AGM advances applications for water-based coatings

10.07.2019

Applied Graphene Materials

("Applied Graphene Materials", "AGM", "the Group" or "the Company")

AGM advances applications for Water-Based Anti-Corrosion Coatings

The development addresses customer regulatory pressures for safer and more environmentally sustainable paints and coatings

Applied Graphene Materials, the producer of specialty graphene materials, is pleased to announce it has achieved significant technological progress (patent pending) on the deployment of graphene into water-based coatings to enhance their barrier properties. The Company will today be sharing the findings of recent development work with its existing customer base and the wider industry.

Water-based coating development remains a focus for industry formulators. This push is driven by the continuing tightening of regulations brought in to lessen the detrimental impact that solvent- based coatings have on both worker health and the environment. As the technology for water-based coatings continues to evolve, one of the key challenges that remains is to significantly improve their anti-corrosion performance. In doing so, this will fully extend their use away from decorative applications into broader industrial protective coatings.

Over recent years AGM has proven the outstanding barrier and anti-corrosion performance gains possible by incorporating graphene into solvent-based coating systems using its Genable® dispersion technology. This has been demonstrated with several commercial products reaching industrial end-user markets. However, effective incorporation of graphene into water-based systems has previously proven more problematic due to interrelated issues around materials compatibility and film formation.

This water-based breakthrough is again based on AGM's platform Genable® technology, a range of master dispersions that are designed to facilitate the easy incorporation of graphene into coating formulations and existing processes. Genable® dispersions are fully scalable industrial products and, based on initial findings, the addition levels required to significantly enhance anti-corrosion performance in water-based systems are low enough to ensure commercial viability, even in light industrial applications.

Adrian Potts, CEO of Applied Graphene Materials, said:

A key driver for coatings developers to upgrade their product formulations is increasing regulatory pressure to improve the environmental impact and safety of their products. This is why AGM is working to replicate the success we have already achieved with the incorporation of our Genable® products into solvent-based products with its incorporation into water-based products. We are delighted to be able to present significant technological progress to our customers, reaffirming AGM as the leader in the development of cutting-edge graphene applications tailored to add significant value for paints and coatings manufacturers.

While the findings being shared publicly are in a commercial acrylic DTM (direct to metal) coating, AGM believes that water-based Genable® technology could, with considered formulating, equally well be adopted into epoxy chemistries and likewise into more complex formulated primer systems.

AGM remains the industry leader for graphene exploitation into the global paints and coatings industry, boasting a highly experienced formulations and applications team, supported by a well-equipped product development and characterisation laboratory and production capability for consistent manufacturing.

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Notes to Editors

Applied Graphene Materials

Applied Graphene Materials works in partnership with its customers using its knowledge and expertise to provide bespoke graphene dispersions and formats to deliver enhancements and benefits for a wide range of applications. The Group's strategy is to target commercial applications in three core markets: coatings, composites and functional materials.

The Group has developed proprietary bottom-up processes which are capable of producing high purity graphene nanoplatelets using a continuous process. The manufacturing process is based on sustainable, readily available raw materials and therefore does not rely on the supply of graphite, unlike a number of other graphene production techniques. Applied Graphene Materials owns the intellectual property and know-how behind this process.

Applied Graphene Materials was founded by Professor Karl Coleman in 2010 with its operations and processes based on technology that he initially developed at Durham University. The Group was admitted to AIM in November 2013, raising £11 million, and is based at the Wilton Site on Teesside. In January 2016 the Group raised £8.5m to support its ongoing activities and in October 2017 the Group raised a further £9.8m.