Promotion Recognizes Important Development of HydroGraph Graphene Products, Alignment of Scientific Programs with Technology Development and Research Priorities
Company Provides Balance Sheet Updates, Cash at More than $41 Million
AUSTIN, Texas, June 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HydroGraph Clean Power Inc. (CSE: HG) (OTCQB: HGRAF) ("HydroGraph" or the "Company") today announced the promotion of Dr. Suhao Li to Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Dr. Li will lead HydroGraph's global technology, innovation strategy, research and development, product commercialization, intellectual property, and process scale-up initiatives, driving the Company's long-term competitive position.
Dr. Li joined the Company in 2024, serving as Laboratory Director at the Company's Manchester, U.K. site, located in the Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre (GEIC). Previously, he was a senior scientist in advanced materials at Versarien, plc, where he contributed to the development and commercialization of graphene-enabled technologies across a broad range of applications, including plastics, composites, elastomers, coatings, lubricants, conductive inks, and aerogels for a range of commercial and defense industry applications. He holds a PhD in Materials Science from the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester, where his research focused on graphene-enhanced elastomer composites.
"Dr. Li has transitioned HydroGraph's innovation programs from pure science to commercial application driven by customer development engagements across diverse global end markets," said Kjirstin Breure, President and Chief Executive Officer of HydroGraph. "His approach to rigorous development has demonstrated how high-purity, batch-consistent graphene provides critical performance improvements across both commercial and defense applications. His leadership has been instrumental in positioning HydroGraph to be a supplier for graphene in real-world applications."
Said Dr. Li: "Over the past decade, I have seen graphene evolve from a breakthrough discovery into a material with real commercial potential by closing the gap between scientific promise and successful industrial adoption. One of the key factors has been the development of high-quality synthetic graphene that can meet the rigorous industrial requirements for both quality and batch consistency necessary to support the adoption of this new supermaterial.
"During my tenure at HydroGraph, we have identified high-value applications, documented performance in real-world systems, built our intellectual property portfolio, and established a path to market for our graphene. Our focus has been clear: turn technical capability into measurable outcomes and move promising technologies from the lab into the market."
Under Dr. Li's leadership, the Company's application development efforts have spanned multiple industries and material systems. Examples include:
Mechanical Reinforcement of Plastics
One of HydroGraph's earliest application development initiatives focused on the use of Fractal Graphene as a mechanical reinforcement additive for thermoplastics. Studies indicated improvements of up to 100% in mechanical properties such as stiffness, strength, toughness or wear resistance, even at exceptionally low graphene loadings.
These studies demonstrated both the potential of Fractal Graphene and the complexity of achieving consistent reinforcement across commercial polymer systems. Mechanical performance depends on numerous variables, including polymer chemistry, additives, recycled content, melt flow characteristics, processing conditions, screw configuration, thermal history, graphene dispersion, and filler orientation.
This work helped HydroGraph launch its Compounding Partner Program with experienced compounders designed to optimize Fractal Graphene in industrial polymer systems and establish best-practice processing guidelines for scalable implementation.
Dr. Li helped the Company establish scientific collaborations with leading academic institutions and sponsor doctoral research programs focused on understanding the structure-property relationships between graphene morphology, polymer processing, and final material performance. These programs generate valuable insights while building the technical foundation required for continued research and application development.
Conductive Plastics
HydroGraph initially investigated whether Fractal Graphene could directly replace traditional conductive plastic fillers such as carbon black and carbon nanotubes. Graphene has high intrinsic conductivity, but internal testing revealed that graphene alone did not consistently outperform premium conductive carbon black systems.
In response, Dr. Li organized an investigation to assess whether Fractal Graphene could work synergistically alongside conventional conductive fillers. This shift in strategy led to the discovery in which small additions of Fractal Graphene significantly enhanced the performance of existing conductive carbon black formulations.
In a representative case study conducted by HydroGraph, a formulation containing only 15 wt% conductive carbon black and 0.2 wt% Fractal Graphene delivered approximately 100 times higher electrical conductivity than a benchmark formulation containing 30 wt% conductive carbon black alone. This approach also reduced conductive filler loading by approximately 50%, which could improve processability, reduce compound viscosity, lower component weight, and improve retention of the host polymer's mechanical properties.
The technology also demonstrated integration compatibility with existing compounding equipment and manufacturing infrastructure.
Fractal Graphene Paste
Dr. Li has also focused on ways to ease integration of graphene into customer manufacturing processes, such as HydroGraph's new Fractal Graphene Paste.
Generated from proprietary processing methods, these stable aqueous dispersions containing up to 36.5 wt% pristine graphene enable graphene aggregates to be dispersed toward primary particle dimensions, typically ranging from approximately 20 to 50 nanometers, while maintaining long-term stability.
Rather than requiring customers to disperse graphene themselves, HydroGraph's Fractal Graphene Paste provides a highly concentrated, pre-dispersed, ready-to-use format that can be integrated directly into existing liquid-processing systems. This platform has potential applications across coatings, concrete admixtures, latex/elastomers, thermal management fluids, inks, filtration technologies, and membrane systems.
Company Updates: Balance Sheet Remains Well Funded
HydroGraph also announced that it continues to maintain a strong balance sheet, with cash and cash equivalents totaling more than US$41 million. These funds, coupled with the Company's continued commitment to cash efficient operations, provide for ongoing commercial development, construction of planned large-scale manufacturing facilities, and sales expansion, among other initiatives.
The Company is currently hiring multiple roles as it advances its growth plans, including commercial and government sales, research, manufacturing, and finance positions.
As part of the balance sheet advancement, the Company has accepted the exercise of previously issued warrants for cash. The Company's outstanding warrant balance has declined to approximately 8.3 million shares, demonstrating the Company's commitment to efficient financing of its growth programs.
About HydroGraph
HydroGraph is a leading producer of pristine graphene using an "explosion synthesis" process, which allows for exceptional purity, low energy use, and identical batches. The quality, performance, and consistency of HydroGraph's graphene follow the Graphene Council's Verified Graphene Producer® standards, of which very few graphene producers can meet. For more information or to learn about the HydroGraph story, visit: https://hydrograph.com/. For company updates, please follow HydroGraph on LinkedIn and X.
Trademarks: HydroGraph and Fractal Graphene
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "upon", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology.
Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable, and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of HydroGraph to control or predict, that may cause HydroGraph's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to: HydroGraph's ability to implement its business strategies; risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; stakeholder engagement; marketing and transportation costs; loss of markets; volatility of commodity prices; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favorable terms; industry and government regulation; changes in legislation, income tax and regulatory matters; competition; currency and interest rate fluctuations; and other risks. HydroGraph does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available.
No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
CONTACTS
Matt Kreps
Senior Vice President of Capital Markets and Investor Relations
+1-214-597-8200
matt.kreps@hydrograph.com
Len Fernandes
Firecracker PR for HydroGraph
len@firecrackerpr.com
888-317-4687
