TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 8766N
Tirupati Graphite PLC
04 October 2021
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 which is
part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018. Upon the publication of this announcement this information is
considered to be in the public domain.
4 October 2021
Tirupati Graphite plc ('Tirupati' or the 'Company')
Graphene Research Collaboration with Monash University,
Australia
Tirupati Graphite plc, the fully integrated, revenue generating,
specialist graphite producer and graphene and advanced materials
developer, has entered into a research collaboration agreement with
the Department of Material Sciences and Engineering at Monash
University, Victoria, Australia ('Monash') to develop commercial
applications for a range of graphene products in raw and recycled
polymer nanocomposites and dispersions.
Overview
-- Research focussed on enhancing thermal, electrical, and
mechanical properties of various polymers and preparation of
dispersions for developing a range of commercial products:
o Graphene Dispersions: To achieve stable dispersion of Graphene
Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide ('GO' and 'rGO') in liquids for
use in a suite of applications like concrete, acoustics and
composites;
o Conductive / High Strength Polymers: Optimising use of GO and
rGO in polymers to enhance strength, thermal, electrical and other
mechanical properties to manufacture new age plastics with
potential use in acoustics, aerospace, defence, automotive, charge
insulation and other applications;
o Graphene - Plastic Railway Sleepers: Development of a
graphene-polymer composite using recycled plastic and GO for
potential use in railway sleepers with Monash Institute of Railway
Technology joining this activity;
o Smart Skin & Performance Coatings: Development of a smart
skin (protecting and self-healing coating) and performance coatings
using GO and rGO for use as anti-corrosive coatings on structural
steel, marine, defence applications and more; and
o Recyclability: Assessment of recyclability cycles of these
graphene-polymer composites for ability to utilise recycled
polymers.
-- The research will further the previous findings from research
conducted by Tirupati adviser, Dr. Matthieu Gresil, using rGO,
which established substantial improvements in target polymer
properties using rGO with formation of stable homogeneous
composite
-- The collaboration complements Tirupati's internal research in
advanced materials and composites utilising Monash's extensive
capabilities on polymer and plastic nanocomposites with targeted
product development for applications in defence, transportation,
and construction industries.
-- The Company shall own all the intellectual property outcome
from the collaboration with Monash retaining liberty for use in
academic publication and further research purposes.
Shishir Poddar, CEO of Tirupati Graphite, said, "The evolution
of new age materials to improve energy efficiency, reduce energy
and materials consumption and increase the lifespan of conventional
materials, is an important constituent for reducing emissions and
mitigating climate risk. Accordingly, we are delighted to be
working with Monash, which will enable us to add polymer
nanocomposites to our new age materials portfolio, that we
anticipate will have an extensive range of potential applications.
With the creation of manufacturing capabilities for graphene
products at a significant kilogram per day scale, we are pressing
ahead with our agenda of its applications development and preparing
to scale up graphene products manufacturing to industrial
scale.
"The success of this research collaboration will further extend
our product offering, which includes the entire gambit of primary
flake and speciality graphite, graphene and advanced materials, and
boost/diversify our revenue streams."
Further Details
The Company has signed a 12-month research collaboration
agreement with Monash to develop industrial products of graphene in
polymers by enhancing thermal, electrical, and mechanical
properties of thermoplastics, and thermosets for dispersions,
performance coatings and smart skin applications using GO and rGO.
Notably, the GO and rGO will be manufactured by the Company at its
Graphene and Mintech Research Centre, which is focused on graphene
manufacturing and applications development, advanced materials
development and mineral processing technology development.
The research collaboration will target certain applications, for
example graphene enhanced recycled plastic railway sleepers to
improve their mechanical properties using recycled plastics; this
particular application is in collaboration with the Monash
Institute of Railway Technology. In addition, the research will
target the development of smart coatings (i.e., protect, monitor,
and heal) using vitrimers and other polymers for graphene enhanced
corrosion protection, which has applications for marine and
structural steel, defence and many others.
Graphene dispersions can be used as the raw input in multiple
polymers and paints manufacturing, fast-tracking adoption of the
Company's graphene products in industrial polymer composites and
paints for an array of applications across industries including
acoustics, defence, transportation, aerospace, automotive and more.
Furthermore, development of smart skins and coatings will help
address markets where corrosion is a challenge by improving the
longevity of materials such as structural steel.
Monash has extensive expertise and high-end facilities for
fabrication and characterisation of nanocomposites,
characterisation and quantification of corrosion, manufacturing and
characterisation of vitrimers, polymers, structural health
monitoring techniques, materials testing and characterisation
facilities amongst others providing the capability to research and
develop the target products from this collaboration.
Data from the tests carried out by Monash will be correlated
with the electro-thermo-mechanical improvement of the
nanocomposites to further optimise the manufacturing process of GO
and rGO from the Company.
Under the terms of the research collaboration agreement, the
Company will provide its zero-chemical GO and rGO, along with
related technical support to the Monash research team, which shall
undertake the following activities amongst others:
o Full thermal and mechanical characterisation;
o Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to measure Tg (heat
capacity at glass transition) and heat capacitance;
o Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to determine the degradation
temperature of the selected resins in order to avoid degradation
during the manufacturing process;
o Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) to study their viscoelastic
behaviours;
o Measurement of the electrical conductivity; and
o Standard tensile tests up to rupture.
S
For further information, please visit
https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/ or contact:
Tirupati Graphite Plc +44 (0) 20 3984 9894
Puruvi Poddar admin@tirupatigraphite.co.uk
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker)
Daniel Ingram +44 (0) 20 3137 1902
------------------------------
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR) info@stbridespartners.co.uk
Isabel de Salis
------------------------------
Notes
Tirupati Graphite Plc is a revenue-generating, multi-asset,
multi-jurisdictional, fully integrated producer and developer of
high-grade natural flake graphite, speciality graphite and graphene
and graphene enhanced advanced materials. With a unique set of
properties, graphite has diverse applications with multiple growth
streams and graphene forms the new generation of 2D and advanced
materials. The Company places a special emphasis on "green"
applications, including renewable energy and energy efficiency,
energy storage, thermal management, and advanced materials
development, and is committed to ensuring its operations are
sustainable as well.
The Company's operations include primary mining and processing
in Madagascar, where the Company operates two key projects,
Sahamamy and Vatomina; 12,000 tpa of high-quality flake graphite
concentrate with up to 96% purity is the current capacity of these
projects and flake graphite being produced is sold to customers
globally. The projects are under staged development and total
capacity is planned to increase to 84,000 tpa by 2024 as per the
Company's modular medium-term development plan.
In India, through Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited
('TSG'), with whom the Company has a binding acquisition agreement
subject to regulatory approvals, Tirupati is developing a suite of
speciality graphite for use in hi-tech applications like
lithium-ion batteries, fire retardants, thermal management, and
composites. Its current operations include the 1,200 tpa Patalganga
Project, focused on manufacturing the Company's trademarked
expandable graphite products CARBOFLAMEX(R) and GrafEN 45545(TM) .
TSG is further developing 30,000 tpa specialty graphite project in
two equal size modules and has developed unique green processing
technologies for manufacturing these advanced materials.
TSG is also developing the Tirupati Graphene and Mintech
Research Centre ('TGMRC'), a state-of-the-art R&D centre
focussed on manufacturing graphene, developing its applications and
advanced materials using graphene, and further providing
environmentally friendly technologies consultancy for mineral
processing. Commercial operations commenced in July 2021 having
completed Stage 1 of the centre's development plan.
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