Excellent news from the U.S. for ADVANCE®, the new line of anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-pollutant porcelain stoneware developed by Italcer, a leading Italian ceramics and luxury bathroom furnishings designer.
After several months of rigorous testing by the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), it has been confirmed that ADVANCE® ceramic material is capable of eliminating 100% of coronaviruses after six hours of light exposure and 90% after just 15 minutes. Further, ADVANCE® has also been proven to combat various types of bacteria – ranging from 95% to 100% after eight hours of exposure.
ADVANCE® also has an anti-pollutant effect due to its photocatalytic action, certified by the University of Turin, yielding a 20% decrease in NOx — the main pollutants generated by car combustion and industrial production gases — in three hours.
All the reports on the tests, conducted according to the relevant ISO and UNI standards, may be consulted on the dedicated site www.advanceceramic.it.
ADVANCE® – Antibacterial & Bio-Air Purifying — for which a patent was filed in late 2019 — is the ideal result of years of commitment and investment within the Italcer Group in the area of environmental sustainability. The new product is an innovative, next-generation ceramic tile, single-fired at a temperature of over 1,200°C, which stands out with anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-pollutant properties, and is also environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly, as it consists of over 40% recycled raw materials.
This significant innovation for indoor and outdoor uses offers environments with healthier, safer surfaces, in both residential and other settings, such as schools, hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and public places, in keeping with the high levels of hygiene demanded by all consumers.
The Italcer Group will apply ADVANCE® to various collections of its brands (Ceramica Rondine, La Fabbrica Ceramiche, AVA and Elios Ceramica), thus offering important new opportunities in contemporary architecture, hospitality and dining, in view of the performance of this new technology.
Graziano Verdi, Italcer Group’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are very pleased and satisfied that the tests done at the Tile Council of North America’s scientific laboratories met and exceeded our best expectations. This is an extraordinary result made possible by the important work done by our team led by Prof. Isidoro Giorgio Lesci and our extensive R&D investments exceeding 3% of our sales in recent years. This discovery will make it possible to improve the safety and hygiene of floor, wall and furnishing surfaces in both public and private settings, considering its possible applications not only in a home environment, but also in common facilities and spaces, thereby expanding the Group’s business at an international level.”
In the meantime, the Italcer hub created in 2017 by top manager Graziano Verdi, along with Alberto Forchielli and Lorenzo Stanca of the Mandarin Capital Partners fund, has set its sights on international growth. In addition to Europe, and in particular Spain as a possible next destination, the focus is on the US market with the goal of creating a 4.0 facility for large formats in the coming years.
