Applied Graphene Materials (LON: AGM), the producer of speciality graphene materials, announced today that the Company will be attending the National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (NATEP) showcase event to present the results of two development projects.
As part of the NATEP programme, in partnership with Coventive Composites, a composite development specialist and Composites Evolution Ltd, an innovator in prepreg materials, AGM has been developing a new generation of composites for Aerospace interior applications in the NEAT project (Nano Enhanced Aerospace Interiors). The focus of NEAT developments has been to capture the benefits of graphene materials within novel resin formulations, and to deliver combined improvements in mechanical properties, as well as highly critical fire, smoke and toxicity performance.
The NEAT project partners will report excellent progress in the development work and that the emphasis has now shifted to collaboration with Aerospace end-users and delivering early demonstrator applications. These demonstrators are essential to support early commercial exploitation and will provide NEAT end-users with “real-world” evidence that the material properties achieved can be directly equated to reductions in final part production costs; these being realised through a combination of broader product applicability, optimised structural design, improved processing and enhanced surface finish.
AGM is also collaborating with composite tool design specialists CTES Ltd, prepreg manufacturer SHD Composites Ltd and GKN Aerospace in a project which is focused on delivering a significant step forward in composite tooling for aerospace structures. The project’s goals are to develop new technologies, through the introduction of graphene materials that will enable the deployment of lower cost tooling solutions, enhance in-service performance and facilitate optimised tool designs. Ultimate delivery on the project goals will provide end users with a superior composite tooling solution, supporting robust manufacturing processes and the continual drive for production cost reduction.
Adrian Potts, CEO of Applied Graphene Materials said:
“The integration of AGM’s nanoplatelet technology in real world applications is at the heart of what we do. These two project developments represent a major technical success with our NATEP partners – both enhancing the performance of composite materials in the safety-critical composites interiors market and advancing technology in the world of composite tooling. Pushing the barriers of materials performance through the use of graphene is what AGM is all about and we see significant opportunity in the interiors materials market. We are excited to see the application of AGM’s technology in production tooling applications. Applying graphene to composite tooling to achieve superior performance of tool surfaces and greater longevity represents a significant win for the tooling industry.
“Both of these projects demonstrate that a partnership approach encompassing materials supply to end-user testing is key to graphene application success, as we continue to maintain our strategic focus on the application of graphene to coatings, composites functional materials and printing technology.”
