LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Graphene-based products producer Directa Plus announced on Tuesday that Ufficio Brevetti e Marchi - the Italian patent and trademark office - has granted a further two patents covering the company's proprietary G+ manufacturing process.
The AIM-traded firm now has a portfolio of 14 patents granted, and eight pending.

Patent MI2014A001123, for the "process for preparing graphene nanoplatelets", covers the the liquid exfoliation phase of Directa's technology, where the material passes from a 3D to 2D state.

The other - patent MI2014A001124L for the "continuous process for preparing pristine GNPs" - covers the entire production process of G+ pristine GNPs, which comprises natural graphite expansion, exfoliation and drying to obtain different grades and physical forms of G+ materials.

Directa's board said the patent is focused on the continuous character of the process while maintaining its inherent flexibility for the production of customised graphene-based products.

The whole production process does not involve the use of any type of chemistry nor oxidation steps, therefore providing pure materials already certified as non-toxic for human health, it explained.

"Our intellectual property is a key value driver for the business and so the continued widening of our patent protection is very important to us," said CEO Giulio Cesareo.

"It is a major step forward to achieve high volume production at a very low cost.

"These patents offer us excellent protection as we continue to see the commercial launch of more and more end-user products containing our technology."

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