Misc

ZEN Graphene Solutions (ZEN:  TSX-V) recently teamed up with the University of Manchester, seat of the two Nobel Prize-winning scientists who are credited with isolating graphene.  ZEN management hopes to work with Manchester on commercialization of graphene for a variety of applications, including concrete, composites, membranes, and sensors. ZEN’s Albany graphite project is located in southeastern Ontario.  In March 2019, the company completed tests on a production process to purify graphite concentrate from its mine.  The purified graphite was near 99.8% carbon per gram and will be used as a precursor material for ZEN’s graphene.   The company plans to use a chemical exfoliation process to convert...

Build up of the graphene materials industry has progressed a bit more slowly than originally expected a decade ago as scientists and engineers peered through their electron microscopes at single atoms of carbon and counted their many attributes.  At the time the potential to improve performance in end products like metal alloys and electronics seemed limitless.   Unfortunately, reality has not imitated early dreams.  Those companies that have brought graphene to the commercial market will attest to the challenges of jumping off the laboratory bench and into a factory. Even more frustrating is the sourcing of graphene to use in research, product development and...

by Jim Lane It’s Thanksgiving week in the United States but we are feasting alternatively on acronyms here in Digestville. I.E., e.g., ICYMI, BYND IPO PDQ, and FYI Perfect Day AKA Muufri JDA w/ ADM. As they said at Bletchley Park, let’s get out the Enigma machine and decode. In New York and California this week, the nutrition side of industrial biotechnology — and specifically, the “beyond the cow moovement is, ahem, mooving faster with news that Beyond Meat has filed for its IPO and Perfect Day has inked a Joint Development Agreement with Archer Daniels Midland(ADM) to scale up the production of dairy proteins using fermentation...

Oxides Grafoid, Inc.  has been toiling since 2011 to solve the challenges of scaling graphene production.  The company recently launched a new product group of oxidized graphene material that is being marketed under the brand name GNOX.  The GNOX innovation follows three other product groups of gels, solvents and dispersed graphene material.  Grafoid touts its capacity to produce graphene of high purity and consistency. Privately-held Grafoid is a spin out of Focus Graphite (FMS:  TSX.V).  Focus Graphite still owns significant interest in Grafoid so investors could consider FMS shares as a proxy for a stake in Grafoid.  For all practical purposes the two companies are operated as one entity as they share...

As a Peace Corps volunteer on islands in Micronesia it was a delightful to adopt the islanders’ use of banana leaves for everything from baking a sweet potato to serving a picnic lunch to storing leftovers.   The giant banana trees in the garden were so convenient.  Moreover, the banana leaf could not be beat for environmental friendliness.  Once used, the leaves were tossed aside to become mulch for the garden. Of course, back in the U.S.A. it is not practical to rely on banana leaves to wrap a Big Mac at MacDonald’s or ship electronics from Amazon.com. Nonetheless, there must be something better than...

Specialty retailers are also joining the packaging revolution.  REN Clean Skincare is a good example of a retailer that is making environmentally-friendly packaging part of its offering.  The company kicked off the campaign with a splashing Earth Day celebration featuring its new partner, the Surfrider Foundation.  The campaign was aimed at making REN customers aware of the need to conserve water and keep beaches clean and plastic-free. The company is selling some of its skincare products in bottles made from plastic reclaimed from the ocean.  The bottle is part of REN’s Clean to Planet initiative to become a 100% zero waste company by 2021.  The bottle...

In March 2019, Graphene 3D Lab (GGG:  TSX-V) completed a private placement of 9.4 million units of its common stock and warrants at CA$0.06 per unit to raise CA$525,000 in new capital.  The proceeds will be used for working capital and the company begins commercial sales of its graphene conductive filament.  The filaments are designed for three-dimensional printing of electronic circuitry, sensor or radio frequency shielding. The company is under new management that just took the helm in November 2018.  Earlier new sales leadership in sales had been added to accelerate market penetration.  The team is quick to tell potential customers and investors about its products, but...

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM:  LSE) has developed a process for high-volume production of graphene nanoplatelets or ‘stacks of two-dimensional graphene sheets that can be used in coatings, composites and polymers.  The attributes of nanoplatelets are not as impressive as the single layer of carbon atoms that scientists work with on their laboratory benches.  However, nanoplatelets ‘play’ better than single atoms, dispersing more easily into other materials.  Applied’s management says the promise of graphene is better achieved by being practical in transferring its characteristics to other high value materials. Applied’s graphene nanoplatelets are used in a range of products:  paints, coatings, polymers, composites, thermal pastes, and lubricants.  In...

The Kroger Company (KR:  NYSE) has been around since the late 1800s.  It has developed into a major retailer of a broad range of food products in its supermarkets that also feature specialty sections such as pet centers, electronics, apparel, toys, and pharmacies.  Kroger stock is selling at a bargain multiple of 6.6 times trailing earnings.  The 2.0% current dividend yield is icing on Kroger’s cake. Kroger is distinguished among other grocery retailers with its pledge to achieve zero waste.  The company is aiming to recycle or reuse at least 90% of its waste.  Sustainable product packaging is a central part of its zero waste plan.  For example,...

Saint Jean Carbon, Inc. (SJL:  TSX-V) is adding value to its natural graphite resources by integrating forward into the graphene market.  The company owns graphite resources in southern Quebec and eastern Ontario, Canada with historic mining track records. The company is cultivating know-how cultivated for development of battery-grade graphite.  Saint Jean can already supply low volumes of finished and semi-prepared anode or cathode materials.  The company is developing a prototype for a graphene gel salt water battery that is expected to charge faster and perform longer than conventional batteries.  In January 2019, Saint Jean management announced plans to have the battery design ready for sale by...