batting away and also have tech in another area so who knows what their future holds ?
What is the spec of each players material and in which area will it add benefit ?

[mjneish] 07/1/2022 18:31

Serratia, thanks for that. When I'm a bit further on in my research maybe we could compare notes?

In their report, Edison believe that AGM will need one more fundraising for around £2 million before they can hit profitability which, according to them, will come when revenues his around £10 million. I just wonder how much of a shot in the dark that is. Do you have anything to say about it?

[amanitaangelicus] 07/1/2022 08:03

Run ...it.s a gravytrain for the bod, nowt else.

[serratia] 06/1/2022 11:55

Graphene will change the world, how soon is a key question. There are a number of questions to be considered, type of graphene, application, market acceptance being a few of them. After that which companies have products for which applications ?

Types of graphene - The form of graphene is critical for certain applications. Single layer material is used in the semi conductor area. Sub 10 layer strengthens polymers and other materials. Heat and electrical conductance can be utilised in 10+ layer graphene along with water barrier properties.
Another key point is the lateral size of the sub 10 layer graphene particles. Too short and you lose the strengthening properties. Think of it in a simple analogy - Steel bars reinforce concrete structures, iron filing won't. Also there's a gradation in the effectiveness it's not absolute. 5 layer graphene will impart more strength in polymers than 10 layer and at 20 layer you'll lose most of the benefit. Graphite - multi layer graphene is a lubricant. As you increase the graphene layer number the layers can ' slide' over each other hence reducing the strength of the polymer.
Different companies produce different forms of graphene so address different applications. One of the reasons uptake has been delayed is that in the early days the above issues were not well understood. Companies heard the graphene story and ran tests, many failed and they lost interest. eg if you want to strengthen polymers you have to use the right type of graphene. Over time the properties became better understood and graphene producers had to overcome the - We tried it ,it doesn't work mentality.

There's a lot more I can post but I don't want to teach granny to suck eggs. If you want me to expand on the above let me know. Markets/applications, which companies address which areas etc.

[mjneish] 06/1/2022 09:56

Thanks cordwainer. I was hibernating. :)

I’m gradually making a list of possible competitors. One that stood out is XG sciences, a private company with plans to go public I believe.

hxxps://xgsciences.com/

(Again the link doesn’t show properly.)

They have a deal with Samsung that goes back to 2014. No idea what’s happened since (just starting my research).

[cordwainer] 06/1/2022 08:25

Don't know much about TGR seems ok as a graphite miner and raw graphene producer but doesn't seem to have any IP, and I suspect the bulk of production will be heading for non-graphene applications. I'm sure the TGR thread will know better tho.

[pratham30] 05/1/2022 23:54

I am in tgr too do you have any faith in that company

[cordwainer] 05/1/2022 22:19

er, congratulations on your first 2 posts in 12 years.

Share price action of the past 8 months from a peak of 74p down to 22p reflects that while lots of applications are emerging from numerous graphene companies across the world, so far it's all at small scale with none achieving widespread or mainstream usage or demand as far as I've noticed, including those of AGM. Rather than blockbuster consumer products, just higher performance of existing products and materials beginning to creep in at the fringe of specialist and industrial markets. Thus investor interest has been premature. I have a hunch that eventually the higher profile markets for graphene enhancement will be batteries & electrical components, civil engineering, marine and space applications. But AGM's stated aim is to go for the lower hanging fruit first, thus we have mostly coatings and admixtures.

AGM still not profitable for several years probably, and there will almost certainly be more share issuance before so. However, the small revenues and number of launched products among its customers are at an all time high and growing. Prospects for continued revenue growth look good and could lend support to the future share price. To read ahead, you can only guess the royalties from future sales volumes of the customers' products.

I can't discern an obvious front-runner among the UK(or anywhere else)-listed graphene companies - would be nice to hear from anyone who can.