Brazil may be the source of just 1.6% of all nanotechnology research papers across the world, according to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), but it remains a leader among its Latin American neighbours due to its National Nanotechnology Programme.
Textile applications of nanotechnology have been designated a key area of investment under the 10-year-old government funding scheme by the federal ministry of science, technology, innovation and communication – a decision which is generating results for the industry today.
One beneficiary in Nanovetores, a Brazilian nanotechnology firm specialising in nano-encapsulation, which has units operating now in the US and Switzerland. Its textile applications have made a major difference to its bottom line: revenues of textile-specific nano-encapsulation technology currently account for 10% of the firm’s overall revenues. The Florianópolis, Santa Catarina state-based company has also incorporated this technology into a specialist legging developed by Brazilian clothing retailer Malwee, which uses nanotechnology to moisturise the wearer’s skin. Between 2013 and 2015, with Malwee selling well, Nanovetores’ revenues grew by 658% because of this and other successes, and its sales have continued to grow since.
With links between Zika-virus outbreaks in Brazil in late 2015 and a surge in microcephaly cases, Nanovetores saw one particular use of its technology, developed originally with outdoor activities in mind, soar in popularity. Nanovetores’s fibres with nano-encapsulation that emits mosquito repellent led to companies such as Megadose, a Brazilian maternity-wear brand, adopting Nanovetores’s technology for its clothing. By 2016, Nanovetores had doubled its number of active customers from the previous year to 1,500 clients, and expects to earn 16 million Brazilian Reals (US$5.1m) in 2017.
Ricardo Henrique Ramos, CEO of Nanovetores, said the Zika outbreaks helped promote success in deals with firms such as Megadose, which “started using this fibre precisely when the Zika crisis, dengue and Chikungunya attacked Brazil, and so this repellent was very welcome,” says Ramos. “It ended up being very popular, this type of product.”
Nor was Megadose the only Brazilian textile firm to begin using fibres permeated with repellent-bearing nano-capsules in the wake of the Zika outbreak. Small São Paulo-based smart-textile firm Lalitex and technology company Cedro Technologies (Cedro Tech), also based in São Paulo, both launched similar fibres, designed to emit repellent when worn. Meanwhile Nanovetores, Cedro Tech and other firms such as Marisol SA, based in Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina, are also using nano-encapsulation techniques to bestow other properties on textiles, such as the capacity to emit fragrances, combat cellulite and regulate body temperature.
Brazil’s efforts to promote nanotechnology are consistent with a strategy among BRICS countries to develop nanotechnology products. However, Brazil’s companies still struggle to register nanotechnology patents via the country’s bureaucratic patent system, limiting capacity for research to hit related markets including textiles. Additionally, end prices for consumers remain a factor, with nanotech increasing garment prices by between 10% and 30%.
Nonetheless, the adoption of nanotechnology by Brazilian industry, where possible, signals potential for significant market growth in future. André Limp, supervisor for fashion, technology and creative economy at the Brazilian Company for the Promotion of Exports (Apex-Brasil – Agência Brasileira de Promoção de Exportações e Investimentos), believes that the adaptability of Brazil’s textile industry is one of the reasons for its success as a textile producer.
“Brazil is the fifth-largest textile industry in the world,” says Limp. “Together with the Brazilian Association for Textile and Confederation Producers (ABIT – Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção), we are making an effort to boost Brazilian fashion exports, with a focus on technology and innovation. We have already seen great advances in both volumes and export values.”
Source: www.wtin.com