Public Funding for First Graphene (UK) Limited

First Graphene (UK) Ltd (FGR) have developed a unique process based on cavitation, which involves the formation, growth and collapse of vapour bubbles in a liquid due to rapid changes in pressure. This occurs over a very short timescale -- typically fractions of a second. When the vapour bubbles collapse, they convert pressure into heat energy. The intense energy that is released in the cavitation process can be applied to a range can be used in multiple processing technologies, such as waste-water treatment, biodiesel synthesis, water disinfection, the preparation of nano-emulsions and nanoparticle synthesis. Our patented process uses cavitation chemistry, which converts petroleum feedstocks into high purity graphitic products and clean hydrogen. These products play an important role in low carbon energy generation. High purity graphite is a critical material required for energy storage systems, including batteries used in the electric vehicle market. Hydrogen is a clean fuel that does not produce carbon dioxide emissions when used as an energy source. First Graphene has proven the technology at the laboratory scale - we are now seeking partners in the petrochemicals industry to develop a pilot plant to prove the capability at scale. In order to inform the process development and product development, we have a need to understand, characterise and optimise the fundamental process science. A successful Stage 2 Project will allow us to develop suitable analytical techniques that will allow us to understand and characterise the extent of cavitation; this will underpin our design basis for the technology and inform the scale up parameters - this will strengthen our position and enhance our credibility when approaching potential partners. This will allow us to seek and gain further funding to design and scale up our process, derisking our approach. As we grow the technology, it is highly likely we will increase our headcount in the UK, gain world-leading expertise and also provide an onshore graphite production capability. This will support the growth of the UK's automotive industry (electric vehicles) - this is aligned with national policy.

The growing demand for the production, storage and transportation of hydrogen -- as one of the most sustainable sources of clean energy - in most transportation sectors (e.g. aerospace) has been the main driver for this project. **Production**: ASG's in-house highly-efficient plastic recycling process, using Flash Joule Heating (FJH) is capable of utilising minimal electrical energy to transform plastics or biomass into **high-quality graphene** and **hydrogen gas**. These hydrogen gases can be transformed into clean compressed hydrogen ready for use in the market through UoM's Electrochemical H2 purification and compression process. **Storage**: With the lighter all-composite (Type-V) tanks yet to demonstrate the ability to remain impermeable at cryogenic conditions and the need of various sectors (e.g., aerospace) for lightweight solutions, HyPStore aspires to develop and commercialise an **impermeable cryogenic all-composite tank** for **liquid H2 storage**, by bringing together: * **GIM**'s **novel** **all-composite tank manufacturing process** combining dry filament winding with nanomaterial inclusion (graphene nanoplatelets). Multi-layered graphene has been demonstrated to **decrease hydrogen permeability by up to 48 times**, consequently forming a protective barrier and making the tank impermeable. * **FGR** will utilise the graphitic materials produced via the FJH process to manufacture a diverse array of graphene nanoplatelets tailored for optimal performance in CPV manufacturing by GIM. * **QMUL's** developed **self-healing systems** that fully or partially **treat matrix microcracks** created during the operation of the tank due to storing H2 at cryogenic conditions. * **BUL's** expertise in **LBB design features** in a prearranged design pattern, which under reaching certain loading conditions (e.g., over-pressurisation), will **act as stress concentration** points, creating a coalescing crack/leak path for the pressure relief of the tank and avoiding the catastrophic consequences of a burst. * **UniSQ's** great experience in fire-retardant coating combining high-fire retardance, good durability to resist aging and chemical erosion, high toughness to resist external impact, and low gas permeability. **Utilisation**: This market-driven project is supported by the participation of 2 aerospace industrial partners: (i) **Slingsby,** an aerospace Tier-1 supplier seeking to expand their commercial offerings by exploiting a pioneer all-composite tank and (ii) **HASL** (direct end-user/customer) who is keen to integrate HyPStore as LH2 fuel tanks onboard their hydrogen-driven High Altitude Platform capable of delivering ubiquitous high-bandwidth low-latency connectivity.

Greater Manchester (GM) has world class research capability in developing advanced materials and has a growing materials innovation cluster within the city region. Globally there is a gap in companies able to provide sustainable materials for manufacturing supply chains, and also a market failure in industries ability to scale up and adopt sustainable materials in manufacturing applications. This presents a major economic opportunity for GM -- and there are plans to realise this through GM Combined Authority's (GMCA's) and Rochdale Development Agency's (RDA's) development of a Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials & Sustainability (CEAMS), which will be built in Atom Valley/Rochdale. Our programme, "Supply Chain Pilots for the Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials & Sustainability (p-CEAMS)", supports GMCAs ambitions in the development of CEAMS, leveraging GM's existing strength in materials research, alongside the UK's High Value Manufacturing Catapult's (HVMC's) competency in building supply chain capability. Our programme: 1) Addresses current supply chain gaps in provision of sustainable advanced materials by: \*Connecting regional businesses to National supply chain needs in advanced materials including polymers, composites, biomaterials, technical textiles, coatings, and digital manufacturing of materials (Materials 4.0) \*Supporting regional businesses to develop solutions to these needs \*Demonstrating scale up AND application of new advanced materials and digital technologies in industrial processes, through collaborative pilot projects 2) Supports the development of CEAMS and ensures this becomes a long-term capability for GM by transferring activity and follow-on work into the CEAMS -- creating starter pipelines for this investment 3) Uses the activity to catalyse strategic links to inward investment, accelerating advanced materials business clustering in GM through collaborative creation of new material supply chain enterprises, and through the attraction of existing advanced material supply chain companies to GM. Our consortium, comprised of Rochdale Development Agency (RDA), University of Manchester (UoM) Institutes (Royce, GEIC, SMI Hub), National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Science and Technologies Facilities Council (UKRI-STFC), and the UK's High Value Manufacturing Catapult, will exploit existing infrastructure within GM and nationally to catalyse cross-sector and cross-supply chain collaborations, developing viable business models to ensure quality and sustainability of AdM systems that deliver innovations, revenue and productivity/GVA benefits for GM businesses and the region .

This project considers the production of low-cost electrocatalysts that are required for the water-splitting reaction to produce "green hydrogen" when a renewable source of electricity is used. Current state-of-the-art uses expensive rare-metals, which will limit production and could be a hurdle to the widespread production of low cost green hydrogen. Our approach is innovative because it is based on technology licenced from the University of Manchester, which advantageously has an excellent fit with our current production technology. Therefore, we are well placed to scale up the production, using a combination of First Graphene Ltd's know-how and our licenced technology. Another innovative aspect is that the technology combines the "best" properties of low-cost transition metals (eg multiple oxidation states) with the high conductivity of our graphene platelets, making this a truly synergistic approach for a rapidly growing industry that is required to meet both UK and Global Net Zero Targets. For this project, we will specifically look at the formulation of electrocatalyst coatings, so that they can be applied to electrodes for testing. We have defined performance targets that we need to hit and we will work towards benchmarking our products and then assessing how close we are to the targets. A successful outcome will incentivise First Graphene Ltd to install processing facilities in the Tees Valley Net Zero Cluster. The infrastructure that is available or being developed strongly lends itself to our process. Therefore, in all aspects, this is a strong project, with good alignment with UK policy, a potential for scale up and the capability for the company to seek an entry point into a high value market using exclusive technology and based on very sound scientific principles

First Graphene (UK) Ltd. is a UK-based company and Tier 1 partner at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre in Manchester. From this location, the company commercialises graphene products across Europe, Africa, and the Americas. We are a specialised team of scientists working on developing graphene products for the emerging graphene economy. The UK company leads corporate marketing and R&D activities which includes product and process innovations, product characterisation methodology, product registration and customer engagement. We are the world's leading supplier of graphene materials at tonnage volumes, providing industry-leading quality graphene nanoplatelets through a proprietary method, at 100 tonnes per year scale. We have stringent quality assurance methods that guarantees the performance of PureGRAPH products. The company is REACH registered for 10 tonnes of PureGRAPH product per year within the UK, EU, and is currently seeking EPA registration in the USA. We have an excellent understanding of our product quality and repeatability, and we know that there is some functionality upon our graphene products. This functionality is in the form of oxygen moieties, however, methods to date have failed to show the precise nature of the functionality, the precise quantity of this functionality, and the precise location of this functionality. We therefore require measurement expertise under the A4i program to solve this problem.

**Why Graphene in Cement?** Graphene technology is a key stepping stone in de-carbonising the cement industry. Strength improvements, water resistance, and chemical resistance can be imparted on concrete by using a graphene additive. To achieve these benefits; graphene must be added and adequately mixed during the concrete batching process. These improvements can result in the use of lower clinker factor cements or reduction of cement usage in designed concrete. Reducing cement usage can reduce embodied CO2 of concrete products. **Measurement Issue** Mechanical and chemical benefits of graphene are only realised when the graphene is thoroughly dispersed. Measurement of graphene dispersion in concrete is not currently possible. This project will determine if differences in graphene dispersion can be detected in cured cement mortar samples using fast, non-destructive techniques. **Project Activity Brief** Mortar samples containing no graphene, well dispersed graphene, and poorly dispersed graphene will be provided to the National Physical Laboratory. Once there, samples will be probed using terahertz, microwave and waveguide techniques in an effort to measure dispersion differences between them. Each of these techniques will be evaluated for the ability to distinguish poorly dispersed graphene additives and well-dispersed additives. By identifying a rapid, non-destructive method to characterise this key material property, product development cycles can be shorted, and greater assurance provided to downstream users. Ultimately it offers a route to accelerate the adoption of this material, and support the drive to a Net Zero carbon economy.

The Office of National Statistics estimates that the UK's construction sector accounts for 6.1% of GDP. Cement and concrete production are significant contributors to most construction processes, thereby making it very crucial for job creation. The cement subsector uniquely cuts across the manufacturing and £18bn-GDP Mineral Products sector that directly employs 74,000 people in addition to 3.5m indirect jobs. As valuable as the impact of this sector is to national and global development, its impact on energy consumption (60-70% of cement production cost is expended on energy) and greenhouse gas emissions is immense. For instance, the emission from the UK's construction industry was 13 million metric tonnes in 2019 and has continuously increased since 1990\. Similarly, greenhouse gas emissions attributable to UK's cement manufacturing activities have steadily risen from 3.2 million metric tonnes in 2007 to 4.4 million metric tonnes in 2019\. With the current global push for more stringent legislations on energy efficiency, the profitability as well as sustainability of foundation industries, such as cement would significantly depend on how much they lower their energy consumption and carbon footprints. While several initiatives including carbon capturing technologies are currently explored within the cement industry, questions related to technical complexity and cost implications still linger. Therefore, the current project will explore the application of graphene within the construction sector and its associated supply chain (especially cement manufacturing), to improve energy efficiency, raw material optimisation and the overall performance of cement/concrete. Preliminary investigations have already depicted the ability of graphene to significantly enhance concrete strength, but such studies mainly focused on the user end (e.g., construction sites) and less on the cement manufacturing process. Owing to the minute quantity of graphene required per weight, the issues surrounding the injection and dispersion of graphene within large quantities of cement have also not been investigated. Therefore, we will aim to develop a novel "high performance Graphene Enhanced cement" (GR-CEM) product. The GR-CEM will offer the opportunity to use lower grades of cement manufacturing raw materials (e.g., under burnt/low temperature clinker, raw limestone, etc.) and therefore contributing to mitigating the carbon impacts from cement manufacturing. The project will thus take into account the development of an optimised graphene dispersion and injection system, the economic viability of GR-CEM as well as its carbon and health and safety impact.

Graphene continues to be an important material for the new technology sector in the UK, with applications emerging in the construction, mining, transport, textile and processing industries. Graphene materials bring improvements in sustainability through light-weighted composites and rubbers, enhanced durability in plastics, reduced cement use in construction, low-toxicity fire retardants and high performing batteries and supercapacitors. Graphene materials must be manufactured with specific size, shape and chemistry to create value in these applications -- requiring carefully controlled manufacturing processes. Most graphene products are manufactured from natural graphite which has been identified as a scarce commodity by the European Commission. For continuing leadership in the graphene industry the UK must have robust, low cost manufacturing routes from a range of feedstocks to deliver high performing graphene products. Two small UK companies, First Graphene UK Ltd. and Kainos Innovation Ltd. are collaborating to develop a totally new process to manufacture graphene products from low cost petroleum-based feedstocks. The process manufactures high performing graphene products with controlled size, shape and chemistry. An additional benefit of the process is that green hydrogen gas is the only by-product. The by product is accurately described as "green hydrogen" as no carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide products are generated. The project team estimates that from every tonne of petroleum feedstock, 940kg of graphene/graphitic carbon and 60 kg of green hydrogen gas is produced. The manufacturing process is proven at the bench-top scale and the companies are now seeking government support to validate the process chemistry and optimise the choice of petroleum feedstock, confirm the capture of hydrogen gas and prove the product performance in enhanced lithium ion battery cathodes. The project will provide First Graphene (UK) Ltd, a UK-based company with access to a multi-billion pound energy storage market.