Haydale Graphene Industries plc
("Haydale" or the "Company")
US research body reports Haydale Functionalised GNPs significantly
improve strength in composites
Haydale Graphene Industries plc (AIM:HAYD), the Company focused on enabling
technology for the commercialisation of graphene, is pleased to announce that
their functionalised GNPs have been demonstrated to improve significantly both
strength and toughness in epoxy composites in research carried out by the
Materials Science Department of The Aerospace Corporation, an American research
organisation.
In August last year, the research department purchased a quantity of Haydale
HDPlasâ„¢ oxygen functionalised graphene nanoplatelets ("GNPs") for analysis with
toughened epoxy composites.
The report, in a paper published in The Journal of Applied Polymer Science
states that having purchased and used Haydale GNPs in a composite project the
work demonstrated a significant leap in strength improvements in toughened
epoxy composites. The reported increases are greater than 2x in tensile strength and
modulus of an epoxy composite using a number of HDPlasâ„¢ O2-functionalised GNPs.
The addition of increasing amounts of GNPs resulted in strength increases of
over 125% and toughness improvements of 100% compared with similarly cured,
unreinforced material.
Commenting, Haydale Chief Executive, Ray Gibbs said:
"Graphene nanomaterials are gaining enormous interest as a new class of
reinforcement for nanocomposites, promising revolutionary electrical, thermal
and mechanical properties. The results presented in the new research represent
another step forward for the graphene industry in terms of realising graphene's
potential in the composites market, and further highlights that
functionalisation via plasma is the key process. Following this research, we
intend to test our functionalised nanomaterials in further research projects
with both raw material producers and end-application manufacturers."
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For further information please contact:
Haydale Graphene Industries plc 01269 842 946
John Knowles, Chairman
Ray Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad) 0207 148 7900
Tony Rawlinson
Paul Trendell
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Joint Broker)
David Foreman 020 7894 7684
Paul Jewell 020 7894 7644
Hume Capital Securities plc (Joint Broker) 020 3693 1470
Guy Peters
David Lawman
Hermes Financial PR
Trevor Phillips 07889 153 628
Chris Steele 07979 604 687
About The Aerospace Corporation
Further details of The Aerospace Corporation can be found at:
http://www.aerospace.org
About Haydale
Haydale has developed a patent pending proprietary scalable plasma process to
functionalise graphene and other nanomaterials. This enabling technology can
provide Haydale with a rapid and highly cost efficient method of supplying
tailored solutions to enhance applications for both raw material suppliers and
product manufacturers.
Functionalisation is carried out through a low pressure plasma process that
treats both organic mined fine powder and other synthetically produced
nanomaterial powders producing high quality few layered graphenes and graphene
nano platelets. The process can functionalise with a range of chemical groups,
where the amount of chemicals can be tailored to the customer needs. Good
dispersion improves the properties and performance of the host material and
ensures it delivers as specified.
The Haydale plasma process does not use wet chemistry, neither does it damage
the material being processed, rather it can clean up impurities inherent in the
raw material. The technology is a low energy user and most importantly
environmentally friendly. The Haydale method is an enabling technology where
working with a raw material producer can add value to the base product and
tailor the outputs to meet the target applications of the end user.
Haydale, based in South Wales, housed in a purpose built facility for
processing and handling nanomaterials with a laboratory facility, is
facilitating the application of graphenes and other nanomaterials in fields
such as inks, sensors, energy storage, photovoltaics, composites, paints and
coatings.
www.haydale.com