The Oxfordshire County Council's highways team and its contractor, Milestone Infrastructure, are testing graphene-enhanced Gipave road surface in a village near Chipping Norton. On a 725-meter stretch of North Street in Middle Barton.

This trial is the third in Oxfordshire, and sees an adjacent length of road resurfaced using conventional asphalt so that the two surfaces can be compared.

In April, First Graphene (FGR) announced plans for major graphene-enhanced cement trials with a consortium that includes Breedon Cement, Morgan Sindall and the University of Manchester. Now, FGR confirmed the beginning of these trials using the company’s graphene in cement and concrete at the Breedon Group’s Hope Cement Works at Derbyshire in the United Kingdom.

The trials aim to build on smaller-scale trials with an accredited concrete processing laboratory in the UK, which First Graphene said “generated positive results”, and to further showcase the carbon dioxide reduction benefits of graphene additives. According to the company, the trial – with Breedon, Morgan Sindall Construction and the University of Manchester – will use approximately 1.2 tonnes of PureGRAPH 50 and create about 2,000 tonnes of graphene-enhanced cement at the works.

Versarien plans to regroup around its commercial graphene applications (Cementene and Graphene Wear) in order to promote a recovery, while also cutting costs to stabilize the business, as the Company stated while also reporting its interim results.

In the results statement, Diane Savory, Versarien’s chair, said: "The period under review was extremely challenging from a financial perspective, both from a balance sheet point of view and with the decline in graphene revenues reflecting the ending of the DSTL development contract”. Revenues in the six months to end March 2023 were £2.62 million (2022: £3.89 million), with losses of £3.4 million (2022: £2.16 million), while cash at the end of the period £0.76 million with a further £0.53 million raised since.

Versarien has shared that trials of a precast concrete containing its Cementene water-based graphene mixture were shown to maintain its strength with 20% of the cement removed.

The initial results, carried out in tests at the accredited laboratory of Ireland-based Banagher Precast Concrete, “demonstrate the significant potential to reduce CO₂ emissions without impacting the performance of the concrete”, the AIM-listed company said. This is because producing 1kg of ordinary Portland cement emits around 0.8-0.9kg of CO₂ and roughly 500kg of cement is used per cubic metre of Banagher's precast concrete. Producing 1kg of Cementene is estimated to generate a higher level of CO₂ emissions, at 1.44 kg, but Versarien said because only around 5kg of Cementene is used per cubic metre of concrete and allows the removal of 20% of cement in the precast concrete mix, this would equate to a net saving of almost 73kg of CO₂ emissions per cubic metre of concrete poured.

Black Swan Graphene has announced a shipment of product to Nationwide Engineering Research & Development ("NERD") for an upcoming concrete pour in the United Kingdom. This commercial shipment follows the announcement of a partnership between Black Swan, NERD, and Arup Group Limited, aimed at providing an integrated supply chain and a turnkey solution to the concrete and construction industries.

The upcoming concrete pour will use Black Swan's graphene product in a total of 180 tonnes of concrete for the construction of an industrial park near Redruth, Southwest England. The industrial park will offer 14 industrial units ranging from 2,500 and 3,500 sq ft, with the graphene-enhanced concrete being used for the external concrete aprons. This is the second time this developer has used the technology provided by NERD, having previously used it in the construction of an industrial park in Warminster, approximately 170 km west of London, United Kingdom.

Versarien has announced a placing to raise £531,624 (before expenses) through a placing on the AIM market. This follows recent difficulties and statements by the Company, that it will require further funding to support its activities as it continues to face a number of challenges. 

The net proceeds of the placing will be used for general operational and working capital purposes and for commercialization activities primarily in the construction and leisure sectors, in line with the Company's new strategic roadmap which is being finalized.

Australia-based First Graphene (FGR) will be kicking off one of the world’s largest graphene-enhanced green cement trials, supported by the UK Government’s £66 million Transforming Foundation Industries (TFI) program. FGR is leading the consortium running the trial, which also involves Breedon Cement, Morgan Sindall and the University of Manchester.

Receiving significant funding from Innovate UK through a £190,034 grant, graphene will be added to the cement production line using a range of additions methods with minimal changes to the existing plant. A key aim of the trial is to find a simple, low-cost method of introducing graphene to
industrial scale cement production processes.

A spin-out company from the graphene innovation ecosystem at The University of Manchester has formed an international partnership that will spearhead an unprecedented scale-up of graphene-based technologies intended “to make a substantial impact on global CO₂ emissions”.    

UK-based Graphene Innovations Manchester (GIM), founded by University graduate Dr Vivek Koncherry, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Quazar Investment Company to create a new company in the UAE. This UK-UAE partnership - which highlights potential opportunity for UK innovators to access global investment and international markets and supply chains - will be one of the most ambitious projects to date to commercialize graphene as it fast-tracks cutting-edge R&D into large-scale manufacture – an investment vision worth a total of $1billion.

Black Swan Graphene and Nationwide Engineering Research and Development (“NERD”) have announced a strategic partnership being embedded in a fully integrated supply chain which will include Arup Group Limited, a multinational engineering consultancy headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with 18,000 experts working across 140 countries.

At the core of the partnership between Black Swan and NERD, is the completion of an equity swap where each company will own approximately five percent (5%) of the outstanding shares of the other, and the execution of a supply agreement between the two companies under which NERD will be sourcing its graphene requirements from Black Swan.

Versarien has announced the completion of the construction phase of a civil engineering project being undertaken by the Company with a subsidiary of Costain Group.

Versarien has been working with Costain to develop designs for, and bring into production, a 3D printed concrete headwall for use in highway construction projects, part of the Digital Roads of the Future Partnership, a collaboration led by the University of Cambridge, Costain and National Highways, of which Versarien is a partner.