Flinders Resources Limited has announced that graphene has been produced for the first time using graphite concentrate from the Company’s Woxna mine in Sweden. In the Company’s news release of September 21 2015 the Company outlined its action plan with respect to participation in Svenskt Grafen (“Swedish Graphene”) a Swedish government initiative for the production of graphene from Swedish sourced graphite. Following is an update on the Company’s graphene project.
Key points:
- Woxna concentrate has now been processed into graphene by 2D Fab AB (figure 1). The test work was completed at bench scale test levels at the 2D Fab AB facilities in Sweden. Flinders’ partner in “Swedish Graphene” is 2D Fab AB (“2D Fab”), a company spin-off from Mittuniversitetet (Mid Sweden University).
- In 2015, Svenskt Grafen (“Swedish Graphene”), a 2-year, SEK 2.4M (US$0.28M) project to investigate Woxna’s Swedish flake graphite, and its suitability to produce graphene on an industrial scale was selected as one of the new projects supported by SIO Grafen (see Flinders’ news release dated 21 September 2015).
Blair Way, President & CEO of Flinders, states, “Flinders is very pleased with the progress made to date working with our Swedish associates at 2D Fab AB. To actually see Woxna graphene is a very satisfying achievement. We have the necessary components to investigate the commercialisation of graphene, from Woxna concentrate, for high technology applications.”
Sven Forsberg, founder and managing director of 2D Fab AB, states, “The large size of natural graphite flakes in Woxna concentrate, combined with a gentle energy efficient exfoliation process, are the keys to producing customer tailored, molecular thick graphene, with superior electrical conductivity and barrier properties. Additionally, the potential competitive advantage for these graphene products is that the graphitic raw material comes from a sustainable EU source.”
Graphene was produced using 2D Fab’s proprietary low environmental footprint manufacturing technology which utilises a low energy, hydro-mechanical exfoliation process to produce high conductivity graphene (Figure 1). This process is more energy efficient and less destructive to the final graphene product, compared to other hydro-mechanical exfoliation processes, such as rotary dispersers and ultrasonic treatments.
Woxna graphene films produced using 2D Fab’s technology have demonstrated sheet resistance below 1.6 Ohms/sq, which is lower sheet resistance than obtained from graphene, produced from graphite, by other methods at 2D Fab’s facilities with the same film thickness. A key contributor to the low resistance is that the graphene produced is large and up to 40 microns in two dimensions.
Flinders and its partners, in collaboration with end users, are ensuring the graphene meets specific customer requirements. Early applications for graphene include electrodes in energy storage, barriers in plastics, conductive inks and coatings and different types of composites.
