Fresh off a December funding round, HydroGraph Clean Power Inc. president and CEO Kjirstin Breure outlined the Vancouver-based company’s plan to commercialize its graphene in a letter to shareholders.

Securing its first major supply contract, expanding its application development and introducing new product offerings are Hydrograph's goals in 2025. The company is also aiming to increase graphene production and secure more raw materials.

A carbon-based material 200 times stronger than steel and 1,000 times more conductive than copper, graphene has been explored as a way to reduce the carbon emissions from concrete, improve the performance of batteries and solar panels, and reduce the amount of plastic from bottles.

HydroGraph (HG-CN) aims to move forward on business development in those sectors, with Breure listing the tests and plans the company has in the works for plastic packaging, energy storage, construction and aerospace.

With ample financial resources after a $3.8-million private placement, “we continue to prioritize projects with strong commercial qualities, benefits tied to high purity or functional graphenes and identified market demand,” Briere wrote in the letter.

HydroGraph’s plans for commercialization in 2025

For PET packaging, a widely used clear plastic, HydroGraph will continue testing to meet regulations, a plan which Breure previewed in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada last year. Commercial scale-up is expected after gaining approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is anticipated within the next year or so.

Tests by the company have found adding 0.006 per cent by weight of graphene into an equal blend of recycled and virgin plastics increased top-load strength, reduced the weight of plastic bottles, and cut the rate of water seepage.

“That means for the same traits we’re looking at, we’re using less plastic, so by making that plastic wall thinner, we’re reducing the amount of PET that’s needed to have the type of bottle we’re looking for,” Breure said. Petroleum production can be reduced, further reducing carbon emissions, she added.

An investor deck from November 2024 noted HydroGraph was in discussions with three major PET producers, and the potential “exceeds hundreds of tons of graphene.”

For energy storage, HydroGraph hopes to start commercial supply agreement discussions with potential lead customers. In November 2024, the company announced collaborations with Volfpack Energy and NEI Corporation to develop graphene-enhanced batteries and supercapacitor technology for renewable energy applications.

In the construction sector, HydroGraph is looking to complete Phase 2 of a test and start a pilot-scale trial.

Though the company did not specify details of the test, it has added its graphene to cement. A test published in the ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering journal found adding HydroGraph’s graphene improved compressive strength by 15 per cent after 28 days, and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Automotive, aerospace and defense applications are other industries HydroGraph is exploring. For the automotive sector, HydroGraph plans to pilot industrial scale-up production volumes in 2025, which would move into a commercial supply order by the end of the year.