 "Vikas Bardiya")
It's an allotrope of carbon that has become a buzzword in industry for its tensile strength, which is about 100x that of steel of the same thickness. Scientists say the material, graphene, isn't something new and has, in fact, been used unknowingly for centuries in pencils and other applications of graphite. But its rediscovery in 2004 got scientists at the University of Manchester the Physics Nobel in 2010. Graphene today has applications in semiconductors, electronics, solar cells, smart phones, filtration, construction and even bio-engineering and cleaning up oil spills.
And now, Nanomatrix, a self-funded startup established in February 2020 by second-generation entrepreneur Vikas Bardiya, is using patented Graphene-Silver, a strong anti-viral and anti-bacterial substance, in non-surgical and N95 face masks.
Says Bardiya, who has been involved in the business of graphite--the key ingredient in graphene--for more than decade: "Most non-surgical face masks in the market can only stop the virus from coming in contact with you. But our membranes, when layered on to such masks, also destroy the virus instantly. The membrane is also used in air filtration, to serve the same purpose."
The Nanomatrix journey
Bardiya tied up with old industry connections Arvind Bhardwaj and Anupam Kumar, two experienced nanotechnology researchers who later co-founded the company with him. Two years ago, the trio set up a team of scientists and technical advisors led by Dr Pankaj Poddar of CSIR-NCL, Pune and Prof Tarkeshwar Kumar of IIT (ISM), Dhanbad. Nanomatrix is supported by the four-decade-old Bardiya group, led by Rajendra K Bardiya.
The team encountered considerable hiccups, most of which were related to limited hours of laboratory work brought on by the lockdown curbs, before achieving its first technological breakthrough with NMG-Tx, a patented substance with anti-microbial properties based on graphene-silver nanotechnology, and with applications air-filtration. The invention would eventually find its way into 'G1 Wonders' a branded face mask from Nanomatrix.
Bardiya claims filters coated with NMG-Tx do not lose their efficiency even after 50 washes. He claims this is not the case with other chemical-based coatings, which lose efficacy after a few washes only. In any case, other masks are susceptible to virus colonisation, which makes them unsuitable for extended use.
Bardiya says the team of scientists conceived the product soon after the announcement of the nationwide lockdown late last March. It took them until November to develop it to a level acceptable enough to be able to officially launch it.
Another challenge that Nanomatrix faced initially was resistance from mask makers who knew little about graphene.
"Therefore to show exactly what graphene is, and why it is a wonder material, we launched the consumer brand G1 Wonders in three ranges for the general public to use," says Bardiya. Initially the masks were launched online, mostly on e-commerce marketplaces.
"However, there were certain restrictions as a matter of policy on these platforms regarding the promotion of masks, so we had to immediately focus on other modes of marketing and channel creation, including dealer distribution networks. We currently have our networks in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and a few Tier-II cities," say Bardiya.
He adds that Nanomatrix has tied up with Delhi-based Paramount Surgimed, well-known mask makers who have been into the medical supplies business for the past three decades. He also has a few textile customers whose names he cannot reveal due to the existence of non-disclosure agreements. But he does mention that Nanomatrix has about Rs 5 crore in this project and has started exporting to Salutern Corp in the US, and Prosource Resources in Thailand, apart from importers in the UAE.
Bardiya says, "We have recently introduced a new range of filters for air Conditioners using NMG-Tx to purify the room by sterilising airborne microbes and eliminating dust particles and harmful VOC/gases. The nanocomposite can also be used in textiles to make the fabric anti-microbial. We plan to extend this technology to HVAC systems and designing filter media for hospitals, malls and airports."
The contrarian view
Prof Dipankar Bandopadhyay of IIT Guwahati's Chemical Engineering department isn't convinced about the use of graphene in masks, and says they are full of flakes. So if there is a D band (defect-activated band), there will be gaps through which viruses can enter.
"Single-layer sheets are not available commercially or are very costly. Moreover, the assembly of flakes is dangerous for cells because their sharp ends cause mechanical damage to the living cells." he adds. "Further such nanoflakes may enter the respiratory system too. The high surface-to-volume ratio could permit ailments such as black fungus to proliferate."
Bardiya, on the other hand, is confident about his technology, which he claims has been tested at several laboratories on different pathogens. One such was the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, an ICMR laboratory where the solution form of the technology was tested against SARS-Cov-2.
Fabrics coated with the invention were examined for efficacy against coronavirus at Himway Test House and for other viruses such as H1N1 and measles at Bureau Veritas and Seagull Bio Solutions.
The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA), had conducted tests on various bacteria.
The graphene market
The global market for graphene across uses was just shy of $90 million in 2019, but is expected to grow at a 40 per cent CAGR between 2020 and 2027, to reach ten times that size, according to Bengaluru-based market research company Valuates. Reports say the thrust could be exponentially greater if experiments to replace lithuim-ion in electric vehicle batteries with this material prove successful. Valuates was unable to provide market data specific to India.
Some of the major players in the global market include China's Knano Graphene Technology, and US-based firms ACS Material and Angstron Materials. India has seen quite a few players enter the field, with Tata Steel evincing interest in the sector a few years ago.
Bardiya says the market is huge and there is place for all. What gives his company the edge is that it works on the concept of mine-to-consumer, under which all operations starting from the excavation of graphite to the production and sale of graphene and graphene-based products are controlled by his group.
