The world needs more batteries – this clean-tech company is developing a new solution

We were trying to find a new way to make graphene, which we believed would be the next nanomaterial to change the world, using natural gas and a small amount of electricity.

In the early days, we had nothing but a shed. They were tough days. We’d go home every day, and our families would ask us: ‘Did you make graphene today?’. The pressure was immense. But we had to go through that to get to where we are now.

More than seven years of learning helped us evolve into the listed company we are today. GMG is a disruptive clean-technology company, and we succeeded with our goal: a new, better way to make graphene and a product portfolio of energy savings and energy storage solutions.

But what we learned through that process is part of our DNA. We try to understand things with a line of inquiry that maybe what science and engineering have taught us isn't correct. We keep going based on what the data and outcomes tell us.

Our graphene coating, THERMAL-XR®, increases the heat transfer of equipment and can be applied to air conditioners or solar cells to improve energy efficiency, reduce running costs and emissions. In simple terms: it moves the heat faster without the need for energy input. You're not supposed to be able to coat metal and make it cooler. That's like putting on a sweater and being colder. But our graphene technology does.

We’re also developing our graphene aluminium-ion battery technology. Our testing has shown a range of benefits – our battery is fast to charge and discharge, and it has a high energy density, which means it is comparable to lithium batteries. There’s very little risk of fire so it’s safe and it is likely that it won't require cooling, and it has a long life – it will last many thousands of cycles. This means, it’s well suited as a diesel engine replacement in mining fleets or for storing electricity for renewables, as just two examples. And since it's largely made of aluminium and graphene it’s very easy to recycle. And our way of making the graphene creates hydrogen as a byproduct. From a sustainability point of view, the technology can help reduce emissions while also having a potential negative carbon footprint.

We’ve proven the science works, and now we’re working with partners such as Rio Tinto and The University of Queensland to scale up. There’s still a lot of work ahead. We’re aiming to build a proof of concept so that companies will then be able to talk to their equipment suppliers about using this technology.

The end goal is to have a positive impact: the world needs more batteries, and a lot of technologies need to be in the race because many different applications need different batteries– Unfortunately, batteries are not as versatile as petrol and diesel. and we believe GMG has a technology that could deliver the next generation battery with the versatility the world desperately needs.

When I was growing up, my family and I would talk about the environmental problems facing the world, but I never felt worried. I’ve always believed there’s no problem that humankind can’t solve. I still think that's true today – it just takes time and patience. You have to keep going until it's done.

If you’re lucky, in your life you get to work on one thing that's special. This is it for me.”