Talga Resources, an Australia-based company focused on graphite mining and graphene supply and applications development, has announced that it has signed a joint development agreement with Zinergy UK to co-develop and supply graphene conductive inks for electrodes in thin, flexible printed batteries.

Under the terms of the agreement, Talga and Zinergy will collaborate to develop and trial graphene-based conductive ink formulations in components of the patented Zinergy ultra-thin printed battery. The development program will run for an initial 12 month period.

The market for flexible, light weight, and often disposable (but eco-friendly) batteries is growing rapidly and Talga’s co-development with Zinergy targets a cost-value and performance solution for the mass production of printed power.

Flexible form factor and ultra-low weight printed batteries create functionality for a range of electronic products within fast growing markets associated with smart packaging, portable electronics, wearables, radio frequency identification devices (RFID) and sensors.

Zinergy is an energy technology company based in Cambridge, UK, with proprietary technology for ultra-thin printed batteries and supercapacitors for applications as varied as medical devices, smart packaging and “Internet of Things”.

In January 2017, Talga reported updates relating to graphene battery anode testing and work with the IIT on graphene-based sensors. In September 2016, Talga signed a collaboration agreement with JenaBatteries to jointly explore the use of Talga’s graphene products in flow batteries.