Sparc Technologies has announced positive results from further testing on commercially available water-based epoxy coatings. These results follow on from initial proof of concept testing based on accelerated electrochemical methods announced in December 2024.
The current results reportedly show significant anticorrosion benefits from the successful incorporation of low dosages of select graphene grades in two commercial products from a 'leading supplier'. Neutral salt spray testing over 480 hours, 960 hours and 1,680 hours in Sparc’s laboratories has confirmed the performance improvements to international standards.
Water-based coatings are gaining prominence for their low environmental impact compared to more widely used solvent-based coatings which contain fossil fuel derived organic solvents. These results confirm Sparc’s graphene additives significantly improve the anticorrosion performance of water-based coatings. This extends Sparc’s reach into a new and rapidly growing area of the coatings market where there are clear performance challenges to address. It also complements Sparc’s flagship ecosparc® product range which is targeted for solvent-based coatings and is undergoing field testing.
Sparc Managing Director, Mr. Nick O’Loughlin commented: “I am pleased with the very strong follow-on results from our initial testing in water-based coatings. The recent salt spray results demonstrate up to 60% anticorrosion performance improvement using Sparc’s graphene based additives within multiple commercial products which has the potential to unlock significant growth in this developing area of the protective coatings market. These results have been achieved leveraging Sparc’s proprietary knowledge and expertise working with graphene based additives in the significantly larger solvent-based anticorrosion market and are allowing us to broaden customer engagement and value-add as we approach commercialization.”
Sparc is progressing its dual-track approach to commercialize the ecosparc® graphene based additive in widely used epoxy-based protective coatings, targeting both major coatings companies and large asset owners. Sparc is actively engaged with five of the eight largest global protective coatings companies on the testing and use of ecosparc®. In addition, Sparc is working with large asset owners across government, oil & gas and mining on both field trials and confidential testing programs. Sparc views the strong level of engagement from the coatings industry and asset owners as evidence that graphene is gaining traction as a product enhancement tool and that Sparc is seen as a leader in this emerging area due to its experience and extensive data.
With field trial results and lab testing in commercially applicable products and specification programs progressing during 2025, Sparc expects commercial acceptance and adoption of ecosparc® enhanced products during FY26. As commercial manufacturing capability is already established, the Company expects to support ramp up of product volumes without a significant increase in investment or working capital.
