HydroGraph Clean Power has issued an update on its federal government and aerospace and defense activities, using it to urge US policymakers to formally designate graphene as a critical material and to argue that domestic graphene production could reduce the defense industrial base's exposure to foreign-controlled graphite supplies.
The company's argument rests on feedstock. The vast majority of graphene produced today is derived from graphite, and roughly 80% of global graphite supply is sourced from China - supply that is currently scheduled to become subject to export licensing restrictions in November 2026, unless the present temporary suspension of those regulations is extended. HydroGraph's position is that its own process sidesteps that exposure entirely. The company produces graphene from US-sourced hydrocarbon gases rather than mined graphite, which it presents as a fully domestic pathway to the material.
As Dr. Robert Yancey, HydroGraph's Vice President of Business Development - Government and Defense, put it: "China's export licensing suspension isn't a resolution, it's a reprieve. The legal authority to reimpose graphite export controls remains fully intact and can be activated with 30 days' notice. Domestic graphene addresses that vulnerability at the source, because the feedstock is hydrocarbon gas, not mined graphite, so there's no upstream exposure to China."
HydroGraph says its graphene has demonstrated improvements in strength, thermal and electrical conductivity, lubrication and protection across applications including aerospace lightweighting, electromagnetic shielding, protective coatings, thermal management, lubricants and infrastructure. The company describes its product as nano-scale fractal graphene and argues that it disperses better than the larger-flake material produced from graphite feedstocks, allowing mechanical, thermal and conductivity benefits to be realized at loadings often below 0.1%.
The company is asking for three specific near-term actions: formal designation of graphene as a critical material under the Defense Production Act; funding for qualification pilot programs to validate graphene across priority defense applications; and the establishment of a dedicated national graphene innovation and research institute.
Underpinning the request is a comparison with other jurisdictions. HydroGraph notes that the United Kingdom, the European Union, South Korea and China have each launched government-funded national graphene programs, while the United States has not established an equivalent coordinated initiative.
"The research base already exists in U.S. universities, national labs, and government research centers — this is not a scientific gap, it's a policy gap," said Kjirstin Breure, Chair, President and CEO of HydroGraph. "China, the EU, South Korea, and the UK are already treating graphene as a strategic material central to their national security planning. The United States still has a first-mover advantage in fielding domestic graphene at scale, but that advantage shrinks every month we wait."
This is a company position rather than a policy development, with no designation or government commitment announced to date. HydroGraph's graphite-free production route naturally aligns with the supply chain argument it is making, though the underlying question of graphite concentration is one that affects graphene producers broadly.
