Homogenization technology
Graphene's potential in materials science
Black Swan and GEA collaborate on process to scale graphene via high-pressure homogenization for stronger, greener polymers and concrete.
Black Swan Graphene Inc. is a Canadian company developing and commercializing a portfolio of high-performance graphene materials aimed at emerging high-volume, and potentially billion-dollar industrial markets, with an initial focus on polymers and concrete. Backed financially by four different billionaire investors, Back Swan is listed in Canada on the TSX-V Exchange with the ticker symbol “SWAN”, and in the USA under “BSWGF”.
Under an umbrella of patents acquired in 2022 from Thomas Swan & Co., a UK based, 100-year-old chemicals firm, Black Swan has worked closely with GEA to develop and optimize a modular, scalable, high pressure homogenization solution that allows the company to innovate, develop and manufacture its graphene products efficiently and cost effectively at huge industrial scale. Thomas Swan remains a strategic shareholder of Black Swan, and Mr. Harry Swan, CEO of Thomas Swan, acts as Black Swan’s Chairman.
What is graphene?
Described widely as a “wonder material,” graphene is the basic building block of graphite, a form of carbon with which we are probably all familiar in pencil ‘leads’ and lubricants. Graphite is structured as a 3-dimensional (3D) material made up of stacked layers of carbon atoms, each layer arranged as a hexagonal lattice, akin to chicken wire. In contrast, graphene comprises just a single, two-dimensional (2D) layer of this carbon atom lattice.
Improving material properties
This highly flexible, transparent graphene material is hundreds of times stronger than steel, five times lighter than aluminium, and 70% more conductive than copper, presenting widespread opportunities to revolutionize materials science in a range of fields, including the automotive, consumer products, construction, aeronautics, biomedical and telecommunications industries. 2D graphene forms the basic unit for constructing multilayered, 3D graphene assemblies. Today, industrial scientists can design and manufacture graphene products that comprise different numbers of carbon lattice layers, to which can be added specific chemical groups, adding functionality tailored to the final application.
The existence of graphene as a 2D material had been speculated by scientists for many years, but until the early 2000s no one had demonstrated how to obtain a single layer of the carbon atom lattice from a lump of graphite.
A brief history of graphene
It was in 2004 that – during a Friday night session of experimental science - two researchers at the University of Manchester, Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov, used sticky tape to peel (mechanically exfoliate) flakes of graphite from a lump of bulk graphite. The scientists then continued to separate the flakes into ever-thinner stacks of the carbon lattice, until they worked their way down to a layer just one carbon atom thick: the elusive 2D graphene. Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for their achievement in 2010, and the University of Manchester is today home to the National Graphene Institute, and to the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), to which Black Swan is affiliated, and which has provided additional support to the latter’s development of its commercial graphene products.
Peeling the layers
“While there are various methods for mechanically exfoliating graphite – effectively peeling the graphene layers off the bulk graphite material - Black Swan’s ability to manufacture its graphene products economically at industrial scale has hinged on its partnership with GEA to develop high pressure homogenization technology that can efficiently carry out exfoliation and withstand the physical stresses of handling this highly abrasive material,” explained Michael Edwards, Chief Operating Officer and Director at Black Swan.
Thomas Swan initiated the partnership with GEA in 2011 “having previously evaluated other potential exfoliation methods, including high shear mixing,” Edwards noted. “However, graphene yield using these approaches was found to be far too low, which would drive up production costs.”
A collaboration for homogenization
Graphene is still a new and emerging technology, and so the ability to generate high quality materials, while also keeping the price down, has been critical to demonstrating commercial feasibility, Edwards commented: “This then reduces a barrier to our market entry.” Potential customers have confidence in supply, at a price that isn’t prohibitive when they want to evaluate graphene materials for their own products. “GEA has many deployments of homogenizers in large scale manufacturing settings globally, and this recognized experience in scaling was really important to give us the confidence to form a relationship for developing a graphene production process that utilized homogenization,” Edwards added.
Alessandra Tanzi, GEA Head of Sales & Marketing BU Homogenizer, works closely with the Black Swan team. “High pressure homogenization is a versatile technology for exfoliation,” Tanzi said. “The preprepared graphite powder is dispersed in a medium that might be water, solvents, or a mixture of water and solvents, dependent on whether the final product is a 2D or 3D material. We can process down to nanoscale particle sizes and below, starting from a micron-scale material. Critical to this technology, and to our partnership with Black Swan, is developing, in parallel, the process and the components that can withstand handling one of the most abrasive materials we’ve worked with.”
Better, more sustainable polymers
“Black Swan’s initial commercial focus is on creating a portfolio of bulk graphene products for the polymers and concrete sectors,” Edwards explained. A collection of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)-formulated GraphCore™ powder and dispersion products can be exploited by compounders and manufacturers to improve material properties. The firm’s Graphene Enhanced Masterbatch (GEM™) products for the polymer and plastics industries can be integrated into existing supply chain and production processes, to create lighter weight products with improved tensile strength and other functional properties.
In partnership with UK based Concretene, Black Swan has also developed a series of graphene-enhanced concrete admixtures that can significantly improve material strength, while reducing environmental footprint in manufacture.
“Our portfolio of pelleted Graphene Enhanced Masterbatch products can significantly enhance the mechanical properties of polymers, creating opportunities for reducing weight, increasing strength, and improving barrier properties and impact resistance,” Edwards stated. The low-cost pellets can be used to create polymers for a range of industries, including the automotive sector, electronics, packaging, textiles and consumer goods. “What’s really promising is that graphene can improve the properties of recycled, ocean-recovered and bio-based polymers, and this could feasibly reduce significantly the global reliance on fossil fuel-derived plastics”.
In addition to double-digit tensile property improvements with less than 1.0% loading, performance enhancements seen at global customer industrial trials include:
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approx. 20% weight reduction with approx. 1% loading in TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane)
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more than 20% impact resistance improvement in PP (polypropene) at 0.2% loading
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more than 40% improvement in barrier properties in PLA (Poly-lactic acid polymer, an aliphatic polyester and thermoplastic derived from renewable resources) at 1.0% loading
The chart provides results using Black Swan’s product, based on different loading ratios, for “Stress at Yield”, which determines the amount of stress a material can withstand before undergoing permanent deformation, “Notched Izod”, which determines the impact resistance qualities, and “Bending Strength at Yield”, which measures the ability to withstand bending or flexural loads.
Reducing concrete sector carbon emissions
"The concrete sector is another industrial field where graphene could play a major role in both improving material function and sustainability," Edwards added. "Concrete manufacture represents some 6-8% of the world's global carbon emissions, largely relating to the production of cement from limestone. Using our graphene additives industry can reduce the amount of cement in concrete by 30%, significantly reducing global carbon emissions, while achieving the same or increased concrete strength, and improving lifespan."
of concrete placed and delivering an average of 17% strength uplift. 3 Developed in partnership with Arup, Black Swan Graphene and The University of Manchester's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), Concretene is a graphene-enhanced admisture for concrete, engineered to improve performance and sustainability. Concretene aims for a 30% improvement in concrete performance with sustainable raw materials and proportionally decreased embodied carbon on construction projects. Concretene's prototype formulation achieved an average of 32.5% compressive strength uplift in concrete during the Innovate UK-funded project 'Graphene-Enhanced Concrete'. This formulation was taken into the field in three scaled trials, comprising more than 300m
"And aside from the polymer and concrete sectors, there's a huge potential to harness the Black Swan GNP products for improving sustainability across many other industries, including high-performance tires, battery materials, and advanced packaging," Edwards pointed out.
Graphene manufacture from lab bench to industrial scale
Thomas Swan acquired its first Panda Plus and a Panther 3006 systems from GEA during 2015, and the companies worked together to develop a process for graphite exfoliation at R&D/pilot-scale. A GEA Ariete 3037 homogenizer was installed at Thomas Swan the following year, allowing the firms to evaluate manufacture of graphene products at the pilot/production scale. In 2021 Thomas Swan added an Ariete 3006 system to its UK facility for further R&D/product development and process optimization. A second R&D/pilot-scale homogenizer with semi-automated PLC control “allowed us to collect and evaluate additional process data for continued product and process optimization,” Edwards noted.
Designing modular, scalable equipment
“GEA has worked hand in hand with Black Swan to develop the homogenization process and equipment,” Tanzi stated. “We’ve designed and tested new components and equipment both within GEA and at the Black Swan site. The team at Black Swan has provided product and process expertise and IP that has been instrumental in our work to configure modular, scalable equipment that can cope with graphene processing in real world industrial settings. At each point of scale up we have worked together to fine tune the process and make adjustments as necessary.”
Getting to market
Since its inception, Black Swan progressed enormously in the development of its first graphene products, and during 2023 and 2024, carried out design and optimization of its Graphene Enhanced Masterbatch products for the polymer sector. Over the course of 2024 Black Swan finalized distribution agreements with major players in polymer markets, and launched seven GEM™ polymer products commercially, which are being tested by multiple international clients.
Scoping study for 10,000 tpa graphene manufacture
By the start of 2025, Black Swan was preparing to install additional, modularly scalable GEA homogenizers at its UK graphene manufacturing facility near Newcastle, to push capacity up to 130-plus tons of the bulk graphene nanoplatelets and GEM products annually. A scoping study has also been completed, which provides the details and functionalities for additional major investment in GEA homogenizer technology - possibly at multiple locations including the Black Swan site in Quebec; the company is envisioning graphene production at the 10,000 tons per year scale.
“We already have letters of intent from customers indicating much increased demand next year,” Edwards noted. “To date we’ve been rolling out sales in a very controlled way and will be building our sales team this year. I believe that, in a near future, we will have installed large-scale GEA homogenizers at multiple Black Swan locations.” That huge capacity increase will be paralleled by continued collaboration to optimize and test processes and equipment, Tanzi indicated.
Mutual respect and understanding
The journey for Black Swan and GEA so far has not all been plain sailing, Tanzi acknowledged: “It’s taken mutually supportive, focused R&D from both sides, including the development of new technology on our part. We’ve been through both highs and lows, but with complete dedication to the project we have worked to navigate and solve problems.” Increasing capacity from 10 tons to 30 tons, for example, involved leveraging internal IP on Black Swan’s side, in parallel with continued development of the homogenizer components by GEA, and “just gradually getting better at what we were doing,” Edwards added. “It is important that we get it right, however long it takes, and the success of our collaboration speaks volume about the mutual respect and understanding that have been instrumental in our relationship,” Tanzi concluded.
“The collaboration with GEA has been foundational to our success in scaling graphene production from lab scale to industrial scale and commercial. With shared vision and innovation, we’ve developed a robust, modular platform now being deployed globally. As we look ahead, we’re not just scaling production, we’re unlocking the full potential of graphene to transform materials, drive sustainability, and redefine performance across industries.”
Michael Edwards
Chief Operating Officer and Director at Black Swan
