Thursday, 28 March 2024
News

Vittoria’s Graphene supplier turns attention to smart fabrics for sport industry

Hot on the heels of news that Silkworms fed on Graphene weave tougher fibres, Directa Plus has revealed strategic changes that indicate the Graphene experts will explore smart fabrics.

Already an exclusive cycling market supplier to Vittoria, Directa has recently completed the acquisition of Osmotek – a producer of graphene-based textile membranes.

Directa Plus’s acquisition is expected to initially drive innovation in the sports and workwear segments, before moving on to military applications.

Osmotek was founded by Novaresin, whose products include a new range of graphene-enhanced membranes for textile applications, which have been developed in conjunction with Directa Plus over the last year.

The incorporation of the company’s Graphene-based products enhances the textile membrane providing additional properties to the end fabric, such as electrical and thermal conductivity, bacteriostatic characteristics and abrasion resistance.

Giulio Cesareo, Chief Executive Officer of Directa Plus, said: “The establishment of Directa Textile Solutions represents a key milestone of our downstream integration strategy, and another step in the execution of our business plan. By moving up the value chain, we will be able to generate revenues from the provision of our G+ and also from the sale of the graphene-enhanced membrane to the end customer. Equally, we will be better able to communicate directly with major brands and so provide a product that meets their exact needs as well as pursuing our ingredient branding strategy.

“The market for smart textiles is vast. By partnering with a leading producer of textile membranes, Novaresin, with whom we have been working closely over the last year to develop graphene-enhanced textile membranes that are already being tested by a range of potential customers, we are strengthening our ability to target this key segment with our innovative, tailor-made solutions that have been independently certified as safe for human health and the environment. As a result, we are very excited about the prospects for Directa Plus Textile Solutions, which further increases our competitive position in the industry.”

Making tougher and lighter weight cycle clothing has long been an industry challenge, with Royal DSM brand Dyneema one such innovator featuring its technology in pro-tour cycle clothing.

To read more on Vittoria’s plans for Graphene, including how it could enhance the firm’s buyout of the Zehus motor business, here.