Graphene's Strategic Surge: First Graphene and Halocell Target Global Markets

SYDNEY, Australia – November 26, 2025 – In a move that signals a significant maturation point for the commercial graphene market, advanced materials company First Graphene (ASX:FGR) has secured exclusive global rights to produce and sell a novel graphene-enhanced carbon paste developed with Halocell Australia. This agreement is more than a simple licensing deal; it represents a critical transition from lab-scale potential to market-ready reality for a technology poised to impact everything from renewable energy to flexible electronics.

The 12-month exclusive agreement builds on an existing partnership, granting First Graphene the sole authority to manufacture and distribute the PureGRAPH®-infused paste globally. In return, Halocell secures a 10% royalty on sales and, just as importantly, a stable supply of a critical component for its own groundbreaking perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The deal effectively launches a validated, high-performance product into the global supply chain, providing First Graphene with a powerful new revenue stream and a compelling case study for its flagship material.

A New Dawn for Perovskite Solar

The immediate and most dramatic impact of this graphene-enhanced paste is in the field of perovskite solar cells. Perovskites have long been heralded as the next generation of solar technology due to their potential for high efficiency and low-cost production, but they have faced challenges with stability and scaling. The collaboration between First Graphene and Halocell appears to have cracked a key part of this code.

By integrating functionalised PureGRAPH® graphene into the carbon paste, which serves as a conductive layer in the solar cell stack, the partners have achieved remarkable results. The press release confirms the paste has doubled PSC efficiency to over 30% while dramatically reducing production costs. This is achieved by replacing expensive traditional conductors like gold and enabling high-speed, low-temperature roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing—a process akin to newspaper printing that is far cheaper and more scalable than the high-temperature, vacuum-based methods used for traditional silicon cells.

Halocell has astutely targeted a market segment where its technology offers a distinct advantage: indoor and low-light environments. While silicon dominates rooftop solar, it is notoriously inefficient indoors. Halocell's flexible, lightweight PSCs, however, excel at harvesting ambient light, achieving world-record efficiencies of 38.5% under low-light conditions. This positions them as a direct replacement for disposable batteries in a vast ecosystem of small electronic devices, including IoT sensors, wireless keyboards, smart home gadgets, and remote controls. The company is already selling its "Ambient Module series" globally, demonstrating a clear and immediate market application.

The Strategic Blueprint for a $2.8B Market

This agreement is a shrewd strategic play by First Graphene to capture a significant share of the burgeoning conductive materials market. The company cites projections that the carbon paste market alone will more than double to circa US$2.8 billion by 2032. This figure sits within the broader conductive ink and paste market, a sector valued at over US$3 billion and currently dominated by silver-based products.

Silver pastes, while highly effective, are expensive, making them a significant cost driver in electronics and solar manufacturing. Graphene-enhanced carbon paste offers a compelling value proposition: silver-like performance and enhanced durability at a potentially lower cost. As First Graphene CEO Michael Bell stated, "the real opportunity comes from the multitude of applications and products that can benefit from better performance, longevity and efficiency our PureGRAPH® offers."

For First Graphene, a company with recent annual revenues under AUD 500,000, this deal provides a direct path to commercialization with a proven product. Manufacturing is set to commence at its Henderson facility within the next month, turning R&D investment into tangible inventory. For Halocell, the 10% royalty provides a new, scalable revenue stream that complements its device sales, while the partnership de-risks its supply chain as it aims to produce up to 70 million PSC units annually from its Australian facility.

Beyond Solar: A Conductive Platform for Future Tech

While the immediate focus is on PSCs, the long-term vision for this graphene paste is far broader. It is a platform technology with the potential to disrupt any application requiring efficient, durable, and lightweight conductivity. The initial announcement points to 44 additional identified devices across the satellite, aerospace, IoT, and electronics sectors.

Concrete examples of this expansion are already emerging. Halocell is actively partnering with V-Tol Aerospace and battery developer Li-S to create a lightweight power solution for electric drones, combining its next-generation solar cells with advanced batteries to extend flight times significantly. This single application highlights the paste's potential in markets where weight and performance are paramount.

Beyond these high-tech uses, the material's properties lend it to a range of conductive applications, including flexible heating systems integrated into textiles, highly sensitive biomedical sensors, advanced ceramic coatings, and electrodes for next-generation energy storage devices like supercapacitors. The ability to print these conductive layers onto flexible substrates opens a new design paradigm for engineers and product developers across industries.

Navigating the Path from Lab to Global Market

Despite the breakthrough, the road to widespread adoption for any advanced material is fraught with challenges, and graphene is no exception. Historically, the industry has struggled with hurdles including scalability, quality control, and cost-competitiveness against deeply entrenched legacy materials. Skepticism often arises from the difficulty of producing high-quality, defect-free graphene consistently and at an industrial scale.

However, this agreement provides a powerful counter-narrative. By focusing on a multi-layer graphene product (PureGRAPH®) and integrating it into a paste formulation, First Graphene sidesteps the more difficult challenge of producing large, single-layer sheets. Furthermore, the successful implementation in Halocell's commercial, roll-to-roll production line is a powerful demonstration that these materials can be scaled effectively.

The partnership model itself is a crucial part of the commercialization strategy. It pairs a deep materials science expert (First Graphene) with an application specialist (Halocell) that has a clear market need and a pathway to production. This collaborative approach mitigates risk and ensures the final product is not just technically impressive, but commercially relevant. The success of this paste will now depend on First Graphene’s ability to execute its global sales and marketing strategy, proving its value proposition against established players in the conductive ink market. It is a calculated, strategic step forward in the long march of the materials revolution.