Zentek has announced that it has entered into a binding letter of intent with GMAF Circular Medico ApS (GMAF) to produce and sell ZENGuard-enhanced GMAF trademarked recyclable surgical masks (Circular PPE).

Zentek’s Medical Device Establishment License (MDEL) allows the Company to work with other manufacturers and distributors around the world to sell Class I PPE products in the Canadian market. Pursuant to the terms of the LOI, ZEN and GMAF have agreed to negotiate a definitive agreement to bring Circular PPETM coated with ZENGuard to the Canadian market while also evaluating regulatory requirements in other target markets. Commercial sales of Circular PPETM with ZENGuard outside of Canada will be subject to applicable regulatory approvals.

Zentek (formerly called Zen Graphene Solutions) has announced that it has entered into an agreement to raise CAD$20 million (around USD$15,928,000).

In addition, the Company intends to complete a concurrent non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of approximately CAD$12.5 million (around USD$9,954,000).

A team of researchers at UBC Okanagan (UBCO), studying the burning rate of nanomaterials in liquid fuels, believe they have created a recipe for clean-burning, power-boosting aircraft fuel.

A droplet of fuel mixed with nanomaterials is ignited during an experiment in UBCO’s Combustion for Propulsion and Power Lab. Image credit: UBCO

The team is investigating the combustion characteristics of microscopic graphene oxide inside fuel. Their experiment measures the ignition delay, burn rate and speed by which the graphene particles and fuel separate into smaller particles. Working with our industry partner, ZEN Graphene Solutions, we are assessing how the burn rate of this mixture can potentially improve its combustion properties, explains lead author and doctoral student Sepehr Mosadegh.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced its plan to change its name to Zentek Ltd.. Zen Graphene Solutions was also formerly called Zenyatta Ventures, until it changed its name in January 2019.

Zen Graphene will remain trading with the same symbol, ZEN, at the TSX Venture Change.

Months after Health Canada deemed graphene-enhanced face masks as a "potential health hazard", ZEN Graphene Solutions announced receiving an approval from Health Canada for its ZENGuard disposable face mask with biocidal coating and is rated at an ASTM Level 3. An extensive review process took place, after which Health Canada validated ZENGuard-enhanced surgical masks as 'safe for use by Canadians'.

In addition, ZEN Graphene Solutions also announced that it has delivered and generated revenue from its first shipment of ZENGuard antimicrobial coating to Trebor Rx. This first commercial shipment was enabled by a successful ramp up from bench scale production to pilot scale capacity, which currently exceeds the amount needed to coat 30 million masks per month. The company also reports that the engineering work on its industrial plant with an estimated capacity to coat the equivalent of 800 million masks per month is in the procurement stage. ZEN expects the build out and commissioning of the plant to be completed during the fourth quarter.

ZEN Graphene Solutions recently announced the signing of a definitive commercial agreement with Trebor Rx for the manufacturing of ZENGuard-enhanced personal protective equipment. The agreement includes surgical masks, filters for Trebor’s patent pending Pro+ mask, nitrile gloves and other potential products.

Greg Fenton, Zen's CEO, commented: After working closely with George Irwin and the Trebor team over the last year, we have developed an excellent working relationship and are eager to launch our first product together, the Trebor Rx surgical mask with ZENGuard technology delivering over 99.99% bacterial and viral filtration efficiency. This is a significant commercial success for both our organizations, but more importantly, it brings a new option to healthcare employees and others in higher risk settings that wish to significantly enhance the bacterial and viral filtration efficiency compared to a typical, disposable ASTM level 3 mask.

The graphene industry seems to be flourishing, at least when looking at the valuations of public companies. As we reported earlier this year, graphene stocks have risen nicely towards the end of 2020, and the trend continues in 2021 for most companies.

The total market value of graphene companies now reaches $1.8 billion USD for the 13 leading graphene public companies we track. It is important to note that not all this value is directly related to graphene - some of the companies have other activities, mainly graphite mining and supply. But for all these companies, graphene is a major part of the business, and most of the companies are pure-play graphene companies.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced that it has developed a stable diesel fuel additive, which increased the performance of diesel fuel by up to 10% in initial testing. Zen stated that these promising early results can be improved further through additional optimization work. ZEN has filed a provisional patent for this graphene-based fuel additive technology.

Greg Fenton, ZEN CEO commented: Energy and fuel are crucial to global economic prosperity, but also represent our biggest challenge from an environmental standpoint. With global market estimates for diesel fuel alone near $1 trillion, the size of the challenge to reduce emissions from this level of demand is massive, but so is the opportunity for novel solutions to help us be more efficient in our usage. Global challenges of this magnitude require a number of solutions and as a developer of nanotechnologies that help protect people and the environment we are excited to contribute with technology that is easily delivered into fuels to improve efficiency and create value for our shareholders in the process.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has announced that it completed its previously announced non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$4,337,998 (around USD$3.46 million).

ZEN intends to use the net proceeds to fund capital expenditures and operating expenses at Guelph locations supporting the scale-up and production of its antimicrobial coating to serve existing client orders and create capacity for subsequent clients. ZEN also intends to continue to invest in its intellectual property related to graphene. Funds will also be used for general corporate purposes.

Following recent concerns surrounding the use of graphene in face masks and Health Canada's warnings of "a potential that wearers could inhale graphene particles from some masks, which may pose health risks", several companies involved in the production of such masks released their comments on the matter.

Zen Graphene Solutions, which developed a graphene-based virucidal ink and reported that it has a 99% effectiveness against COVID-19, released a statement saying that it is aware of the recent claims, and "is aligned and supportive of the steps taken to regulate the use of graphene and remove products that are unsafe for the public". It went on to state that its own products have been found safe in various "comprehensive testing". Later on, Zen also submitted various data requested by Health Canada - including final results received from Nucro-Technics on skin irritation and sensitivity that confirmed ZENGuardâ„¢ did not lead to any irritation or sensitivity.