Smartisan Technology Becomes Global Partner of Anti-bacteria Technology Provider Sharklet

On December 3, niche smartphone brand Smartisan Technology held a launch event in Beijing, with the theme of “The old man and the sea”. It had been revealed that the new product had nothing to do with smartphones, but was in fact related to the medicare industry.

Luo Yonghao, founder of Smartisan and presenter at the event started telling a story of the American navy. Their ships would be corroded by sea water and seaweed, which would harm its functions. “The old man” here refers to Anthony Brennan, an American scientist from University of Florida, who came to find a solution to this problem.

“Sharklet pattern” with anti-bacteria functions (source: Smartisan)

The professor in the story took samples of shark skin, and found that its structure protects it from sea corrosion. Specifically, the structure of shark skin makes it anti bacterial.

comparison between dolphin and shark skins (source: Gabriel Li/ Pandaily)

Apart from sharks, other sea animals like mussels, crabs and dolphins also have bacteria repellent skin. The professor and his team then registered a company named Sharklet. The National Institute of Health in the US has been providing financial support to this company until a Hangzhou-based fund called Peaceful Union acquired Sharklet Technologies in 2017.

comparison of bacteria on ordinary and shark skin-like surface materials (source: Gabriel Li/ Pandaily)

It turns out that Luo came into contact with the antibacterial technology provider through Peaceful Union, and became the global partner of Sharklet. “New Technology, no matter how cool it is, still requires huge efforts in order to achieve future commercialization,” said Luo. It seems like Smartisan is going to dive into sanitation products and contribute to the commercialization of anti-bacterial sharklet patterns. The company is now officially looking for global partners to develop the anti-bacterial products. One of its partners is backpack manufacturer LEVEL 8, with anti-bacterial backpacks for children already available for pre-orders in China.

anti-bacterial backpacks for children available for pre-orders in China (source: Gabriel Li/ Pandaily)

For further applications, the sharklet technology can be widely applied in the medicare industry, which can be used for materials of urinary catheters, or injection catheters as well as other hospital furniture from doornobs to wheelchair ladder covers. According to American statistics, one in 25 hospitalized patients contract a bacterial infection during medical treatment. Other public facilities where the sharklet technology could be used include the small tables on planes, public toilets, fitness equipment and baby pacifiers.

application of sharklet technology in baby pacifiers (source: Smartisan)

If you want to explore China’s tech ecosystem but don’t know where to start, check out DecodeChina, a one-week immersion program organized by insiders from Pandaily. The latest installment will take place in Beijing and Shenzhen on January 13-19, 2020. Visit decode.pandaily.com to apply and secure a spot!