Easton Sports has an 82-year
history of leading the market by developing new materials to achieve enhanced
performance in sporting goods.
Easton's Bicycle Division recently announced its breakthrough in composite
materials with the launch of their new proprietary material featuring Zyvex's
Carbon NanoTube (CNT) additive, NanoSolve. The division features
NanoSolve CNT technology in many of its 2005 line of bicycle components.
Zyvex, a leader in the processing of carbon nanotubes, was selected by
Easton as the partner that best meets the goal of incorporating CNT technology
effectively in its products. Utilizing breakthroughs from ongoing programs
such as its NASA SBIR contract for composite development, Zyvex has earned a
reputation as the leader in the commercialization of nanotechnology by
providing materials, tools, and structures to meet real-world applications.
"Easton, known for its innovation, originality, and ingenuity, has
continued to raise the bar by offering innovative products based on the most
advanced composite materials. We're pleased that our NanoSolve materials are
an integral part of their product development," said Zyvex President Thomas A.
Cellucci, PhD, MBA.
While scientists have known about carbon nanotubes since 1991, their
superior mechanical properties were inhibited by phase separation and
clumping. Like throwing a wadded up steel cable into concrete, "it doesn't do
much good, no matter how strong the cable is" according to Larry Carlson, VP
of R&D at Easton, "Zyvex's technology helped us use the full properties of
nanotubes, by unbundling them and integrating them into the composite
material."
Added John Harrington, Vice President of Easton Sports Bicycle Division,
"we saw a large increase in the strength and toughness of the composite when
the nanotubes were properly functionalized. With that achievement, we were
able to create lighter and stronger bicycle components."
Robert Folaron, Zyvex's Director of Product Development sees the
commercialization of nanotechnology accelerating with such collaborations,
"The Easton-Zyvex partnership offers an opportunity for two leaders to rapidly
develop a CNT-enhanced composite and quickly adopt it into a product line.
We're proud to help deliver the promise of nanotechnology to Easton's bicycle
products."
Carbon Nanotubes are molecules of pure carbon atoms joined together
molecularly to form a carbon tube that is one billionth of a meter in
diameter. Properly used, these nanotubes provide amazing strength and
toughness to a composite system. A carbon nanotube is over 20 times stronger
than steel, yet with only 1/6th its density.
