Versarien plc (LON: VRS), the advanced materials engineering group, has today provided an update on the Company’s activities in the People’s Republic of China.
During the last two months of 2018 the Company announced the signing of a number of Memoranda of Understanding with global manufacturers based in China, together with a Framework Agreement with the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Commerce in Shandong Province, covering cooperation between the parties in the fields of graphene research, development and industrialisation.
The business model adopted by Versarien is to enter into collaboration projects with partners and where possible to utilise the facilities and relationships available at the Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre in Manchester as a result of the Company’s Tier one membership. In parallel with this strategy, the Company also seeks to enter into or create one or more joint ventures arrangements with those partners incorporating a local manufacturing plant. A licence over the Company’s technology will be granted to each joint venture in conjunction with strategic investment by the partner.
The Company is pleased to confirm that it has achieved positive progress in negotiating more specific terms with its various Chinese partners and has also signed an additional MOU with another of China’s Fortune 500 building materials companies.
The Company and its various current Chinese partners have agreed to progress the use of Versarien’s graphene powders and inks for the following applications:
· Flame-retardant applications – specifically the performance improvement of polyethylene substrate flame retardant products, to improve material burning crust performance, meeting the high-grade burning standard for cable sheath insulation.
· Conductive shielding applications – specifically used as a conductive material in the production of shielding materials. These are designed to replace traditional conductive carbon black and meet the application requirements of high-conductivity semi-conductive shielding materials.
· Thermally conductive materials – specifically the application of heat transfer functionalisation of synthetic materials.
· The development and manufacture of new generation graphene heaters using graphene inks.
· The development of graphene-enhanced winter sports equipment, specifically targeted at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing.
· The development of graphene-enhanced smart wearable devices, including sensors and smart earphones.
l The incorporation of the Company’s subsidiary, Gnanomat S.L.’s, proprietary nanomaterials into supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries.
· The incorporation of graphene into concrete, anti-corrosion coatings, 3D printing of concrete and certain rail projects.
· The incorporation of graphene in solar energy, photovoltaic cells and smart buildings.
The Company is pleased to also confirm the quality of its Nanene graphene nano platelets has been satisfactorily tested by the Chinese National Graphene Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Centre (NGSIC) in Wuxi.
Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien plc, commented:
“We are very pleased with the further progress we are making in China. We have already secured partnerships with a number of leading manufacturers across a variety of sectors, together with securing formal relationships with Chinese provincial government bodies.
“Since entering into these relationships in the later part of last year the rate of progress has been impressive and we are now at the stage where we have defined work programmes with a number of the partners. In conjunction with the GEIC and the other facilities and expertise available to the Company we are confident that we can make rapid progress this year with the commercialisation of graphene enhanced products both in China and globally with our partners.”
