Applied Graphene Materials plc, the producer of specialty graphene materials, is pleased to announce that the Group has entered into a Joint Development Agreement with Puralube Germany GmbH (shortly to be known as "Puraglobe"), a German based lubricants and oils business that has developed technologies to refine used lubricants and oils.
Puraglobe's products are sold to a global customer base for use in applications such as motor oils, hydraulic oils, automatic transmission fluids, process oils, metal working fluids and industrial oils.
Under the Joint Development Agreement, Applied Graphene Materials will develop and format dispersions of its graphene nanoplatelets for inclusion in Puraglobe's sustainable base oil products and speciality technologies.
It is anticipated that as result of the collaboration, Puraglobe's graphene loaded base oils will be used across a wide range of industrial and automotive applications, where the unique friction and wear properties of graphene will add significant performance gains as lubricants and machining fluids.
Applied Graphene Materials and Puraglobe are in discussions with several companies seeking to improve the performance of a range of machinery whilst also looking to deliver reduced environmental impact and lower CO2 output through the use of Puraglobe's sustainable products.
The Joint Development Agreement with Puraglobe is the second direct Joint Development Agreement where the Group has been permitted to name its commercial counterparty, following on from the announcement in September, of the Group's collaboration with Millers Oils.
As previously reported, the pace and momentum of commercial progress has continued to accelerate. Applied Graphene Materials is engaged with a large number of customers, many of them leaders in their market, where the exact nature of activities remains confidential due to commercial sensitivity.
This includes a recent Joint Development Agreement with a European speciality polymers and composites business with niche development activity across the aerospace, automotive and leisure industries.
The Group's collaboration partner wishes to preserve confidentiality at this stage, however the agreement is particularly focused on finding early adoption opportunities for graphene nanoplatelets where the material's multi-functionality offers clear benefits.
Typical of the properties the collaboration will look to exploit are mechanical toughening, thermal and electrical conductivity as well as enhanced fire resistance.