Haydale Graphene awarded £120,000 research and development grant

Haydale Graphene has been awarded a research and development grant from the Niche Vehicle Network to develop graphene-enhanced composite tooling and graphene-enhanced automotive body panels.

The AIM-listed advanced materials group will receive £120,000 of a £249,600 grant awarded to its consortium with single seat supercar manufacturer Briggs Automotive and machinery outfit Pentaxia.

Chief operating officer Keith Broadbent, said: "This funding will build on the significant developments already made by Haydale in advanced prepreg materials. The novel prepreg will be of significant interest to niche vehicle manufacturers and the premium and luxury automotive sectors, with BAC as a ready-made customer."

While Haydale said its focus will remain on the automotive sector, the group said its agreement with Briggs and Pentaxia will provide it with a "wider opportunity" to look at tooling materials across several markets, particularly where there are throughput constraints.

Haydale's head of business development, Ray Gibbs, said: "This collaboration will ensure major advancements in composite tooling resulting in a prepreg material that is ready for market launch."

"We know that production throughput is a major issue in the Carbon Fibre composite market and this initiative can ease the bottleneck. We will look to work with licensees to develop a route for full-rate production and commercialisation."

As of 0950 BST, Haydale shares had dipped 1.89% to 26p.