John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) files its first patent jointly with the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) – India, in the area of energy storage materials. This patent application was a result of a research project carried out in India at the National Metallurgical Lab (NML) based on an idea generated by the John Keells Research (JKR). NML is one of the research labs of CSIR-India located at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and JKR is the research unit of JKH working in the areas of Nanotechnology & advanced materials, Sustainable Energy & Energy Storage, Biotechnology & Synthetic Biology, Food & Water and Physics & Internet of things (IoT).

The patent application filed at the Indian patent office in December 2016 is related to a composite nanomaterial which could be used in energy storage. This composite nanomaterial can be synthesized with raw materials found in Sri Lanka and has biocompatibility and low cost per unit of power stored as major advantages compared to similar materials. JKR continues to innovate and this new patent application is part of their commitment to creating intellectual property in the above areas. Dr. Muditha Senarath-Yapa, Vice President of JKH with a small team of young Sri Lankan scientists, spearheaded this initiative through which JKH has been exploring innovative ways of leveraging novel technologies to create value for the group and the country.

Commenting on this occasion Gihan Cooray, Executive Director JKH stated that he was pleased with the progress made by JKR in achieving this milestone in a short period of time. Susantha Ratnayake, Chairman JKH said “there is a growing interest in energy storage materials and our research and development is critical to create new solutions that can have a lasting impact on energy storage devices. JKH endeavors to file and prosecute this patent application in all the relevant markets in the near future.”

Information about this patent application could be found on – here