Two childhood friends joined together to make wonders with wonder material. That is the starting journey of Mumbai based technology startup Hexorp – the manufacturer of high-grade Graphene with the objective of making it economically viable. The duo specializes in the field of nanotechnology with its patented design and process and works to be a part of a paradigm shift in terms of the quality and performance of Graphene materials.
Hailed as the “wonder material” of the 21st century, Graphene is the material of the future for nanotechnology applications. The building block for other graphitic materials, Graphene is the honeycomb sheet of carbon atoms. The carbon-based material is nearly 200 times stronger than steel, flexible, extremely thin and lightweight, and highly conducive to heat and electricity.
Used in many sectors including flexible electronics, solar cells, semiconductors, water and air filtration and superconductivity, Graphene Nanotechnology has emerged as one of the fastest-growing areas of the science and tech industry. Today India has about forty nanotech companies focused on Graphene. The segment is witnessing steady growth as there is still a major scope for further improvements.
With its constant innovation, Mumbai based Hexorp produces high-quality Graphene at industrial volumes and economical costs. Speaking to Machine Maker, Hexorp founders Akshat Shah and Sukrit Goel, spoke about the paradigm shift brought about by Graphene and the company’s deep understanding of nanotechnology while offering maximum value to its consumers.
Akshat went to Manchester Metropolitan University for his graduation in International Business and it was at MMU he heard about Graphene. By that time Sukrit had finished his MBA and was pursuing CFA. When the two childhood friends joined hands searching for a new line of business that would help to reduce the consumption of plastics, Graphene was a natural choice. The team did intense research about Graphene which could be used for a number of applications. Hexorp was founded in 2019 with Graphene, the most advanced carbon material known so far, as the primary product.
Graphene as a scalable and viable solution
Akshat says that Hexorp was at the right inflexion point where carbon technologies can merge with different areas to build better products with massive benefits. “The challenge was that back then Graphene was not economically viable to actually come into the market. It took us a long time to bring out the new technology from a lab-scale to mass production and building a product out of it. It was about the technology getting right, scalable and the unit economics of the segment should work.” It took just three years just to arrange the process and set up the system, adds Sukrit.
Hexorp has divided the business into two verticals. It is in mass manufacturing of Graphene and is expanding the production line by three times in the coming five months. In terms of commercialized creation, the main products are going to be in the areas of polymers and rubbers. Akshat says, “We have our own manufacturing facility and have patented the products entirely.”
Sukrit observes that Graphene is still to arrive in the Indian market in a bigger way. He says, “The market is still upcoming in terms of Graphene, the only reason stopping the Indian market to use the material is the cost. Hexorp will be targeting the sectors like polymers, rubber, battery and other energy storage devices because these applications need a mass supply and that is what will offer the major benefits to our business.” Hexorp will bridge the gap by manufacturing Graphene which will cater according to the industry needs because no Graphene is the same and the material needs to be functionalized according to the uses. “As for the product development Hexorp will do it not for the end-user but for the B2B players, and that will be in the polymers.”
Graphene, the new nano additive
Any material that is less than one micron goes into the nana range. And Graphene is the first material known to man which is found in two dimensions. Akshat explains that nanotechnology helps to go in the deep chemistry root level and functionally changes the particular qualities of the product.
“That is where the real magic is and Hexorp’s core competency is dealing with it. Graphene is to be tailor-made in such a way that it seeps inside the chemical composition of another material and help and improves its properties.” It is more of an additive that is used to boost the physical and metallurgical properties of the materials.
Sukrit further elaborates that it basically depends on the application Graphene is used for. “It has multiple benefits depending upon for what it is used. Like it is now being used as a filtering element and one can actually recycle the seawater by using it. For the polymers and rubbers, Garphene’s attribute will be totally different like tensile strength and abrasion resistance.” So it is up to one’s imagination what all good applications Graphene can be put to use.
The team at Hexorp believes that Graphene is going to come as an additive and help the preexisting properties of materials in a very significant margin. The market will witness Graphene-based composite materials being introduced. But the one thing that is required is a good level of R&D and thus the level of Graphene’s application in various fields will be evident.
India and the world, with Graphene
With Graphene the industry will be benefitted from the great advancements in the sector of composite material, rubbers and polymers. Akshat says, “The Indian market is very cost-sensitive, in the next ten years the wonder material will be used for energy storage and regeneration devices, water desalination and chip manufacturing. But the recent developments will show up in polymers and rubber-based industries. From a global point of view, Graphene is already widely accepted and used for paints, lubricants and rubber industries.”
As for the adoption percentage Sukrit mentions, “The global market has adapted Graphene by twenty to thirty percent. India’s share is still around ten percent and another ten to fifteen percent is underway in the research field. In India, the application of Graphene is still limited for battery technology for electric vehicles, but it is going to take quite a good time to evolve as a fully grown market. Whereas for the polymer and rubber applications, Graphene is already in use as an additive and it is already a live market.”
The path to least resistance
From the marketing point of view, it was difficult for Hexorp to educate and convince the companies about Graphene. Sukrit says that also it is not easy for companies to change their production line and shift to Graphene given its cost and uncertainty related to new technology. “Here people actually wanted a real solution. It is after that Hexorp started providing the direct solution things gradually began to happen in the market.”
Akshat adds another challenge is finding a way where the existing manufacturing setups are yet in place. With Graphene special manufacturing processes need to be applied to get the proper results. Hexorp has to develop solutions where the infrastructure can be put to use for Graphene with least disturbing the existing ones.
The bulk of Hexorp’s Graphene goes to the automotive and industrial paint segment and for rubbers and polymer products. The company is also providing research-grade Graphene for the top laboratories in India which in the field of energy storage and water filtration which makes up for twenty percent of Hexorp’s supply.
The standardization of Graphene is also crucial for its adoption in the market. The government is still in the drafting stage to come up with the proper guidelines for Graphene. Both Akshat and Sukrit conclude by emphasizing the need for standardization of Graphene for the Indian market.
