TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 2908X
Tirupati Graphite PLC
04 May 2021
4 May 2021
Tirupati Graphite plc ('Tirupati' or the 'Company')
Development of Ground-Breaking Graphene-Aluminium Composite
Tirupati Graphite plc, the fully integrated, revenue generating,
specialist graphite producer and graphene and advanced materials
developer, is pleased to announce that Tirupati Graphene and
Mintech Research Centre ('TGMRC'), its graphene and technology
development unit, has developed a ground-breaking
graphene-aluminium composite (the 'Al-Gr Composite' or the
'Composite'), which exhibits significantly higher conductivity and
strength properties over aluminium and comparable to copper. The
Company has now engaged with potential end users including a FTSE
100 company for its potential use replacing copper in thermal,
power and propulsion systems, which provides significant advantages
owing to reduced weight.
OVERVIEW
The Al-Gr Composite successfully combines graphene with
aluminium resulting in enhanced thermal and electrical conductivity
and improved mechanical properties retaining aluminium's light
weight:
-- Micro-hardness increased >300% over aluminium, which is 50% higher than copper
-- Thermal conductivity increased to >200% over aluminium, which is better than copper values
-- Electrical conductivity increased to >150% over aluminium,
which is >95% that of copper; the Company aims to increase this
with further optimisation
-- The composite is almost free from oxidation and carbide forms
of aluminium, a critical achievement breaking the key technological
barrier in development of the Composite
Al-Gr Composite has the potential to be used across various
electrical and thermal conductivity applications with its
significant advantage of weight reduction - wires and cables in
motors for electric vehicles, aerospace, space, and satellite
technologies, among others.
-- Copper is generally the material of choice for an array of
electrical and thermal conductivity applications owing to its
superior conductivity and other properties, but it is circa 3.2
times denser (i.e. heavier) than aluminium and circa 5 times as
expensive.
Working with various leading industrial end-users to conduct the
next stage of product testing, trial development, and scale-up with
commercialisation focused engagements.
-- Leading FTSE 100 engineering company exploring the
Composite's potential use in power and propulsion systems to reduce
weight and thereby reduce the carbon footprint and emissions from
current technologies and processes.
-- Next steps include manufacturing a few kilo grams of the
Composite for extensive application and product specific tests,
both internal and external, as well as to establish large scale,
end-product manufacturing processes.
-- Further development work will be undertaken to alloy the
Composite with other metal additives to improve specific
application related properties for advanced applications in
structural materials for space, aerospace and land and sea
mobility.
Shishir Poddar, CEO of Tirupati Graphite, said, "The message is
clear across the world: a dramatic change in how we live is needed
to combat climate change. As part of this, stimulating innovation
of low-carbon technologies including the creation of better
materials is fundamental. This was highlighted in a recent Insight
from McKinsey, which said that 'New materials could deliver
order-of-magnitude improvements in emissions performance' and that
'graphene, a material consisting of a one-atom-thick layer of
carbon, can make batteries and solar cells significantly more
efficient.'
"We are deeply engaged in some of these innovations, looking to
create disruptive new age materials, as demonstrated by the
development of this ground-breaking Al-Gr Composite. We are
delighted that this achievement has caught the attention of several
major companies globally, including a world leading FTSE 100
engineering group, with whom we are now working with to further
develop our Al-Gr Composite and explore commercialisation
opportunities.
"We believe that this material has transformational potential
and could be a key contributor to emissions reduction as it
evolves. We will continue to update the market on our progress as
we achieve further milestones in our efforts towards developing and
commercialising the Composite and other advanced materials and
their applications."
DETAILS
Tirupati continues to advance its operations across its
portfolio including TGMRC in India, which is focussed on
manufacturing zero-chemical graphene, developing graphene-enhanced
advanced materials and applications, and providing environmentally
friendly technologies for the mineral processing industry.
TGMRC has developed a graphene-aluminium composite ('Al-Gr
Composite') that retains aluminium's key properties including its
light weight, whilst adding properties from graphene including
increased thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and
improved mechanical properties; the properties that generally make
copper a preferred material in electrical and thermal
conductivity-based applications. Notably, the Al-Gr Composite has
shown superior thermal conductivity and >95% of copper's
electrical conductivity to date, which the Company anticipates can
be increased with further optimisation of the material.
Aluminium and copper are the two primary metals used in thermal
and electrical applications. Aluminium as a material is light
weight, is corrosion resistant, has good formability making it easy
to shape and mould, is highly recyclable, and is largely available.
Copper is, however, often the material of choice for an array of
electrical and thermal conductivity applications, generally owing
to its superior conductivity properties over aluminium. However,
copper is circa 3.2 times heavier (higher density) than aluminium
and over circa 5 times as expensive ordinarily.
The Al-Gr Composite developed by TGMRC, with its high
conductivity properties and improved mechanical strength, has
strong potential to substitute or displace the use of copper across
various high-tech, weight sensitive, electrical and thermal
conductivity applications, including in wires and cables in motors
for electric vehicles, aerospace, space and satellite technologies,
and in heat exchangers, heat sinks and similar thermal conductivity
applications such as solar water heaters.
Importantly, the proprietary manufacturing process which has
been developed by Tirupati is commercially scalable, tested and has
already been used to manufacture batches of over two hundred grams
of the pioneering Al-Gr Composite. The table below depicts the best
achieved results obtained during the optimisation phase as measured
by TGMRC:
PROPERTIES/MATERIAL
CHARACTERISTICS ASSESSED COPPER ALUMINIUM TG AL-GR COMPOSITE
Thermal Conductivity
(W/mK) 402 205 410
----------- ---------- ---------------------
Electrical Conductivity
(106 S/m) 59.6 36.9 56.9
----------- ---------- ---------------------
Density (g/cm3) 8.96 2.7 2.79
----------- ---------- ---------------------
Micro-Hardness (VHN) 100 +/- 10 45 +/- 5 150 +/- 10
----------- ---------- ---------------------
Scalability of Process Yes Yes Yes
----------- ---------- ---------------------
Negligible Aluminium
Chemical Composition Cu Al Carbide & Oxidation
----------- ---------- ---------------------
Significant achievements and material properties of the Al-Gr
Composite are as follows:
Physical Properties
-- Micro-hardness increased >300% over aluminium, which is 50% higher than copper
-- Thermal conductivity increased to >200% over aluminium, which is better than copper values
-- Electrical conductivity increased to >150% over aluminium,
which is >95% of that of copper; the Company aims to increase
this with further optimisation of the Composite
Structural Properties
-- XRD (X-Ray Diffraction used for identification of crystalline
materials and analysis of unit cell dimension), along with
micro-Raman (which uses a laser light to enable the analysis of
very small regions) and TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy)
studies have confirmed composite formation between aluminium and
graphene.
-- The Composite was found almost free from oxidation and
carbide forms of aluminium, which is a critical achievement and is
viewed as a technological breakthrough for R&D on similar
composite materials.
-- The density of the Al-Gr Composite was found to be higher
than of pure aluminium, suggesting that the graphene particles may
have occupied intra-molecular spaces in the aluminium lattice, a
significant indicator of the bonding of the two materials in the
composite.
Interpreting the differentiating causes of these significant
improvements
-- Tirupati's Reduced Graphene Oxide ('rGO') is produced with a
zero-chemical process, hence has minimal heteroatomic contamination
leading to better compatibility and surface interaction with other
material matrices like metals, polymers etc.
-- Tirupati's rGO has a very high BET ('Brunauer-Emmett-Teller')
surface area, which may have led to better dispersion and
impregnation in intramolecular spaces.
-- Homogenous composite is formed, with Tirupati's rGO uniformly
distributed throughout the volume of the composite, a depiction of
the perfection of process developed.
Metal Matrix Composites ('MMC') with graphene have extensive
prospects for and a wide range of possible technological
applications based on their physical, electrical, mechanical, and
thermal properties. Factors such as weight percentage, volume
fraction, size, shape, and orientation can have a significant
impact on the nature of the final composite material and its
usefulness/effectiveness in various application arenas. The
successful development of the Al-Gr Composite opens the doors for
the Company to work on other forms of advanced and MMC materials as
well.
The Next Steps
The Company is working with various leading industrial end users
to conduct the next stage of product testing, trial development,
scale up and commercialisation focused engagements. These include a
leading FTSE 100 engineering company, which is exploring the
Composite's potential use in power and propulsion systems to reduce
weight and thereby reduce the carbon footprint and emissions. As it
looks to enlarge its sphere of engagement across segments of
possible applications, the Company is also advancing engagements
with other end-users.
Accordingly, the Company will be manufacturing a few kilo grams
of the Composite for extensive application and product specific
tests as well as detailed studies to establish large scale,
end-product manufacturing processes such as for moulding,
extrusion, wire drawing and polymer coating for wires and
cables.
Additionally, further optimisation work will be undertaken as
well as work to alloy the Composite with other metal additives to
improve specific application related properties for advanced
applications in structural materials for space, aerospace and land
and sea mobility.
Earlier in the year (see RNS dated 20 January 2021), the Company
announced that it had further optimised the material properties of
its zero-chemical graphene products to consistently achieve a
specific surface area of 1100 - 1200 m(2) /g from 400 - 500 m(2)
/g, demonstrating new standards of quality for its graphene.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014. Upon the publication of
this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be
in the public domain.
** ENDS **
For further information, please visit
https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/ or contact:
Tirupati Graphite Plc admin@tirupatigraphite.co.uk
Puruvi Poddar
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker) info@optivasecurities.com
Daniel Ingram
-----------------------------
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR) info@stbridespartners.co.uk
Isabel de Salis / Cosima Akerman
-----------------------------
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; 3,000 tpa of high-quality flake graphite
concentrate with up to 96% purity is currently being produced and
sold to customers globally, additional 9,000 tpa capacity expected
to be commissioned in Q2 2021, and this 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, which was commissioned in July 2019 to manufacture and
sell CARBOFLAMEX(R), a trademarked fire-retardant expandable
graphite product. 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 has also established and continues to develop the Tirupati
Graphene and Mintech Research Centre, 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.
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END
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