LANXESS participates in the VDI "Automotive Engineering Plastics" conference to showcase automotive materials and technical solutions

LANXESS will participate in the VDI "Engineering Plastics for Automotive" (PIAE) conference in Mannheim in 2021, focusing on material and technical solutions for climate protection, circular economy and lightweight design
.
The specialty chemicals company aims to be climate neutral by 2040 and to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (currently 2.
5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide) by 95% from the level when the company was founded in 2004
.
The High Performance Materials (HPM) business unit is making an important contribution to this with its nitrous oxide abatement unit, which was recently commissioned at the polyamide 6 production site in Antwerp
.
Dr Guenter Margraf, Head of Global Product Management at HPM, said: "From 2023, we will further reduce our annual emissions of CO2 equivalent by 30% by investing in an additional plant to reduce nitrous oxide and optimizing our processes.
tons
.
"

New design of charging port

Lanxess sees plenty of opportunities to use its Durethan brand of polyamides and polyesters from its Pocan product range not only in the powertrain of electric vehicles, but also in charging infrastructure
.
Potential applications include components for charging plugs, sockets and charging stations, as well as structures and covers for domestic charging stations (called wall boxes)
.
A range of dimensionally stable, flame-retardant, anti-tracking and mechanically strong materials have been developed for these components
.
A modular charging port design concept developed by HPM shows what is possible with these compounds
.
Margraf said: “With a tailored material combination, we get the right material in the right place
.
At the same time, the high level of functional integration makes the assembly of the entire unit easy, without any screws and with a minimum of parts, thus Keep costs low
.
"

New Design of Radar Sensors

Polyamides and polyesters are also good structural materials for components that make up driver assistance systems such as radar sensors
.
For the latter, HPM has developed a design that dissipates heat by combining thermally conductive plastic with metal cooling elements
.
The sensor assembly is assembled using integrated snaps and thermal rivets, a process that is much less costly and time-consuming than using screws
.
Compared to previous methods of making radar sensors, this concept offers greater freedom in choosing materials, favoring the use of custom compounds
.

Polyamide with waste glass fibers

Durethan ECO polyamide 6 compounds with recycled fiber contents of 30%, 35% and 60% (by weight) were another topic that received a lot of attention at the LANXESS booth at PIAE
.
Recycled fibers are made from post-industrial waste glass
.
The inspection company Ecocycle uses the mass balance method to check the content of recycled material and the long-term use of the waste stream, and has issued an ecoloop certificate according to ISO 14021:2016
.
The mass-balanced waste glass recycling is also certified by ISCC-Plus ("International Sustainability and Carbon Certification"), a globally recognized sustainability certification system
.
"We want to put more and more compounds on a sustainable basis in order to reduce our dependence on limited resource consumption and improve our carbon footprint," explains Margraf
.
In Mannheim, HPM will present other The new Durethan ECO material as well as the first Pocan Eco product, which also contains recycled fiberglass
.

Lightweight Electric Vehicle Composites

For example, the carrier of electrical and electronic components for electric vehicle battery systems illustrates LANXESS' expertise in lightweight design
.
Thanks to the Tepex continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite, the carrier has high dynamic strength and stiffness while being lightweight
.
Thomas Malek, Lightweight Design Specialist at HPM, explains: "Production in a cost-effective process using a hybrid molding process results in a highly integrated structural component that reliably meets the stringent mechanical safety requirements applicable to batteries.
requirements
.
The good flame-retardant properties of Tepex are also advantageous in battery systems
.
In particular, functionally integrated flat parts can be efficiently fabricated with Tepex, resulting in lightweight products while exhibiting high mechanical properties
.
”

Hollow profile mixing technology will be launched on the market

At the PIAE Congress, HPM will also present innovations on hollow profile mixing technology, which allows metal hollow profiles to be functionalized with injection molding compounds
.
Advantageous properties of the resulting lightweight components include torsional stiffness and strength far greater than those produced using "traditional" plastic-metal hybrid technology with sheet metal
.
Dr Matthias Theunissen, Lightweight Design Specialist at HPM, said: "We have taken a big step forward when optimizing our technology
.
For example, profiles no longer need to be internally supported by the high pressure of molten plastic
.
Our new lightweight The market launch of the second phase of the quality technology has now begun
.
We are already working on several customer projects, which are in the prototype stage
.
”

The VDI Automotive Engineering Plastics Conference will take place on September 8 and 9, 2021 at the Rosengarten Congress Center in Mannheim, Germany
.