Haydale signs supply agreement with Korean fishing rod manufacturer

Haydale Technologies (Korea) has signed an annual supply agreement for specific functionalized graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) material with River Runs, a Korean manufacturer of high-performance fishing rods and reels.

The graphene-based material has been incorporated in a carbon fiber prepreg to produce graphene-enhanced carbon fiber fishing rods for sale in both domestic and overseas markets. River Runs has reported a significant increase in mechanical gain.

We have been working with the River Runs team for 12 months and they have developed a novel method of producing the prepreg carbon fiber with our functionalized GNPs," states Ray Gibbs, CEO of Haydale. "While the supply amounts are initially modest, the ability to capitalize on this process offers us exciting new sales opportunities specifically in the Korean market."

Haydale’s GNP material is excellent for producing masterbatch epoxy resin, which can be easily integrated into our prepreg system for manufacturing," reports Woo-Hee Kang, Director of River Runs. "By using Haydale’s specially functionalized GNP material, we have achieved significant overall gains in mechanical performance of up to 15% and we look to continue working with Haydale in the long-term.