MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Bond Laminates GmbH, a subsidiary of specialty chemicals company Lanxess, has expanded its Tepex range of continuous-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic high-performance composites to include halogen-free flame-retardant versions with a polycarbonate matrix, as per the company's statement.
"Our new Tepex FR grades demonstrate exceptionally high flame retardance in tests to fire safety standard UL 94 of the US testing organization Underwriter Laboratories. They achieved the top V0 classification on UL’s Yellow Card at specimen thicknesses between 0.4 and 2 millimeters," says Jochen Bauder, Managing Director of Bond-Laminates.
Above all, he sees major potential for applications in the consumer electronics industry.
Tepex FR is supplied primarily in thicknesses of between 0.5 and 1.2 millimeters. Variations are available with glass, carbon or glass/carbon fiber reinforcement. The fiber volume content lies between 45% and 55%. The composite sheets exhibit excellent mechanical properties. For example, the flexural modulus of the carbon-reinforced grades lies between 40 and 54 GPa depending on the fiber content, and the modules of the glass-fiber-reinforced grades between 20 and 24 GPa (DIN EN ISO 178).
Their mechanical properties, low weight and ease of processing make these new composites especially suitable for the production of large, thin-walled and extremely stiff housing parts such as those used for notebooks, tablets and TV sets. "They are simpler to produce and require less process engineering than aluminum and magnesium. And compared to injection-molded component designs, Tepex can be used to produce thinner walls so that housings need less installation space," Bauder explains.
As MRC informed earlier, in July 2013, Lanxess celebrated the opening of its first production facility in Russia. In the new plant at the Lipetsk site, Lanxess subsidiary Rhein Chemie manufactures polymer-bound rubber additives for the markets in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), primarily for the automotive and tire industries. A production facility for the bladders used in tire production is to be added in 2016. The overall investment volume in euros amounts to a seven-digit figure and 40 new jobs will be created at the new plant in the medium term.
Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,000 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
MRC