Deal a test of strength
Sun Metals zinc refinery in Townsville is collaborating with a Brisbane-based group to help commercialise an advanced nanotechnology material that is the strongest fibre ever made.
Boron Nitride Nano Sheets or white graphene is derived from Boron Nitride Nanotubes discovered by Nobel prizewinning scientist Dr Richard Smalley, who called it “the strongest fibre that you can make out of anything, ever”.
It is 100 times stronger than steel, 300 times more bulletproof than Kevlar, heat resistant up to 3000 degrees and harder than diamonds.
PPK Group subsidiary White Graphene Ltd has entered into a collaboration agreement with Sun Metals to test the material on its sulphuric acid pumps
The refinery, as part of its processing, produces about 450,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid a year, which it sells to domestic and international customers.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, PPK said the production and handling of the sulphuric acid created substantial challenges, with pumps and other equipment subject to rapid degradation, often having to be replaced within months of installation.
It said Sun Metals and White Graphene had entered into a research-anddevelopment collaboration agreement to explore the creation of new composite protective coatings using Boron Nitride Nano Sheets.
These coatings are being developed to protect the interior surfaces of sulphuric acid pumps and other equipment to enhance their lifespan in extremely adverse operating conditions.
Under the agreement, White Graphene will retain ownership of all intellectual property rights developed during the project.
The project will include a full-scale, in-situ testing stage on sulphuric acid pumps installed in the production facility at the Sun Metals refinery in Townsville.
White Graphene is one of several joint ventures between PPK and Deakin University as PPK scales its strategy of incubating and commercialising promising Australian technology.
The aim is to spin off each of these joint ventures through Initial Public Offerings.
The first of these spin-offs, LI-S Energy, had a spectacular debut on the ASX last week, more than tripling on debut and exceeding a $1.5bn market capitalisation on the first day.,