La Provincia
02/10/2020

New materials. The results of the Cattolica University and Polyclinic research promote the product of the Como-based Directa Plus.

Graphene tissues have antiviral properties and can block Sars-Cov-2, the virus responsible for
the Covid-19 pandemic. The confirmation came from research conducted by a team of the department of neuroscience of the Cattolica University of Rome, carried out in collaboration with the Gemelli Polyclinic. In particular, the study certified that “G+” graphene, produced by Directa Plus of Lomazzo, a company operating in the ComoNext innovation hub and listed on the London Stock Exchange, stops the coronavirus. The tests conducted by Professor Massimiliano Papi, in fact, show how graphene can improve the filtering properties of tissues and almost completely inhibit the incidence of Sars-Cov-2: “The virus – explains Papi – is actually trapped in the tissue functionalised with graphene and inactivated, thus preventing contagion”. Giulio Cesareo, founder and CEO of Directa Plus, comments on the research results with great satisfaction: “This is excellent news for the protection of people’s health, which confirms the intuitions of our work group and gives even more value to the project that we started in the months of the lockdown and completed last June with the creation of a range of protective masks using graphene. Today – continues Cesareo – we have confirmation that our G+ Co-Masks, made with graphene-functionalised fabrics and filters, are able not only to guarantee passive protection, minimising the dispersion of droplets, but also active protection, blocking Sars-Cov-2 when the virus comes into contact with the mask. I believe that this discovery – concludes the entrepreneur – can open up further significant possibilities of use for fabrics and graphene filters “. To develop the graphene mask, Directa Plus tested over 180 materials, up to the choice of a highly breathable jersey, on which a smart graphene print is applied, able to distribute heat quickly on the fabric surface. The product of the Lomazzo company is antibacterial, antiviral, antistatic and manages to disperse excess heat, facilitating sanitation. “It is a project – says Cesareo – born during the emergency to put the properties of graphene at the service of community safety: the name Co-Mask, in addition to being a tribute to the territory of Como, in fact stands for community. The experiments made on the filtration of the air in order to create our mask – he concludes – represent the first step for specialising also in the purification of the air”. The mask is sold online (graphene-plus.com), in Como also at the Farmacia Internazionale chemists’s in via Domenico Fontana where an information corner has been set up. After the launch of this special mask, Directa Plus is also working on a collection of clothing and accessories with graphene, taking advantage of the antiviral properties of the material.