OREANDA-NEWS. Haydale Graphene Industries plc (AIM: HAYD), the Group focused on enabling technology for the commercialisation of graphene and other nanomaterials, is pleased to announce that Haydale Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary, has funded a new Professorial Chair appointment within Swansea University's Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating ("WCPC") one of the world's leading centres for research and development of printing and coating processes.

Professor Tim Claypole MBE, founder and Director of WCPC, which is based within the College of Engineering at the University's Bay Campus, has been appointed as the Haydale Supported Chair in Advance Manufacture by Printing.  Professor Claypole took up the role on 1st July 2016.

Haydale has existing links with the WCPC and the new Professorial Chair appointment will provide Haydale with a dedicated ink and coating service capability, to assist the company in developing and commercialising their inks together with on-going research, formulation, and rheology. Additionally, the University's College of Engineering will appoint a new Professor to provide additional leadership capability in the area of functional coatings.

Ray Gibbs, CEO at Haydale Limited, said: 

"I am pleased that we are sponsoring this Chair which is a natural progression of our existing relationship with the WCPC. We have already achieved good results with our graphene based inks and derivatives of it such as the patent applied for pressure sensor. We anticipate that this appointment will assist us in the commercialisation of our graphene enhanced conductive inks as Tim has a worldwide reputation in the ink, printing and coating world."

Professor Tim Claypole, the Haydale Supported Chair in Advance Manufacture by Printing, said:

"The WCPC is focused on collaboration with industry. This development strengthens our relationship with Haydale, which has been built up over many years. This new Chair reinforces our position as a World leading Centre for Advanced Manufacture by Printing working with companies who are at the leading edge of technology. Our relationship with Haydale is helping the WCPC engage with industry Worldwide, especially in Asia and South America, as well as in Europe."

About Haydale

Haydale has developed a patented scalable plasma process to functionalise graphene and other nanomaterials. This enabling technology can provide Haydale with a rapid and highly cost-efficient method of supplying tailored solutions to enhance applications for both raw material suppliers and product manufacturers.

Functionalisation is carried out through a patented low-pressure plasma process that treats both mined, organic fine powder and other synthetically produced nanomaterial powders, producing high-quality few layered graphenes and graphene nanoplatelets. The process can functionalise with a range of chemical groups, with the level of functionalisation tailored to the customer's needs. Good dispersion improves the properties and performance of the host material and ensures the final product performs as specified.

The Haydale plasma process does not use wet chemistry, nor does it damage the material being processed; rather, it can clean up any impurities inherent in the raw material. The technology is a low energy user and most importantly environmentally friendly.  The Haydale process is a patented enabling technology, allowing the Group to work with a raw material producer who seeks to add value to the base product and tailor the outputs to meet the target applications of the end user.

Haydale, based in South Wales and housed in a purpose-built facility for processing and handling nanomaterials, is facilitating the application of graphenes and other nanomaterials in fields such as inks, sensors, energy storage, composites, paints and coatings.