Ionic Industries

First Graphene has completed its previously announced acquisitions of US-based MITO Material Solutions and Australian materials businesses Ionic Industries and Imagine Intelligent Materials, and has separately expanded its longstanding distribution partnership with Bisley across Australia and New Zealand.

With the MITO acquisition now complete, First Graphene has received its first purchase orders from Parlor Skis and Le Croix fishing rods, customers previously supplied under the MITO brand. Former MITO chief executive Haley Marie Keith has joined First Graphene as vice president of business development, leading efforts to build product awareness and pursue commercial opportunities across the United States. The company has also submitted an application to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to supply graphene products for defense-related aerospace composite projects, and points to Keith's appointment as a foothold in the US defense industry, which it values at more than US$1.18 trillion. Having established its own US commercial channels through the MITO acquisition, First Graphene has discontinued its previous distribution arrangement with NeoGraf.

First Graphene (FGR) has announced it has entered a binding Asset Purchase Agreement to acquire all manufacturing, intellectual property and development assets of Ionic Industries and its subsidiary Imagine Intelligent Materials. FGR views this acquisition as a strategic and cost-efficient opportunity to integrate advanced graphene coatings technologies developed over more than a decade of research and commercialization activity.

Following a comprehensive due diligence process, First Graphene identified strong technical and commercial alignment with the Companies' graphene formulation platforms, which have already demonstrated successful application across multiple real-world use cases. Under the Agreement, First Graphene will acquire production infrastructure, intellectual property, and established sales and distribution channels for a total consideration of AU$250,000 (around US$180,000) in cash and shares.

Monash University researchers have developed a new form of multiscale graphene that overcomes long-standing limitations in supercapacitor technology. While supercapacitors offer rapid power delivery, their use has been restricted by low volumetric energy density and inefficient ion transport in conventional carbon materials. The Monash team addressed this by applying a rapid thermal annealing step to graphite oxide, producing highly curved, turbostratic graphene crystallites interwoven with disordered domains. This architecture creates efficient ion pathways and enables partial charge transfer within the graphene interlayers, significantly boosting accessible surface area.

The differences between lamellar, disordered and multiscale graphene with morphological characterization of M-rGO. Image from: Nature Communications

The resulting material, termed multiscale reduced graphene oxide (M-rGO), delivers a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller capacitance of 85 μF/cm² and enables supercapacitor electrodes with both high energy and power densities. When assembled into symmetric pouch-cell devices, M-rGO supercapacitors achieved stack-level volumetric energy densities of up to 99.5 Wh/L in ionic liquid electrolytes and demonstrated rapid charge-discharge performance with power densities as high as 69.2 kW/L, along with excellent long-term stability.

Ionic Industries has announced that it has taken the first steps in the development of a comprehensive collaboration arrangement with Tata Steel, one of the world’s largest steel manufacturers and the largest in India. 

The first step in this process has been the signing of an MOU with Monash University for the creation of a Centre for Innovation on Environment and Intelligent Manufacturing. Tata has formed similar partnerships with only two other universities: Imperial College and The Henry Royce Institute (Manchester University).

Cap-XX will receive a A$1m (around USD$666,700) R&D development grant from the Australian Taxation Office. 

The supercapacitors developer has signed a joint venture agreement with Ionic Industries for the exclusive commercialization of the latter’s graphene oxide technology. This will help to increase electrode density in supercapacitors. 

Ionic Industries has announced the signing of an agreement for the sale of its first product developed from the Company's portfolio of graphene technologies. Ionic Industries referred to the patented conductive coatings applied to geotextiles as 'one of the world’s first large-scale applications of graphene technologies'. 

The supply agreement with GeoFabrics Australasia is for the supply of conductive, coated geotextile for sale by GeoFabrics as their Bidim-C product. The Bidim-C product is used to detect holes and potential leaks in newly constructed dams and water tank projects.  The agreement is for the supply of Bidim-C over the next 12 months and will generate up to AUD$1,000,000 (over USD$664,000) in revenue for Ionic.

CAP-XX, Australia-based manufacturer of thin-form supercapacitors and energy management systems, recently formed a joint venture for what it calls a "transformational new graphene material".

The deal is with Australia's Ionic Industries, which is developing new forms of graphene for a variety of markets, and involves the commercialization of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for supercapacitors and other energy storage devices.

Ionic Industries has announced the conclusion of a takeover of Imagine Intelligent Materials, including plant and equipment, IP and commercial relationships.

With this acquisition, Ionic intends to become a major Australian graphene player, with a portfolio of advanced nano-technologies covering energy storage and sensing applications. Ionic has paid approximately AUD$600k (around USD$434,000) cash and 30 million Ionic shares.

In 2018, Sunrise Energy Metals (SRL) and Ionic Industries partnered up and established a JV called NematiQ to develop graphene oxide (GO) membranes for water treatment applications. SRL initially had a 75% stake in the joint venture, before increasing its interest to 83.2% in 2020. Now, SRL announced its plan to take full ownership of NematiQ.

NematiQ has developed a process for manufacturing GO, which can be applied to a membrane support to create a graphene oxide-based nanofiltration membrane (GO-Membrane). The GO-Membrane manufacturing process has reportedly already been demonstrated on commercial-scale industrial equipment.

Ionic Industries has announced a successful fund raising of over AUD$2 million (around USD$1.55 million) through a capital raising with Melbourne Capital Limited.

The funds will be used for a range of functions in support of Ionic's ongoing supercapacitor technology development and scaled-up manufacturing, including: intermediate scale up equipment, ongoing research, commercial negotiations, and more.