MRL Corporation (ASX: MRF) is pleased to advise it has taken...

MRL Corporation (ASX: MRF) is pleased to advise it has taken another key step towards becoming a major supplier of premium-priced graphene, with the University of Adelaide agreeing to undertake a further round of extensive tests on the Company’s graphite. The UoA will initially conduct laboratory tests to determine the optimum electrochemical exfoliation process for extracting graphene from MRL’s high-grade Sri Lankan graphite. The UoA will then assemble a temporary, scaled down pilot plant to test and further optimise this extraction process with a view to maximise yields and minimising the time taken for the exfoliation process. Previous tests conducted by the UoA returned outstanding results, demonstrating that MRL’s graphite was suitable for scalable graphene production. The tests found the quality of the prepared graphene from MRL’s graphite was outstanding and comparable with the quality of graphene prepared by synthetic routes. They showed that MRL’s graphite has very high crystalline carbon content not observed in any other previously tested graphite materials. A separate round of tests conducted by the University of Adelaide found that the graphene yield percentage from the exfoliated portion of the graphite was more than 90 per cent. The graphene yield percentage from total graphite was more than 43.6 per cent. MRL’s high graphitic ore and the yield of the graphene conversion are both many times greater than that achieved by most other graphite companies, highlighting the immense commercial potential of MRL’s graphite. Quality consistency, cost and scalability in production remain the greatest challenges for graphene’s industrial uptake and application. Professor Dusan Losic and his team in the University’s School of Chemical Engineering will investigate optimisation methods and resources for use with MRL’s high grade graphite, in an effort designed to maximise production yields, quality and cost efficiencies. The methods will then be scaled to optimise production in batches that could supply commercial demand