Last week I reported on some exciting developments in the world of graphene, specifically, recent advancements made by a Chinese/British collaboration on the development of graphene current collectors — a feature designed to control and dissipate heat buildup in lithium batteries.
These collectors will go a long way in not just making new lithium-based batteries safer, but also enhance performance.
It’s but one of many potential killer applications for the material, but this is only the very beginning for the story of graphene.
Known as the world’s first artificial nanostructure and famous for also being the most effective known heat conductor, graphene has finally started to trickle into the market.
Though disruptive even as a simple add-on to an existing technology, graphene has long been known to have even greater potential as a core component of rechargeable batteries.
As of yet, nobody has been able to exploit this potential, but that may be changing as you read this.
A company I’ve been writing about for months now, based in Brisbane, Australia, currently stands at the forefront of this entirely new branch of the battery business.
Yesterday’s Wonder Material… Today’s Building Material
And things are about to get very, very exciting.
You see, while the 100% lithium-free, graphene aluminum batteries this company is pioneering are only now entering their first limited production runs, things are escalating very rapidly.
Just earlier this week, the company reported that it’s made some crucial steps in scaling up and improving the quality of their own, in-house graphene production.
These steps include the acquisition of sophisticated spectrographic analyses equipment capable of looking at and evaluating graphene at a molecular level to ensure standardization.
Once everything is installed and switched on, the company will have an unprecedented level of independence in manufacturing some of the world’s best graphene at fractions of the historic cost.
The importance of this step cannot be overstated as graphene is only a few years past the point of being a completely experimental substance, with costs of production running at about twice that of gold.
The rewards, however, warrant just about any expense.
Graphene’s Promise: 3x Charge Capacity. 3X Cycle Life. 70X Charge Speed
Graphene batteries will outperform traditional lithium ion batteries in every possible category — including energy density, where lithium-ion has reigned supreme for more than three decades now.
But this also leads to the question of why the Chinese, who are leading the world in battery production, have not jumped on this themselves.
Why are they using graphene as an aftermarket add-on, instead of researching their own lithium-free, graphene-based batteries?
The answer is that lithium is the very reason behind’s China’s dominance of the industry.
Their achievements in the sector isn’t due to their technical prowess, but rather, their virtual monopolization of global lithium refinement and battery production.
They worked for decades to achieve it, starting all the way back during the Deng Xiaoping administration — the very same ruler who ordered Chinese Army tanks to crush the student protests in Beijing’s Tianamen Square in the summer of 1989.
So for the Chinese, it’s not about building a better battery.
China… More About Domination Than Innovation
It’s about continuing to weaponize lithium as a strategic resource against Western economic rivals.
And that makes this Australian graphene maker one of the most important companies in the world right now.
Because while their batteries may change the industry, not to mention disrupt every industry where they’re implemented, what it could mean for the global lithium market may be of even greater significance.
The Chinese simply can’t afford for this sort of shift in the balance. Too much of their planning and too many of their assets are tied up in our continued addiction to lithium-based batteries.
You may not know much about all this now as this company is still small enough to fly under the radar, but with news like the kind published earlier this week, I doubt all this will stay secret for much longer.
The Best Battery Play Trading On Today’s Public Markets?
I first discovered this company a while back and have been giving my readers updates on it ever since.
We’ve bought and sold the stock repeatedly as shared ebbed and flowed over the last couple years, but right now may be the best buy-in moment ever.
Small stocks, by no fault of their own, have been pummelled of late.
This one is down more than 80% from its peaks, despite being closer than ever to releasing its ground-breaking battery tech to the commercial end-user.
In the investment world, we call this an inefficiency, but it’s better known in layman’s terms, as an opportunity.
Want to learn more? Check out this quick video presentation on the tech, the company, and the market that these batteries may soon take over. Fortune favors the bold, Alex Koyfman His flagship service, Microcap Insider, provides market-beating insights into some of the fastest moving, highest profit-potential companies available for public trading on the U.S. and Canadian exchanges. With more than 5 years of track record to back it up, Microcap Insider is the choice for the growth-minded investor. Alex contributes his thoughts and insights regularly to Energy and Capital. To learn more about Alex, click here.
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