We want to match what is possible with what is needed
Established in 2005, Direct Plus SpA, is one of the largest producers and suppliers of graphene-based products for use in consumer and industrial products. The company's products are natural, chemical-free and sustainably produced and found in commercial applications such as smart textiles, tyres, composite materials and environmental solutions among others. Giulio Cesareo, CEO & Founder, Directa Plus SpA talks about unique applications of graphene in textiles.
Directa Plus was founded in 2005 in the US, with the aim of creating a sustainable, scalable and simple way to produce graphene. From the very beginning we targeted existing, established markets in order to test the strength of the business model. We felt that if Directa Plus could conquer mature markets with its graphene, it could become an important player within the nanotech industry. Twelve years later, we are one of the largest producers and suppliers of graphene-based products and we still strongly believe in our original aims. We are currently commercialising our Graphene Plus in four main sectors: environmental, textiles, elastomers and composite materials. In the textiles sector, we have gone a step further and moved down the value chain through the acquisition of a membrane producer that we renamed Directa Textile Solutions.
We want to match what is possible with what is needed. For this reason, we always start by working on a product that enhances existing markets and has real-life applications, before moving on to consider future markets and futuristic products. For example, in the textiles sector we started from an innovative idea-printing a planar thermal circuit with Graphene Plus-and we used it to create products that are now commercially available. From this point, we'll evolve towards smart textiles, which will have applications for future markets that are yet to develop.
Our main two markets are the environmental and textiles sectors. We are expecting to develop further products first for environmental applications and then for textiles. In the future, we hope to create new production units abroad in order to work even more closely with our customers worldwide. (HO)
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