BERLIN (BRAIN) — Vittoria has received an award for its successful commercial use of the new carbon material, graphene.
Graphene, considered a "two-dimensional" material because it is just one atom thick, was discovered in 2003. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their work with graphene.
While the material has received much media attention and its potential is considered enormous, its commercial applications are still relatively small. According to one report, the total market for graphene in all industries last year was $9 million.
Vittoria received the Commercialization Award from IDTechEx, a U.K.-based emerging technology firm. The award was announced the recent Printed Electronics Euro trade show in Germany.
Vittoria uses pristine graphene provided by Directa Plus in some of its new carbon-rim wheel models for road racing and mountain biking. It's one of the first commercial applications of graphene in a bicycle product. The company said that graphene increases rim strength and lateral stiffness by 50 percent, while reducing weight by 15 percent and improving braking heat management.
"Since September we are the first and only company producing and selling our carbon wheels with graphene in increasing numbers all around the world. Some are already used as service wheels in the big professional bike races. Our carbon wheels show a dramatic improvement of heat dissipation and significant increased material strength. The combination of our high-performance wheel and tire products with pristine Graphene is an innovative development that unlocks a whole new level of uncompromised performance," said Rudie Campagne, president and founder of Vittoria Industries Ltd.
Vittoria also plans to use graphene in new road and mountain bike tires set to be introduced later this year. Catlike also reportedly uses graphene in some helmet models.
More information: printedelectronicsworld 2015 award winners | vittoria.com/wheel/qurano-46/
