James Briggs (www.jamesbriggs.co.uk), one of Europe’s biggest makers of aerosols and consumer chemicals, is to become the first company to use graphene in high-performance protective paints.

The company has announced an agreement with Applied Graphene Materials that will see its technical centre begin incorporating graphene nano-platelets into its existing paint formulations, with a view to launching a new range of “high-performing primers” early next year.

It is expected that the introduction of graphene will “significantly improve” the protective properties of the new paint range.

Chief executive Tim Pugh said: “We are keen to become the first specialist chemicals and coatings company to take advantage of this exciting new technology. The detailed understanding that AGM brings in maximising the performance of graphene is impressive, and we look forward to rapidly incorporating this into our own extensive range of high-performance products.”