The Organic and Natural Paint company and Best of Lime, specialists in the manufacture and supply of sustainable lime plasters and renders, are now selling carbon dioxide-absorbing graphene-infused paints.
Through new partnerships with The Graphene Company – the UK distributor of Graphenstone products – the two paint retailers will be providing specifiers, contractors, interior designers and consumers with Graphenstone’s ultra-sustainable, ecologically-friendly paints, primers, putties and mortars.
Derived from raw natural mineral limestone, Graphenstone paint is said to be carbon neutral: as the paint cures over its lifetime, each square metre of Graphenstone paint absorbs 120 grams of carbon dioxide from the local environment where it’s applied.
Including graphene in Graphenstone’s paints, coatings and other building materials is said to enhance hardness, durability, compression, tensile strength, elasticity and coverage. Graphene is the strongest material now known to science – 200 times stronger than structural steel. It’s highly inert, innocuous and non-toxic. It reduces the weight of materials and delivers significant savings in materials consumption, maintenance, manpower, time-to-completion and overall costs.
Non-Toxic, Natural Paints
According to the company, chemicals leaching from house paints and synthetic materials trigger numerous medical conditions, such as allergies, breathing difficulties and chemical intolerances. The Organic and Natural Paint Company seeks to improve air quality in family homes by providing non-toxic alternatives to chemical-laden paints.
“Free from volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, heavy metals, toxic substances, carcinogens and harmful agents such as biocides or plasticizers, Graphenstone’s products fit with our range of family-safe interior and exterior paints,” said Chris Ridley, Founder of the Organic and Natural Paint Company.
Combining past and future materials
Nearly all buildings erected before 1920 were finished in lime plaster and paints. Best of Lime’s mission is to provide the best lime products available to help to conserve listed and historic buildings. The graphene in Graphenstone’s products is said to makes the walls of these buildings more durable than traditional limestone paints.
Best of Lime’s director, Martin Brown said: “The graphene fibres form a transparent nanolevel mesh which is fully encapsulated within the Graphenstone paint. This graphene mesh delivers supreme durability by functioning as an extremely strong, consistent and flexible frame that supports the primary lime mineral within the paint. This gives added protection to the listed and historic buildings painted with Graphenstone’s paints. The graphene also eases application of the paint: one litre of paint typically delivers two coats over eight square metres. Hence it reduces maintenance and labour as well as speeding time-to-completion of projects.”
The Graphene Company’s business development director, Ben Sturges said, “As well as helping to conserve our past, the carbon dioxide absorption of natural, lime-based paints helps to reclaim our future. That’s one of the reasons Graphenstone’s products are increasingly specified for eco-build projects – both retro fit or new-build. What’s more, the high alkaline pH of the lime and the porous, ventilating properties of lime-based wall coverings reduce bacteria, fungi and allergens. This means buildings painted with Graphenstone are healthier environments to live and work in.”
