Gloucestershire's Versarien comes to Stock Exchange with good news about cement innovation
Forest of Dean advanced materials innovator Versarien, which lost its founder and CEO after Neill Ricketts resigned as Chief Executive Officer of the company in March, returned to the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday (May 17) with some good news for investors.
Shares jumped nine per cent after the firm confirmed trials of a precast concrete containing its Cementene water-based graphene mixture were shown to maintain its strength with 20 per cent of the cement removed.
The product means a significant reduction in the CO2 emissions of cement production – up to 4.4 million kg of CO2 savings per year, said the company.
Read more: Versarien raises £0.5 million ahead of strategic reorganisation
The initial results of tests conducted at the accredited laboratory of Ireland-based Banagher Precast Concrete, “demonstrate the significant potential to reduce CO2 emissions without impacting the performance of the concrete,” said the firm.
Stephen Hodge, Chief Technology Officer of Versarien, said: "We are delighted with the results that have been achieved by Banagher utilising Versarien's Cementene.
"The use of CementeneTM has been demonstrated to offer a substantial environmental benefit at a cost we believe is competitive. We look forward to continuing to work with Banagher and, in due course, other concrete suppliers to role out Cementene enhanced concrete as soon as possible."
Read more: Versarien CEO resigns as economic conditions delay product commercialisation
Peter Deegan, Banagher Precast Concrete's Technical Director, said: "We have been trialling many alternative additions to our concrete mixes in the drive to net zero 2050, graphene in a liquid state is one such product.
"Our new UKAS/INAB accredited laboratory has allowed us to quantify any improvements in performance based on compression testing, chloride migration, water absorption and much more.
"While still at an early stage, we are finding very positive results and aim to continue with the research right through to scaling up at our production plant. We are confident that graphene will play a major role in carbon reduction in the future."
