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NEXT GENERATION ADDITION-CURED HEAT-CURABLE ELASTOMERS (HCES) FOR HEALTHCARE AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
19 July 2004 - GE Advanced Materials
| GE Advanced Materials announces major enhancements to its Addisil family of addition- and heat-curable elastomers (HCEs) for next-generation properties that provide regulatory compliance, as well as enhanced mechanical performance and superior productivity. |
The new Addisil portfolio provides a complete range of product types – including both extrusion and injection-moulding grades that are available as one-component or two-component systems, and in hardnesses from 40 to 80 Shore A to cover the needs of multiple industries. The Addisil product family addresses key industry trends that support adoption of addition-curable HCE. The industry is increasingly looking for alternatives for peroxide-cured HCE systems to reduce odours and costly workplace protection measures such as special venting. Price pressure from market commoditisation is driving the need for new, high-performance applications and expansion into new sectors where higher mechanical performance is often required. Productivity needs and an increasing demand for shorter response times are calling for production flexibility and faster curing speeds. “Our Addisil line has been engineered to give processors, fabricators, and OEMs a competitive advantage and the opportunity to generate new business from applications that require regulatory compliance and increased performance and productivity,” said Egbert Klaassen, industry manager, Consumer Goods & Healthcare, GE Bayer Silicones. The Addisil portfolio includes products that meet key health and safety requirements, such as the European Pharmacopoeia VI.1.3.2, USP Class VI and DIN/ISO10993. Key healthcare applications may include catheters, minimally invasive devices, dialysis tubes, and wound drains (used for 29 days or less). The family’s industrial grades are suitable for compliance with the FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 and BfR XV food contact regulations. Main applications in this area include tubing for appliances or moulded kitchenware applications. Addition-cured Addisil rubber offers excellent mechanical performance vs peroxide-cured systems, including higher elongation and tear resistance and a higher reversion resistance. Improved transparency and less yellowness enhance applications where aesthetics or clarity are important. Examples of high-performance extrusion applications are tubing for peristaltic pump tubing and halogen free cables. Molded articles include insulators, hollow cores, cable accessories for high voltage, and spark plug boots for the automotive segment. Addisil’s rapid curing enables the production of applications with thicker walls and reduced cycle times. The material also provides a smooth, dry surface for excellent extrudability and reduced mould stickiness for faster demoulding. Addisil is offered as a one-component, ready-to-use system (eliminating the need for mixing) with a long pot life of three months or as a two-component system with a superior pot life of two to four weeks after mixing, offering greater production flexibility and reduced material losses. GE’s global organization supports Addisil with comprehensive services such as compound development, colour matching, technical support, customer trainings, and application development.
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About: GE Advanced Materials
GE Advanced Materials is a world leader in providing materials solutions through engineering thermoplastics, silicone-based products and technology platforms, and fused quartz and ceramics. Among its businesses are:• Silicones, which includes GE Toshiba Silicones in the Pacific region and GE Bayer Silicones in Europe, offers silanes, specialty silicones, urethane additives, adhesives, sealants, resins, and elastomers for a variety of industries such as personal care, automotive, tire and rubber, construction, healthcare, electronics, household and institutional, agriculture, textiles, appliances, bedding and furnishings, foam control, and consumer (http://www.gesilicones.com/gesilicones/am1/en/home.jsp); • Plastics is a global plastics materials supplier and distributor, which serves customers in a variety of industries including aerospace, appliances, automotive, building and construction, data storage and optical media, medical, electrical and electronics devices, telecommunications, computers and peripheral devices, outdoor vehicles and devices, and packaging (http://www.geplastics.com/); • Quartz produces high purity materials for the semiconductor, fiber optic, lamp making and water purification industries. GE Quartz is a leading supplier of quartz materials to the semiconductor industry (http://www.gequartz.com/en/index.htm); Established in 1968, GE Advanced Materials’ Specialty Film & Sheet business is a leading supplier of high-performance engineering film and sheet products to the United States, Europe, Africa, India, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and operates a worldwide network of sales, research, manufacturing and technical services facilities. Today, GE Advanced Materials, Specialty Film & Sheet employs about 600 people, and manufactures engineering sheet and film products at 12 facilities in 9 countries worldwide. Recent investments:
• 2003 New Roofing Structures Line in Italy, Europe
• 2003 New Coating Lines in China & Malaysia, Pacific
• 2002 Acquisition of Plastech, China
• 2001 New Film Lines in USA and Europe
• 2001 Acquisition of Carboron, Malaysia
• 2000 Acquisition of Matraplast, Canada
• 2000 Acquisition of Nim Plastics, USA Products:
GE Advanced Materials offers a variety of film materials are to meet different type of applications such as graphic film, coated products, electrical & electronic products, and specialties. The key film materials available today include:
• Lexan* Polycarbonate film
• Ultem* film
• Lexan* SLX film
• Valox* film
• Lexan* Illuminex* film GE Advanced Materials’ sheet product line includes a wide range of structures from solid sheet, multi-wall sheet and corrugated sheet through to coated sheet and laminates and combinations of each of these. The key sheet materials available today include:
• Lexan* Polycarbonate sheet
• Lexan* Solar Control IR sheet
• Margard* coated sheet
• Lexgard* laminated sheet
• Ultem* sheet
• Lexan EXL* sheet GE Advanced Materials, Specialty Film & Sheet, serves customers in a variety of industries including aircraft, appliances, automotive, building and construction, business machines, electrical & lighting, furnishing, greenhouse, industrial roofing, medical, electrical and electronics devices, telecommunications and packaging. In January 2004, in line with GE Corporate’ new brand architecture, GE Advanced Materials has announced the change of GE Structured Products business naming to GE Advanced Materials, Specialty Film & Sheet. |
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• For July 2004
• From GE Advanced Materials
• For Engineering Plastics
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