AsiaNanoTech, 'World's First' Technology Leads Absorbent Market

Economy in News · 2023.12.04

Chemical SAP, widely used in diapers and sanitary pads, absorbs 100 to 500 times its weight in water, but concerns have grown over skin irritation, endocrine disruption and other health risks, as well as microplastic pollution from a material that takes about 500 years to decompose.

In an interview, CEO Choong-hoon Lee explained how AsiaNanoTech used the porosity and absorbency of nanocellulose to develop CELLTELLA, a plant-based natural super absorbent described as a world first. It obtained a Korean patent in January 2021, has filed an international PCT application, and has passed safety reviews by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Products using the absorbent, including baby and adult diapers, sanitary pads, ice packs, meat pads and pet pads, went on sale in 2023. The company has also completed and begun selling a wildfire spread inhibitor and soil restorer, while pharmaceutical products such as an obesity treatment, artificial tears and wound bandages are in licensing and clinical stages.

Lee attributed this wide range of applications to the properties of O-CNF, a spherical nanocellulose that only AsiaNanoTech holds.