For investors who have not had a chance to read that article, what is the Graphene Revolution? And why is HydroGraph positioned to lead the parade as graphene commercialization accelerates?
The Graphene Revolution
In 2010, physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselev were awarded a Nobel Prize for their discovery/invention of “graphene”.
Graphene does not exist naturally. This is an artificially created substance that is the world’s first two-dimensional material. Graphene can be produced in thicknesses of as little as a single atom.
The chemical/metallurgical properties of graphene are no less-astounding than its composition. Including:
- 200 times stronger than steel
- 10X more conductive than copper and with 1,000X the current capacity of copper
- Much lighter than aluminum (a single-layer sheet of graphene large enough to cover a football field would weigh less than a gram)
The building blocks of the Industrial Revolution have been three key materials. Steel gave us great strength and durability. Copper allowed the efficient electrification of our economies.
Aluminum provided much of the strength of steel, but with greatly reduced mass. The aviation and automobile industries are just two of the many major industries revolutionized by aluminum.
Graphene doesn’t merely combine the properties of all three of these “revolutionary” materials. It surpasses them – by orders of magnitude.
Graphene can revolutionize many of today’s existing industries and spawn new ones. The Graphene Revolution.
The HydroGraph Advantage
Graphene derives its name from graphite, the natural element most-similar to graphene in its molecular structure. Indeed, much of the (lower-grade) “graphene” sold commercially today is little more than chemically enhanced graphite.
Most of the graphene produced in the world today is manufactured as a derivative of graphite. These processes are slow, expensive and (in environmental terms) relatively ‘dirty’.
Perhaps the most-limiting factor for this conventional graphene production is the supply of the high-grade graphite required.
Ceylon Graphene Technologies is currently a leading commercial graphene producer and (along with HydroGraph) one of only five Verified Producers1 of graphene. It bills its home (Sri Lanka) as “the only country to mine ultra-pure highly crystalline vein graphite”.
Only a few other commercial sources of similarly high-grade graphite are currently known today.
Can the global economy be “revolutionized” by a material with such a limited supply of its key input? Doubtful.
HydroGraph Clean Power’s proprietary process for producing graphene turns the graphene production ‘equation’ upside-down.
Its fast. Its cost-effective. Its environmentally friendly. It produces industry-leading graphene: 99.8% pure and the “blackest” graphene on the market.
Of equal importance, the inputs required in HydroGraph’s graphene production are both economical and abundant.
The purest graphene, produced cleanly and efficiently, at whatever commercial scale is required, using only abundant inputs.
That’s quite an advantage. How’s it done?
Hyperion Detonation technology
Dynamic Wealth Research previously described HydroGraph’s proprietary graphene production process as “like spinning straw into gold”.
Hyperbole? You be the judge.
The universe was created from “a Big Bang”. HydroGraph manufactures its ultra-pure graphene with a (proprietary) Little Bang. The Company calls this technological process Hyperion Detonation.
Two abundant industrial gases are injected into the production cell chamber: oxygen and acetylene. These gases are (literally) “detonated”, and the end product is HydroGraph’s ultra-pure graphene.
Fast and efficient.
Two ordinary industrial gases are instantaneously transformed into the Wonder Material of the 21st century. Like spinning straw into gold – but faster.
When Dynamic Wealth Research spoke with HydroGraph CEO Stuart Jara, he informed us that the Hyperion Detonation technology is an order of magnitude faster than any other commercial process for producing graphene that is currently on the market.
HydroGraph is already using Hyperion Detonation technology to commercially produce graphene at its Manhattan, Kansas production facility. However, the Company is preparing to take its commercialization of graphene to an entirely new level.
A next-generation, 3x3 meter (12x12 ft) footprint HydroGraph graphene production “cell” called the Hyperion System can produce 10+ tonnes of ultra-pure graphene per year.
These cells are modular (i.e. can be installed on-site for end users) and can be operated in conjunction, with as many cells as are required to achieve the desired commercial scale of graphene production.
That’s 10+ tonnes of 99.8%-pure graphene per year, times whatever number of cells are operated by HydroGraph for the industrial client.
With low cap-ex and only weeks required to fabricate each cell, HydroGraph Clean Power is “poised to power the Graphene Revolution”.
Good as gold
Good as gold. This metaphor of excellence is well-earned.
Not only is gold precious (and valuable) in and of itself as both jewelry and real money. Gold is also very useful in industry.
Its unique chemical/metallurgical properties mean that (despite its intrinsic value) gold is used in applications that include electronics, space exploration, dentistry, glassmaking, gliding, food/beverage, cosmetics/beauty, printing, and (general) manufacturing.
Graphene, the Wonder Material of the 21st century, is “good as gold”.
In roughly a decade since its discovery, a long-and-growing list of exciting applications for graphene have already been identified.
From quantum computing to bullet-resistant armor, graphene enhancement can transform both products and technologies.
Equally significant are applications for graphene that revolutionize critical secondary inputs in the manufacturing and operation of industrial and consumer products.
Graphene-enhanced lubricants, coatings and resins can incorporate the superior properties of graphene: super-lubricants, super-coatings, and super-resins.
As the Graphene Revolution unfolds and graphene transforms the global economy, will we have a new metaphor of excellence a few decades down the road?
Good as graphene.
Delayed gratification
At the beginning of 2022, the management team for HydroGraph was expecting the initial roll-out of these Hyperion Detonation cells by Q4 of last year.
However, the sourcing of a couple of the necessary components for the Hyperion System had been delayed due to supply chain issues. Those components have now arrived and final system optimization is underway.
Management is now expecting the first of these revolutionary, full scale graphene-producing systems to be ready prior to the end of Q1 of 2023. Fortunately, there is already enough production capacity from an existing production process to meet current customer demand.
Other than timing, nothing has changed regarding this second stage of commercialization for HydroGraph. Unfortunately (for shareholders) that also includes the share price.
Exacerbated by current market conditions, HydroGraph has traded sideways over the past 6 months, although trading volume has picked up in recent weeks and (for U.S. investors) HydroGraph just began its official trading on the OTC (HGCPF).
What is delayed gratification for shareholders is opportunity for new investors: the chance to enter HydroGraph on the ground floor.
Until now, the main stumbling block for graphene commercialization has been the graphene itself: the lack of high-purity graphene, available at commercial scale and at cost-effective pricing. The introduction of these Hyperion Detonation cells will not only launch HydroGraph as a company, it will be a major catalyst for the entire graphene industry.
Lucrative graphene markets beckon
Producers of lower-grade graphene are quite limited in the graphene markets that they can pursue. Generally, they are restricted to lower-end applications, such as infusing graphene into concrete to produce superior building materials.
As the high-end commercial producer of graphene today (99.8% purity), HydroGraph has its choice of markets to target. And with so many graphene-related opportunities emerging, even with industry-leading technology and a deep management team, HydroGraph can’t pursue all of them (yet).
HydroGraph is initially focusing on being a graphene supplier for the producers of lubricants, coatings and resins. CEO Jara explained this marketing strategy to investors.
”The lubricants, coatings and resin markets are large markets that have worked with graphene and understand the value proposition for them and their customers.”
High-margin applications for HydroGraph’s industry-leading graphene, but requiring less engineering/adaptation in order to incorporate the advantages of graphene. Even more recently, HydroGraph has a near-term new industrial target: graphene-enhanced anodes for the traditional battery industry.
It’s an excellent example of the Power of Graphene.
What difference can it make enhancing merely the anode of these batteries with graphene? A 47% increase in charging speed.
Stuart Jara offered additional insights on what has attracted HydroGraph to this market.
"Even with most market attention focused on Li-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries usage is going to continue to grow in the foreseeable as evidenced by most new electric and hybrid vehicles still needing a lead-acid battery. Our involvement in lead-acid battery market is complementary to long-term opportunity for our graphene in Li-ion batteries."
A golden opportunity
Markets have crashed and market conditions remain precarious. The current economic outlook is (to be charitable) extremely uncertain.
As investors look around nervously, in which companies are they still willing to invest?
Gold looks good, but with inflated cap-ex requirements it can cost a company a billion dollars to put a gold mine into production.
How about investing in a Company that can spin straw into gold and will be a future leader of the Industry of Tomorrow?
Each 10+ tonne per year Hyperion System costs only a tiny fraction of what it costs to commission a gold mine. Yet each one of these cells is like “the goose that lays the golden eggs”.
Like gold itself, golden opportunities are “precious” – they don’t come around every day.
Graphene will revolutionize the global economy and this Revolution is already beginning. Producers of industrial/consumer goods who fail to incorporate the advantages of graphene may soon find themselves obsolete.
HydroGraph Clean Power, with industry-leading graphene and amazing graphene technology that can spin straw into gold, is in the best position to lead the Graphene Revolution.
1 As certified by The Graphene Council.
HydroGraph.com
HydroGraph corporate presentation
FULL DISCLOSURE: Hydrograph Clean Power is a paid client of Dynamic Wealth Research. The writer holds shares in HydroGraph Clean Power.
