Westlake Innovations Invests to Advance Universal Matter’s Graphene Technology

Westlake Innovations, a subsidiary of Westlake Corporation, announced that it has invested in Universal Matter. The Burlington, Ontario-based company’s vision is to become a high-quality, sustainable supplier of graphene and advanced materials to help decarbonize the planet. Westlake’s actions build on the company’s commitment to helping develop a more sustainable future through continuous improvements in its own manufacturing and strategic investments in innovative technologies and startups.

Universal Matter pioneered and patented Flash Joule Heating (FJH) technology, which enables cost-effective upcycling of carbon waste streams into high-quality graphene and graphitized carbon on an industrial scale. Originally developed at Rice University, Universal Matter’s FJH technology produces graphene that can be tuned in 1D, 2D and 3D morphologies, resulting in superior properties critical for large-scale industrial applications.

Universal Matter has also developed the ability to disperse graphene in a variety of liquid or solid media, making it easier for customers to incorporate graphene into their downstream industrial products and enhance the performance of basic materials such as asphalt, concrete, rubber, composites, paints and coatings.

John Chao, senior vice president and managing director of Westlake Innovations, said: "Graphene is a material with a variety of potential performance and sustainability benefits that can be applied to multiple Westlake performance and basic materials and housing and infrastructure products business lines. We look forward to working with Universal Matter and its management team to advance the development and commercialization of its flexible technology."