Privately held Grafoid introducing more and more Graphene based products for market

From Marketwired

Focus Graphite Inc.

TSX VENTURE : FMS
OTCQX : FCSMF
FRANKFURT : FKC

March 14, 2017 18:40 ET

GRAFOID Introduces its Ion Selective GPURE Graphene Polymer Membrane for Lithium-Ion Battery Electrode Protection

A Focus Graphite Related Company Introduces a Novel Freestanding Nano-porous Membrane Technology to Extend Battery Life

KINGSTON, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 14, 2017) - Grafoid Inc., a Canadian graphene R&D, investment and technology licensing company announced today the development of its GPURE Graphene Polymer nano-porous membrane intended for next generation Li-Ion battery applications.
Grafoid's largest shareholder is Focus Graphite Inc. (TSX VENTURE:FMS)(OTCQX:FCSMF)(FRANKFURT:FKC), owner of the Lac Knife high-grade graphite deposit in Quebec. Focus Graphite holds two off-take agreements with Grafoid to supply it with high-purity graphite for graphene application commercialization with joint venture partners.
The GPURE graphene polymer membrane (GPM) technology is the seventh graphene-based companion to the company's expanding GPURE Platform of new, high performing, ultra-thin materials for diverse industrial applications.
The GPURE GPM product was developed as a chemically inert, freestanding membrane using graphene composites to test ion selectivity using both monovalent and divalent ions. Ion selectivity is a key requirement for a semi permeable membrane in a Li-ion battery structure.
By protecting the chemically sensitive electrode materials from unwanted chemical species GPURE GPM diffuses only energy harvesting monovalent ions such as Li⁺, Na⁺ etc. Conventional membranes lack such unique property.
To view Figure 1 please click the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/FocusFig1314.pdf
Grafoid President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Economo described Grafoid's entry into the battery membrane market as a potentially important technological solution for improving battery life cycling.
"Our GPURE membrane innovations and inventions for next generation battery applications are intended to enhance performance, extend battery life and improve safety," Mr. Economo said.
Goldman-Sachs Equity Research in its September 27, 2016 report, "Charging the Future" estimated the global automotive separator market was worth approximately 600 million US$ in 2015, totaling around 0.5 billion m2 on a surface-area basis and rising to $1.5 billion by 2020. This number is expected to grow to 7 billion m2 by 2025, in line with the growth of gigawatt hours in automotive batteries.
On February 16, 2017 Grafoid unveiled its initial family of GPURE Platform membrane technologies spanning a range of scalable industrial applications requiring novel, disruptive solutions to create new products or enhance or supplant existing membrane technologies.
GPURE membranes include:
GPURE (A) - A high performing, free-standing membrane developed for water desalination applications
GPURE (B) - A stable, large area membrane developed for wastewater filtration suitable for very high temperature operating applications
GPURE (C) - A large area free-standing membrane developed for water filtration pre-treatment and may be suitable for use in gas separation applications and may be used as a lightweight component for automotive and sports equipment applications
GPURE (D) - A large area membrane that may be used for gas separation and sensing applications
GPURE (E) - A large area membrane intended for use in gas separation applications
GPURE (F) - May be applied as a graphene varnish for wood surfaces to protect against moisture, UV light and high temperatures
About Grafoid Inc.
Grafoid is focused on four areas of graphene-related technology development for industrial adoption. They are: graphene based materials for energy creation, storage and transmission; graphene based polymers, graphene coatings and graphene based membranes, for all industrial sectors.
Grafoid is a Canadian graphene R&D, investment and technology licensing company. The company provides expertise as well as product and processes for transformative, industrial-scale graphene applications in partnership with leading corporations and institutions around the world.
A privately held Canadian corporation, Grafoid invests in graphene applications and economically scalable production processes for graphene and graphene derivatives from raw, unprocessed graphite ore. Focus Graphite Inc. holds a significant interest in Grafoid Inc.
Grafoid's research is supported through the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) of the National Research Council of Canada, and, on February 20, 2015, Grafoid received an $8.1 million investment from the SD Tech Fund™ of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to develop a technology that will automate Mesograf™ graphene production and end-product development. SDTC is mandated by the Government of Canada to support clean technology companies as they move their technologies to market.
For more information about Grafoid, please visit http://www.grafoid.com.

Contact Information

• 
  
  Focus Graphite Inc.
  Gary Economo
  President and CEO
  geconomo@focusgraphite.com
  
  Ed Notes
  
  FocusGraphite.com owns a significant share of Grafoid Shares.
  FMS-Toronto Venture Exchange

Grafoid - Advancing Graphene Technology to the next level with Mesograf

Many scientists and technologists around the world believe that the new super material, Graphene, will change the way we live, work and play.

As the advancement of Graphene and Nano Technology furthers science and changes the tech and business landscape around the world, small companies are becoming leaders.

 

One such company is Grafoid.com 

Here is an Introduction from Dr. Gordon Chiu, Grafoid’s President and Chief Technology Officer

Grafoid’s investment leading to the breakthrough, bulk quality, few layer graphene standard, MesoGraf™ represents a defining moment; a turning point in both material science and in human history.
MesoGraf™ enables graphene application development solutions. Our top-down scalable product forms the basis for our commercial relationships and ultimately, lowers industrial application costs leading to graphene’s universal acceptance.
As a business, we invest both financial resources and intellectual capital to resolve issues leading to application and production cost mitigation. We see our solutions as a first step towards graphene’s standardization and ultimately, market monetization.
And when we look at our graphene discovery and invention, we see ourselves moving science to the next level – not only in energy storage and composites, but in the collaborative approach we’ve introduced to application development, our principal business.
Based upon results from our own investment in Singapore-based Graphite Zero’s proprietary process we foresee breakthroughs ahead from an increasing participation in an array of unique, pan-industrial developments.
Graphene’s discovery opens new frontiers for industry. Mesograf™ sets a new standard for quality. Grafoid, as the agent of change, bridges the gap between science and industry by eliminating risk.
MesoGraf™ sets the global standard for commercialized graphene.
Thank you.
Dr. Gordon Chiu, B.Sc., M.Sci, MSTP recipient, ND
President and Chief Technology Officer
Grafoid Inc.

Grafoid is a privately held, Canadian Corp and in that sense, is closed to small investors.

However there is a small Canadian Microcap that owns a big chunk of Grafoid.

 Shares in Focus Graphite , FMS on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TMXv) can be had right now for pennies.  Sure, there is risk, but nothing gained if nothing ventured.

Disclosure, we own shares in Focus Graphite and continue to accumulate.

HP

Graphene Will Change The World And Fortunes Will Be Made!

In their paper, "The rise of Graphene" A.K. Geim and K.S. Novoselov, of the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Manchester point out, in understated terms, that "Graphene is a rapidly rising star on the horizon of materials science and condensed matter physics"!

I say this is an understatement because it does not adequately describe the profound changes in modern society that graphene development promises to deliver.

At this writing, hundreds of companies and labs around the world are in a frenzy of testing and development to bring the amazing properties of Graphene into the production of nanoscale computer chips, super strength (and super light weight) materials for Aeronautic, military and space applications, electronics, medicine, energy storage and so many other areas too numerous to mention here. Lux Research, in their report on advanced materials, lists the following:

Technologies: Nano-enabled coatings Wear- and corrosion-resistant coatings Tribological and anti-fouling coatings Superhydrophobic coatings Ceramic nanoparticles Carbon fiber composites Composite processing and recycling technologies High temperature thermoplastics Carbon nanotubes Graphene Nanostructured catalysts/supports Nanocrystalline metals High performance metals alloys like AHSS, Al, Mg, and Ti Metal matrix composites Metal injection molding Sheet magnesium 3D printing Smart materials and fluids Self-healing materials Metamaterials

Applications: Electrostatically-paintable composite automotive body panels 3D Printing and additive manufacturing Wind turbine composite blades and anti-icing coatings Aerospace coatings and structural composites Chrome-coating replacement Oil & gas drill shafts, production tubulars, and risers Electrostatic dissipation (ESD) and electromagnetic interference (EMI)-shielding Tribological coatings for internal combustion engines Diesel oxidation catalysts Polymer production from waste CO2 Filament wound CFRP pressure vessels

Companies: Zyvex Technologies tripleO MesoCoat Materials Innovation Technologies XG Sciences Morris Technologies Meridian Magnesium Polymics Nanogate Technologies Diamon-Fusion International Bayer MaterialScience Posco SGL Group Toray

Large companies at the forefront of graphene engineering include a who's who of the tech world. To date there has been a virtual space race to patent all of the properties of this "wonder material".

Princeton University's Quentin Tannock, in an article entitled "Exploiting carbon flatland" points out how many of today's Universities now value the patent landscape as a scientific "sharing" of information for experimentation, and in particular, in the area of Graphene and Nano Engineering. He also laments how many researchers are unable to capitalize on their discoveries in the marketplace, without a partnership of some sort with private companies. Although Rice University and the University of Manchester have been at the forefront of Graphene experimentation, it is private industry that owns most of the patents in graphene development.

Three Tech giants, IBM, Samsung and Sandisk, already have filed hundreds of patents for graphene discoveries. These three in fact hold the most patents in that order, and are at the forefront of graphene development in electronics and Semiconductors. For instance IBM holds graphene patents for such diverse applications as DNA Sequencing, graphene transistors, 3D, and graphene solar cells, just to name a few. Samsung's include: flexible screens, graphene/lithium batteries, moisture resistant electronics, and antidot spin valves.

Other patent holders include (but are not limited to) : The U.S. Navy (high resolution films), Apple (AAPL) (batteries), Head (tennis rackets), Kia and Hyundai (fuel cells), Saab (de-icing airplanes) Kimberly Clark (KMB), Toyota (TM) (lithium air batteries), Sony (SNE) (drug delivery), Honda (HMC) (gas sensors), Xerox (XRX) (printing), Angston (lubricants), Polimeri (Thermal insulation), Foxconn (loudspeakers), AMD (AMD) (3D), DOE (Tesla coils), and Bayer (Obtaining graphene from graphite by chemical means)

There is also a global race for patents in the nanomedicine field. At Lake Forest Medical Research Centre, Dr. Ravi Singh is currently researching the use of Graphene nanotubes to target and destroy cancer tumors. This is only one of many possible medical uses for this wonder material.

There is not enough room here to list all of the companies,the patent applications, or potential uses for graphene based materials, but you get the point. That is, the world is about to change and fortunes will be made!

In January of this year, the European Commission made graphene research a priority, pledging $1 Billion Euros to research and development of graphene initiatives. A "graphene Flagship Consortium" headed by Nokia (NOK) recently received a $1.35 Billion graphene research grant from the EU.

From an investors perspective, many companies stand to benefit from their graphene patents and research. Because of their front runner positions on the patent landscape, I believe the best bets are: International Business Machines Nokia Sandisk (SNDK) and Samsung. Both IBM and Samsung each hold over 100 patents in the graphene space and Nokia has been at the forefront of research since 2006.

There are also many private companies racing to capitalize on the many qualities of the "wonder material". I suspect the IPO space will start filling up with these as early as next year. While we wait for that to happen I like companies positioned to supply top quality graphite which is most prized in the production of graphene. These would be akin to acquiring the "picks and shovels" suppliers of the Klondike gold rush.

My top pick is Graftech International (GTI) a Global graphite player based in the USA with over 125 years in the business. Graftech is a leading supplier of carbon and graphite products for industry and is well positioned to take advantage of it's economy of scale as it enters the graphene market. Since 2011, Graftech Stock, as shown in the chart, has been in decline, but not the company itself as it is poised to benefit most from the infant graphene market.

Graftech is a leader in the field of graphite production, and will continue to be. The double bottom shown in the chart indicates a turn around in the stock price. We bought this stock last month.

Grafoid, a privately held research and development company is quietly positioning itself as a liaison between the graphite mines, the scientific research groups, and graphene user companies. Although it is a private company at present, it is 40% owned by a small Canadian graphite miner, Focus Graphite, which trades on the Canadian Venture Exchange and recently announced the first "trade-marked" graphene called "MesoGraf". Although it is only (for now) a penny stock traded on the Canadian Venture Exchange (FMS), Focus Graphite also owns three (3) of the top "high grade" graphite properties on the planet most suitable for graphene production.

Privately held Angstron Materials (owned by Nanotek Instruments and based in Ohio, USA) is developing and producing nano graphene platelets (NGPs), and also provide pristine graphite and single layer graphene. (Look for an IPO as this company grows up)

There are also many small labs and companies such as Anderlab Technologies of Mumbai India, which manufactures graphene and carbon nanotubes for research.

Flinders Resources which is positioned to supply Europe with top quality graphite from its proven Woxna mine in Sweden, just made it's first shipment of raw material to Germany last week. It is also listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange, along with Northern Graphite, Zenyatta Ventures and Lomiko Metals, all of which show promise in the field.

Remember that, investing in penny stocks is not for the faint of heart.  Having said that, some of these companies are sure to be big winners as the graphene boom takes hold!

The Graphene revolution

Graphene from Graphite

Article:  Focus Graphite

Graphene and Graphite have caught the attention of many early stage investors!

Focus Graphite
TSE-FMS

Quick facts about Graphene:

• Graphene occurs naturally in graphite, has unique physical properties and might be one of the strongest substances known.
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• 200x stronger than steel and so thin that it is transparent
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• The process of separating it from graphite will require some technological development before it is economically feasible to use it in industrial processes
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• Focus Graphite is a 40% shareholder in Grafoid Inc., a privately-held joint venture, to develop and acquire patent applications, secure intellectual property and develop graphene applications

A number of multinationals are active in graphene research and development (e.g. Intel and IBM in computing, Dow Chemicals and BASF as suppliers of basic graphene material, and Samsung in consumer electronics).

Graphene’s emergence as the “new silicon” and Focus Graphite’s participation at the graphene development and patenting level primes the company – and shareholders – to reap the rewards from emerging applications that will replace aging computing, communications and industrial technologies.

According to the renowned research scientist Dr. Gordon Chiu, VP and Chief Scientist of Focus Graphite’s Graphene Joint Venture – Grafoid Inc, the quality of the graphite source – which Focus Graphite holds in abundance – directly affects the quality and performance state of graphene, an allotrope of carbon that holds unique physical properties.

“Scientifically and commercially, the Focus Graphite business program looks for definites; looks to financially minimize risk, and; ultimately, looks to maximize shareholder value,”  Dr. Chiu said.
Graphene is considered to be one of the strongest substances known to science. It occurs naturally in graphite; is 200 times stronger than steel and is so thin it is transparent, but, unlike its source, diamond, it is flexible and electrically conductive.

It is anticipated the first consumer products using graphene will be released by the fourth quarter of 2011 or early 2012 as components of computing or communications devices.

As a transistor, graphene holds remarkable advantages over silicon in terms of processing speed and, more importantly, by obviating the need for internal cooling fans as it functions at room temperature.
As a component for industrial, aviation and infrastructural use, for example, graphene’s lightness and strength provide opportunities for those sectors to re-think engineering design and functionality.

Electric Cars etc: - Graphene for use in graphene-saturated battery and super-charging capacitor applications. For investors in those sectors, the long-term cost-savings inherent with those sectoral applications are incalculable at this time.

The trillion dollars spent globally on research and development on fullerenes and carbon nano-tubes during the last two decades laid the scientific groundwork for today’s application development of graphene.
The difference today is that graphene provides a stable, practical and useful material which has, as of yet, no equal in nature, in science, or in manufactured applications.
Graphene, according to some observers, will change the way we live.

But what is it?

• Graphene is taken from graphite, which is made up of weakly bonded layers of carbon.
• Graphene is composed of carbon atoms arranged in tightly bound hexagons just one atom thick.
• Three million sheets of graphene on top of each other would be 1mm thick.
• The band structure of graphite was first theorised and calculated by P.R. Wallace in 1947, though for it to exist in the real world was thought impossible.
• Due to the timing of this discovery, some conspiracy theorists have linked it to materials at the Roswell “crash site”.
• In 2004, teams including Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov demonstrated that single layers could be isolated, resulting in the award of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010.

The Focus Graphite Graphene Joint Venture
Grafoid Inc., headed by VP and Chief Scientist Dr. Gordon Chiu, surprised the scientific community in early 2011 when it announced its entrance into the graphene development arena – a domain dominated by industrial heavyweights IBM, Intel and Samsung.

Grafoid, however, distinguishes itself with an understanding it has no competitors in its class, and its commercial development interests, under Dr. Chiu’s direction, are focused on high-value, near-to-market graphene applications.

(The proprietary nature of some 25 specific projects at this time preclude the company from identifying its commercial development targets).

The joint venture’s goal, said Dr. Chiu, “is to find a basket of self-sustaining technologies that require Focus Graphite’s participation to help them scale to their ultimate objectives.”

“They will need tons – not kilos – of graphene for their manufacturing processes,”  Dr. Chiu said. “And the quality of the graphite will directly affect the graphene. Focus Graphite will have a significant advantage here.”

In December 2011, Grafoid and Rutgers University AMIPP Advanced Polymer Center signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop and commercialize polymer and no-polymer technology graphene applications from Focus Graphite’s Lac Knife Graphite project.

Graphene is a remarkable substance.
Tens of billions of dollars are currently being spent on graphene research globally at university laboratories and in corporate research and development facilities in three principal sectors, namely: consumer electronics; computing devices and, industrial materials.

Additional research on a smaller scale is being applied to bio-medical application discoveries throughout the world.

For more information visit:  www.FocusGraphite.com 

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