Repsol and TactoTek will use polyolefins to develop smart surfaces

Repsol and TactoTek announced that they are seeking to expand the use of polyolefins in high-performance components, such as smart surfaces made from only other plastic materials.
polyolefins are used most widely in the automotive industry for their versatility, physical and mechanical properties, and light weight, reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
end of 2019, Repsol, through its investment fund Repsol Corporate Ventures, made an equity investment in Finnish start-up TattoTek

. The two companies are currently developing technologies for the manufacture of smart surfaces using polyolefins, mainly in the automotive sector, representing a material innovation that can provide new design and integration opportunities for different automotive parts.
2011® TattoTek, based in Oglu, Finland, has developed a manufacturing process called "in-mold structural electronics™ or IMSE." This innovative process integrates printed electronics and standard electronic components such as LEDs into 3D injection molded parts. With IMSE technology, almost any thin plastic surface can become a user interface without the need to incorporate mechanical buttons or other traditional controls.
This innovative technology, also known as plastronics (plastic integrated electronics), has been used in the automotive industry, for example, by integrating touch control, wireless connectivity and lighting into automotive interior panels, consumer electronics, to provide functional surfaces. Electronic devices used as clothing or accessories in any electronic device or wearable product.
Repsol is already a supplier of a wide range of products in the automotive sector, including fuels, lubricants and different polymeric materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene and polyols, which can be found in many internal and external vehicle components. In addition, in accordance with its sustainability strategy, the company has promoted a new circular economy model to recover materials used in vehicles that have reached their useful life. In this way, they can be recycled and used in the manufacturing process to obtain new high-performance ® the RepsolReciclex series.
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