PPK Group is one of the top-performing ASX shares in 2021 for a good reason, operating at the cutting edge of high-tech nanomaterial manufacturing. The flagship of its success story is undoubtedly its boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) manufacturing capability, based at Deakin University’s specialised Manufutures Precinct in Waurn Ponds, Victoria.
BNNTs are a game-changing technology set to disrupt countless industries. They are around 100 times stronger than steel and 50 times stronger than industrial-grade carbon fibre, while being as light as carbon fibre. They are many times more thermally conductive than copper, yet they do not conduct electricity, making them perfect for electrical heat sinks. They provide excellent radiation shielding, for applications ranging from protecting astronauts in space, to protecting healthy cells during cancer radiation treatments.
BNNTs are translucent, meaning they can be mixed with a range of materials – even glass – without greatly affecting the appearance of the final product. They are stable up to 900-1000 deg.C, are super-flexible and can be bent over 90° for thousands of times without failure, and they are non-toxic.
PPK Group’s suite of businesses includes:
- BNNT Technology Limited. Manufacturing the world’s highest-quality BNNTs.
- Li-S Energy Limited. Breakthrough lithium-sulphur battery architecture using nanotechnology that can theoretically deliver more than five times the performance of existing lithium-ion batteries.
- White Graphene Limited. Producing boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS), creating possibilities in sectors such as paints, resins, electronics, textiles and with potentially hydrogen transportation and containment.
- Ballistic Glass Pty Ltd. Developing new lightweight bullet-resistant glass and polymer materials through the incorporation of BNNT and BNNS.
- Strategic Alloys Pty Ltd. A joint venture with Amaero International, combining BNNT with aluminium and titanium alloys to create super-strength materials for defence and aerospace applications.
- 3D Dental Technology Pty Ltd. Using BNNT to create advanced dental ceramics and polymers for the growing dental implant industry.
- BNNT Precious Metals Limited. Adding BNNT to gold, silver and platinum for increased strength, hardness and radiation shielding properties, for uses in aerospace, defence, 3D printing and jewellery.
Perhaps the most exciting immediate application for BNNTs is in lithium sulphur (Li-S) batteries, long theorised as the optimal solution for energy storage. The “theoretical maximum energy density” of Li-S batteries is more than five times that of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries – the current industry standard in most fields. Sulphur is cheap and plentiful, lighter, and less environmentally destructive than the cobalt, nickel and manganese used in lithium-ion batteries.
To illustrate the potential, the current Tesla Model S 100kWh long-range battery pack weighs 625kg, and (if driven carefully) the car can achieve a range of up to 640km. With its far higher energy density, a Li-S battery pack of the same weight easily has the potential to more than double this range, enabling distances well over 1,000km between charges. This would eliminate the “range anxiety” that has been a major obstacle to widespread electric vehicle (EV) adoption to date.
Drones are another application where lighter, more energy-dense batteries will have enormous value. The flying weight of a drone is critical to the flying times that can be achieved. With Li-S Energy’s technology, battery weights will be significantly reduced, and flying times or carrying capacity increased. Then there are the 1.5bn mobile phones constructed annually, 220m laptops, large-scale battery projects, home-scale off-grid batteries, power tools … the list is endless.
The global marketplace for Li-ion batteries exceeded US$35bn in 2020, and the volume of battery sales is forecast to more than quadruple (by GWh output) in the next four years, and hit 10 times current levels by 2030. The market is demanding a far more energy-dense, lighter-weight and environmentally friendly battery, placing Li-S Energy Limited at the forefront of the global transition to clean, renewable energy solutions.
Another BNNT opportunity PPK quickly identified was in the bullet-resistant glass market, worth around US$7bn per annum. Other military and ballistics applications are multiples of that market size.
The range and scale of applications in high-performance metals is breathtaking. Adding just a tiny amount of BNNT to metals can increase strength, hardness, toughness, heat resistance and other key properties several times over. PPK first licensed the BNNT technology from Deakin University on the back of their development of BNNT-titanium, which was seven times as strong as pure titanium. One obvious application for hardened aluminium is in aircraft. Boeing has sold 6,065 aircraft in the past decade and Airbus is now the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer. Other manufacturers, particularly of military aircraft, could adopt the lighter, harder alloys even more swiftly.
The use of BNNT in the dental market alone shows its extraordinary potential. There are around five million dental implant procedures per year in the US alone. That number is likely to exceed 50m globally, and is growing rapidly. The failure rate for existing dental implant materials is alarmingly high, but inclusion of BNNT makes these implants virtually indestructible.
Nanosheets can be considered the two-dimensional cousin of nanotubes, offering similar material properties but in different applications, such as paints, resins, polymers, textiles, and electronics in the case of BNNS (aka White Graphene). PPK is now in the process of launching several projects and commissioning its first BNNS manufacturing module.
As BNNT and BNNS become household terms, dozens of other researchers will be undertaking their own work in finding new applications for these revolutionary products, but PPK is currently leading the way in manufacturing and commercialising these world-changing nanomaterials.