Applied Graphene inks paint primer deal with James Briggs

Specialty graphene materials producer Applied Graphene Materials announced on Tuesday that independent chemicals business James Briggs intended to bring a new range of aerosol paint primers containing Applied’s graphene to market during the last quarter of 2018.

The AIM-traded company said that, due to the “outstanding results” achieved in coating properties through the incorporation of its graphene ‘Genable’ dispersion into their paints, James Briggs anticipated extending the use of graphene technology into other product lines within its range.

“The two-year development collaboration between James Briggs and Applied Graphene has resulted in our first products coming to fruition,” said James Briggs’ commercial director Jim Miller.

“The programme has encompassed both processing and formulation optimisation studies and ultimately demonstrated that Applied Graphene’s graphene nanoplatelets can deliver a significant extension to coating life against environmental corrosion effects.”

Applied Graphene Materials also updated the market on its trading, saying it anticipated that trading for the year ending 31 July would produce an EBITDA loss of £3.9m, with production revenues for the current year of £0.1m.

Cash was expected to be in line with forecasts at £10.1m.

“I am delighted that after extensive testing we have successfully demonstrated the commercial benefits of incorporating Applied Graphene’s graphene into a coatings application on an industrial scale,” said Applied CEO Jon Mabbitt.

“We are continuing to work closely with James Briggs both for the initial roll out programme and to extend incorporation of our graphene into other James Briggs products.

“This is clear validation of our focused strategy of demonstrating Applied’s ability to deliver significant material enhancements that can be incorporated on an industrial scale within the coatings sector.”

Mabbitt said the board remained confident that it would be the “first of many” coating applications utilising its graphene.

“Applied is also pleased to announce that it has received first orders for both its ‘Structural Ink’ materials and its ‘Genable G4400’ thermal paste.

“Both products are being sold within the composites industry and represent a significant step forwards in wider acceptability of graphene in this sector.”