PERTH-based battery anode materials and graphene additives provider Talga Group announced the first year of sea trials for its graphene additive for marine coatings, Talcoat, was successful.
Coatings with Talcoat in them can inhibit corrosion without using metals or toxic chemicals. Talcoat is made with what the company says is environmentally friendly and sustainable Swedish graphite feedstock.
Primer with Talcoat added was first applied to the containership Robin 1 (previously Algarrobo) in late 2019 in what the company said is the world’s largest single application of graphene, with the trial expanded to include a second, similar-sized containership.
Robin 1 has a container-carrying capacity of 2750 TEU; it is 225 metres long with a width of 31 metres.
After 15 months of service on the ship, Talga said visual inspection indicated the Talcoat-enhanced coating matches or exceeds the commercial standard.
Talga managing director Mark Thompson said: “We are very pleased to see this large-scale demonstration of Talga’s graphene successfully working in the tough conditions of commercial shipping.
“Additionally, as we can now produce our graphene as a by-product of our battery anode manufacturing process, we are demonstrating a global leading low-cost and scalable graphene additive supply for large volume industrial products”.
Due to travel and access restrictions, including change in ownership of the two cargo ships, detailed physical testing of Robin 1 and review of the second ship coating is yet to be completed.
Further testing is expected to commence when access is reinstated, meanwhile the sea trials of Talga’s graphene coating on both ships continue during the ships’ active service.
