In a recent InvestorIntel interview, Tracy Weslosky speaks with Dr. Francis Dube, Executive Chairman of ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) about ZEN’s recent milestones including the successful inhalation safety testing of the ZENGuard^TM  enhanced surgical masks and the development of a new fuel additive.

In this InvestorIntel interview, which may also be viewed on YouTube (click here to subscribe to the InvestorIntel Channel), Dr. Dube starts by explaining the impact of the ZENGuard^TM  enhanced surgical masks and submission to Health Canada news release. He discusses how their market is with the medical industry and how this demand will only grow.

Equally as interesting to host Tracy was the potential to attract ESG funds with the new fuel additive announcement. Francis explains that ZEN has developed a stable diesel fuel additive, which increased the performance of diesel fuel by up to 10% in initial testing. He states that “If we can make diesel fuel 10-20% better we are going to have a significant impact on the amount of emissions…we think we can make a difference from an environmental standpoint.”

To watch the full interview, click here

About ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd.

ZEN is a next-gen nanomaterials technology company developing and commercializing technologies that help protect people and the environment. ZEN is currently focused on commercializing ZEN Guard ^TM , a patent pending graphene-based coating with 99% antimicrobial activity, including against COVID-19, and the potential to use similar graphene compounds as pharmaceutical products against infectious diseases. The company has a significant R&D pipeline with an interest in monomers, polymers, metal alloys, corrosion coatings, biosensors along with the production of graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots. Additionally, the company owns the unique Albany Graphite Project which provides the company with a potential competitive advantage in the graphene market. Labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA, and Canada have independently demonstrated that ZEN’s Albany Pure ^TM Graphite is an ideal precursor material that easily converts (exfoliates) to graphene, using a variety of mechanical, chemical, and electrochemical methods.

In a recent InvestorIntel interview, Peter Clausi speaks with Dr. Francis Dube, Executive Chairman, and Greg Fenton, CEO and Director of ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN), about ZEN Graphene’s potential graphene-based antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal compound which could be a medical breakthrough in the treatment of numerous human-contracted pathogens including COVID-19.

In this InvestorIntel interview, which may also be viewed on YouTube (click here to subscribe to the InvestorIntel Channel), Greg went on to say, “We unfortunately had to shut down most of our research and development due to COVID-19.” He continued, “Fortunate for us, we had just opened up our own research lab in Guelph. We joined together with our research partners and tested to see if there was anything we could do to help beat this virus.”

Dr. Dube told InvestorIntel that ZEN Graphene has already filed patent for a graphene-based virucidal ink to be used in masks, PPE and the HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) sector. He added that the company is now exploring graphene’s use in the fight against the current global pandemic.

On December 22, 2020, ZEN Graphene Solutions announced that it had developed a potential graphene-based antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal compound. Commenting on this news release Greg said, “The versatility of this product is way beyond anything even we could have imagined. Not only the range of pathogens that it is effective against, but how it can be deployed and utilized. It went from us simply talking about bringing our product into coating, to us talking about actually bringing it into the body.”

To watch the full interview, click here

About ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd.
ZEN is a graphene technology solutions company with a focus on the development of graphene based nanomaterial products and applications. The unique Albany Graphite Project provides the company with a potential competitive advantage in the graphene market as independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada have independently demonstrated that ZEN’s Albany PureTM Graphite is an ideal precursor material which easily converts (exfoliates) to graphene, using a variety of mechanical, chemical and electrochemical methods. ZEN is focused on commercializing a patent pending graphene-based coating with 99% viricidal activity against

To learn more about ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd., click here

ZEN Graphene Disclaimer: The Company is not making any express or implied claims that its product has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain the COVID-19 (or SARS-2 Coronavirus) at this time. The company must receive Health Canada or FDA approvals for any of the products or solutions discussed.

InvestorIntel Disclaimer: ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

In a recent interview with InvestorIntel, Tracy Weslosky speaks with Dr. Francis Dube, CEO and Director of ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) about their partnership with Royal Canadian Navy and Evercloak to test graphene oxide dehumidification membrane technology.

In an InvestorIntel interview that can also be viewed on our InvestorIntel YouTube channel, Dr. Dube said, “We can make a membrane that is based on our graphene oxide and that material now enables a new technology that filters out moisture in air before this air gets into an air conditioning unit.” He added that by removing moisture from air, the air conditioning unit uses less energy and requires less maintenance. “We can reduce air conditioning energy requirement by 75%…” Dr. Dube claimed.

Dr. Dube also provided an update on ZEN’s graphene oxide production method and the competitive environmental advantages of this technology.

To watch the full interview, click here

To learn more about ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd., click here

Disclaimer: ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

InvestorIntel’s Tracy Weslosky speaks with Dr. Francis Dube, CEO and Director of ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN), about ZEN’s novel graphene based virucidal ink. “We have come up with a coating that can be applied to masks and filter membranes to deactivate the COVID-19 virus,” Dr. Dube told InvestorIntel. “It has been proven at plus 99% efficacy through Western University’s ImPaKT facility which is a Biosafety Level 3 lab.”

In an InvestorIntel interview that can also be viewed on our InvestorIntel YouTube channel, Dr. Dube went on to say, while the current mask technologies are only meant to filter out particles, masks sprayed with ZEN’s graphene-based virucidal ink remains 99% effective in killing COVID-19 virus even after 35 days.

To watch the full interview, click here

To learn more about ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd., click here

Disclaimer: ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

ZEN is collaborating with partners to develop virucidal face masks and PPE

Back in May 2020 InvestorIntel wrote about the very exciting development of masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that not only protect the wearer, but actually kill viruses on contact. to help . Since then the development of  a “graphene virucidal ink face mask” and PPE has been progressing nicely in the fight against COVID-19.

In late July 2020 ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) (“ZEN”) reported that research teams at a number of personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers are collaborating with ZEN to incorporate ZEN’s virus-killing graphene ink into commercial products, including masks, gloves, gowns and other clothing. This follows ZEN’s promising testing results from the University of Western Ontario’s ImPaKT Facility, biosafety Level 3 lab.

ZEN has synthesized a ‘silver nanoparticles functionalized graphene oxide ink’ that has been documented by previous researchers to kill earlier versions of coronavirus. Silver is well known to be a potential virucidal agent.

Photo: iStock

In July ZEN reported in a news release that the company “continues to optimize its proprietary formulation for dosage and delivery mechanism for highest antiviral impact. The next phase of testing is currently underway at the ImPaKT Facility and includes a preferred mask fabric, from one of our collaborators, coated in ZEN’s virucidal ink exposed to and tested against the COVID-19 virus.”

Dr. Francis Dubé, CEO of ZEN, commented that “Based on results so far and our discussions with the team at Western, we are quickly moving to integrate our material into commercial products with partners who wish to increase the level of COVID-19 protection their products currently offer.”

Given the world needs at least 3.5b N95 face masks to fight COVID-19, the potential demand for ZEN’s graphene based virucidal ink face mask could be enormous. If the new virucidal mask captured just 10% market share of the 3.5 billion masks needed that would mean manufacturing and selling ~350 million masks. Or even if just made mandatory for health care workers globally, the market would be very large, as there is an estimated 59 million health care workers worldwide. Each health care worker would need a number of masks per year. The revenue opportunities could be enormous if ZEN’s graphene based virucidal ink is licensed on a per unit basis. Added to this would be the potential for use in other PPE. For a small company such as ZEN the potential revenue upside could be highly significant.

Tests are still underway to improve and prove the effectiveness of the virucidal masks, but CEO Dubé’s public comments about integrating ZEN’s material into commercial products with partners indicates a positive outcome is looking increasingly possible.

Last week ZEN announced that it will “report shortly on significant progress being made in multiple programs, one of which has resulted in the preparation of a patent filing that is central to ZEN’s business plan.” Zen also announced receiving significant funding grants: “two NSERC Alliance COVID-19 project grants, a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship grant, and two Mitacs Accelerate grants for a total of $355,000 to its university collaborators,” which increased ZEN’s total research and development budget for the next 12 months to over $1.4M.

Graphene’s potential

Graphene is a new wonder material with incredible potential to be commercialized in a huge number of products. These are as diverse as graphene coatings that can greatly improve corrosion resistance, increase strength, reduce friction and can be hydrophobic reducing ice formation (aerospace and aircraft industries). As a diesel/jet fuel additive it can improve fuel economy and reduces greenhouse emissions. It is also useful in electromagnetic shielding and electrostatic dissipation, desalinization membranes and low-energy dehumidification, heavy metal scavenging and removing industrial contamination, photovoltaics, displays & biomedical applications using graphene quantum dots, virucidal inks, as a material enhancement (clothes, tire strengthener, concrete additive), hydrogen storage and production, and advanced batteries. Samsung is developing an advanced graphene phone battery. Graphene is super lightweight and also strengthens aluminum, rubber, plastics and other materials, making its list of applications almost endless.

The graphene market is forecast to grow at a 39-45% CAGR this decade

Source: Company presentation

Closing remarks

In addition to its advanced application projects, ZEN owns a graphite mine and has commenced small scale graphene production from their facility in Canada, and has numerous other potential uses to commercialize their graphene product. At the current market cap of just C$31m the stock is not yet pricing in any chance of significant success in the virucidal mask and PPE market, or in the larger graphene market. This is good news for investors looking for underappreciated and early stage stocks. If ZEN is able to successfully commercialize its viricudal mask/PPE or other graphene products, it would be a game-changer.

In recent years we have heard that graphene can be the next super material due to its immense strength and electrical conduction properties. The next step is for large scale, low cost, graphene production to occur so as to supply the market demand. It looks like graphene’s time has now come.

A 2019 Canaccord UK research report estimated worldwide graphene sales were likely to take off over the next few years reaching US$4.8 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 45%. That is a huge forecast demand increase, effectively forecasting in the next 2 years graphene demand will double, then double again, and so on.

Graphene – Properties, Facts, and Applications

Source

One company is currently scaling up their graphene production from their new facility in Canada to meet what should be extremely strong demand this decade. That company is ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) (“ZEN”).

ZEN is an emerging graphene technology solutions company with a focus on the development of graphene-based nanomaterial products and applications. ZEN sources its graphite to make graphene from its ‘unique’ Albany Graphite Project. I say unique because independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada have independently demonstrated that ZEN’s Albany Pure^TM Graphite is an ideal precursor material which easily converts (exfoliates) to graphene using a variety of methods.

Some of the numerous applications for ZEN’s graphene include:

• Aerospace and aircraft – Graphene coatings that can greatly improve corrosion resistance, reduce friction and can be hydrophobic reducing ice formation. Graphene composites also help to increase strength and flexibility while potentially reducing overall weight.
• Fuel Additive – Graphene oxide in diesel/jet fuel improves fuel economy and reduces greenhouse emissions.
• Electromagnetic shielding and electrostatic dissipation.
• Desalinization membranes and low-energy dehumidification.
• Heavy metal scavenging –Graphene quantum dot/nanocellulose membranes are a recyclable material capable of removing industrial contamination.
• Photovoltaics, displays, biomedical applications using graphene quantum dots. Graphene based virucidal inks embedded in protective clothing to fight COVID-19 are another useful application right now.
• Material enhancement using graphene. Graphene is also useful to boost tires strength and performance as well as a concrete additive to boost performance. Graphene can also be used to strengthen clothing for military applications. Graphene also strengthens aluminum, rubber, plastics and other materials.
• Hydrogen storage and production – Graphene is an ideal catalyst for water splitting (10x more efficient than platinum catalysts) and can store hydrogen in a solid state.
• Advanced batteries –Anode energy densities are 1500mAh/g in graphene-enhanced aerogels and 840mAh/g with reduced graphene oxide. Graphene has greater conductivity and improves cold weather performance. Samsung is developing an advanced graphene phone battery.

ZEN Graphene Solutions Guelph, Ontario facility is scaling up graphene production in 2020

The Guelph graphene facility opened in March 2020 and is now scaling up graphene production to sell to the many potential buyers as discussed above.

Source

In addition to ZEN’s Guelph facility ramping up production, ZEN announced in July 2020 a new partnership with Evercloak and NGen for a ‘Graphene in Cleantech Manufacturing Project’. The announcement states:

“The project entitled “Advancing Large-Scale Graphene and Thin-Film Membrane Manufacturing” will support the scale up of graphene oxide (GO) production by ZEN to supply GO to Evercloak for their scale up and optimizing activities.”

For ZEN this is another significant endorsement and step forward along the pathway of commercializing their graphene. Evercloak is commercializing a manufacturing platform for producing continuous, large-area, monolayers of exfoliated 2D nanomaterials, including graphene, graphene oxide, molybdenum disulfide, and carbon nanotubes. These films are increasingly used for a wide range of applications such as energy storage, smart packaging, electronic devices, corrosion inhibitors, and membranes. Evercloak’s initial focus is on manufacturing graphene-based membranes for dehumidification to significantly reduce the energy use and associated greenhouse gas related with building cooling.

ZEN’s CEO Francis Dubé commented: “ZEN is pleased to support Canadian graphene-based innovations and Evercloak is a wonderful example of what can be achieved with nanomaterials and Canadian entrepreneurship. NGen supports the accelerated development of high potential technologies such as our graphene collaboration. We look forward to helping Evercloak bring breakthrough technology to everyday life.”

Closing remarks

Success in the manufacturing sector is about collaboration with your supply chain. ZEN continues to win interest in their graphene products and continues to develop a supply chain, on this latest occasion with Evercloak.

A recent C$2 million capital raise means ZEN has cash to accelerate their near term expansion activities, which will include funds for the Albany Graphite Project, further graphene research, graphene production scale up, COVID-19 initiatives, and other graphene applications development. Also the recent engagement of Hybrid Financial to help market ZEN should boost the number of eyes on the stock.

Combine the above with continuing commercial success selling graphene products and 2020 should see a successful year for ZEN. Late 2020 and 2021 should start to see revenues coming in and a lot more interest in both graphene and ZEN Graphene Solutions. Despite the stock price more than doubling since April 2020, the stock still looks reasonably priced trading on a market cap of C$57 million.

The face mask sector is hot right now. Even China can’t make enough face masks to meet their own demand. As countries begin to ease the COVID-19 (coronavirus) lockdowns literally billions of people will require face masks. Many airlines are already making face masks mandatory, and this could soon spread to other forms of mass transport.

Even better than standard face masks are new high tech face masks designed to kill the virus, using antiviral nano-particles embedded inside the protective material.

Two companies are combining their expertise to produce new high tech face masks and other protective clothing that they hope will kill the virus. They are ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) and Graphene Composites Ltd. (GC). They have teamed up to develop a COVID-19 virucidal graphene-based composite ink for face masks and other protective clothing.

An agent that kills viruses, a virucidal ink that can be embedded into all types of personal protective equipment (PPE) could have immense benefits for the world right now. Imagine owning a mask that not only blocks the virus but can kill it. The medical world will love it, as it will give them the much needed protection they deserve, as they battle on the front lines of this severe pandemic that has now infected over 3.7 million people, killing ~258,360.

The plan

ZEN has synthesized a ‘silver nanoparticles functionalized graphene oxide ink’ that has been documented by previous researchers to kill earlier versions of coronavirus. Silver is well known to be a potential virucidal agent. Testing will be conducted at Western University’s ImPaKT Facility Biosafety Level 3 lab in Ontario, Canada.

Once testing is completed (and assuming successful), the virucidal graphene ink would then be incorporated into fabrics to be included into masks and filters designed by GC.

The CEO of ZEN, Francis Dubé, stated:

“We are pleased to be collaborating with GC and be on the forefront of a new innovative technology that could contribute to combating the deadly COVID-19 virus. The development of this potential COVID-19 virucidal graphene ink is coming at a crucial time to provide effective PPE supplies for the safety of frontline workers and hospital staff.”

The CEO of GC, Sandy Chen, stated:

“Combining the deep nanomaterials expertise of GC and ZEN with a truly collaborative approach has enabled us to do a year’s worth of R&D in a matter of weeks. Quickly developing and deploying our virucidal/germicidal ink would make a significant difference in slowing the rate of infection – thus saving many lives.”

Competitors

Given the newness of the COVID-19 pandemic there is so far little competition when it comes to virucidal protective clothing using graphene. One Israeli company is reportedly using a virucidal embedded into masks that consists of zinc oxide and copper oxide nano-particles.

ZEN’s graphene has a huge range of potential uses

ZEN is already making great progress in the production of graphene with a huge range of potential uses such as: Tyre strengthener, aluminum/rubber/plastics enhancer, a cement additive/enhancer, diesel and jet fuel additive, graphene batteries, graphene based clothing and so on.

ZEN has unique graphite from which they make graphene

ZEN Graphene Solutions also have their own unique source of graphite at their Albany Graphite Project, which is highly suitable for graphene production. The unique Albany Graphite Project provides the Company with a potential competitive advantage in the graphene market as independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada have demonstrated that ZEN’s Albany PureTM Graphite is an ideal precursor material which easily converts to graphene, using a variety of mechanical, chemical and electrochemical methods.

ZEN’s new graphene research and development facility at Guelph, Ontario, Canada

ZEN has recently opened their new graphene research and small scale production facility in Canada, with a goal of scaling up graphene production to meet consumer demand. Graphene product sales were launched in early March 2020. The research and engineering team will also be developing and testing custom functionalized graphene formulations as requested by industrial collaborators for product performance enhancement.

Source

Closing remarks

ZEN is one of the most innovate companies out there, with a focus on using graphene to disrupt and improve various industries. Their latest collaboration with Graphene Composites Ltd. is most exciting, as virucidal protective clothing can be a game changer right now in the fight against COVID-19.

Furthermore ZEN already has their own high quality Albany graphite source, and has started scaling up graphene production at their facility in Ontario Canada. This makes them a vertically integrated growing graphene producer, all for a market cap of just C$32 million.

In an InvestorIntel interview during PDAC last week, Tracy Weslosky secures an interview update with Chairman, CEO and Director Dr. Francis Dube on ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN), an emerging graphene technology solutions company with a focus on the development of graphene-based nanomaterial products and applications.

Dr. Dube started, “Graphene is a new wonder material. It is 200 times stronger than steel, conducts heat 10 times more than copper. Conducts electricity 1000 times better than copper.” He continued by saying that graphene can be produced by breaking graphite in layers or by a process called Carbon Vapor Deposition (CVD). The CVD process is very costly. With the graphite deposit at the Albany project, ZEN Graphene can make graphene on an industrial scale with industrial pricing. ZEN Graphene has also launched a webstore, first in Canada, to sell its Albany PureTM graphene products. He also provided an update on the grand opening of a facility at Guelph University. The facility was opened on March 3, 2020, and will be used for graphene materials production and development.

To access the complete interview, click here

Disclaimer: ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

“We have a unique source of graphite in Ontario that is like no other on earth. It is a very large resource. We will have decades of production from it. The other side what is really exciting is, we have got 10 different universities in Canada researching in applications for our graphene. What we are able to do with graphene is exploding. We have got the complete vertical integration from the ground to the final integration product into consumer use.” States Francis Dubé, Co-CEO of ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN), in an interview with InvestorIntel Corp. CEO Tracy Weslosky during PDAC 2019.

Tracy Weslosky: We are here at PDAC and I was just mentioning you were a shareholder. You liked the company so much you stepped in as co-CEO. Is that correct? 

Francis Dubé: It is correct. Again, I have always loved the asset. Been involved for over 5 years and I just really got involved last year. Cannot wait to get this company launched again and we are doing fantastic things. PDAC is really well timed for us to do it this year.

Tracy Weslosky: Of course you have got the electric car, the battery materials with graphite, but you also have graphene.

Francis Dubé: Graphene is actually where our entire focus is on because of the applications that are coming to us. Every week right now there is a new application for graphene so the market is in front of us. It is a new revolution and we are at the right time and the right place right now. We cannot be more excited about where we are at….it is like the new plastic, the new steel. It was discovered in 2004. The guys got Noble Prizes for it for physics in 2010 and since then it has just taken off. Ford is using it now. We are starting to see a real industrial revolution based on this material. The sky is the limit with what this thing can do really.

Tracy Weslosky: Why ZEN Graphene? What is the competitive advantage?

Francis Dubé: There are two things. We have a unique source of graphite in Ontario that is like no other on earth. It is a very large resource. We will have decades of production from it. The other side what is really exciting is we have got 10 different universities in Canada researching in applications for our graphene. What we are able to do with graphene is exploding. We have got the complete vertical integration from the ground to the final integration product into consumer use. We are very excited about that. It is a great opportunity for us….to access the complete interview, click here

Disclaimer: ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.