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Ceramics and glass business news of the week
Here is what we are hearing:
Integration of Hanse Chemie Inc. USA, into Evonik Goldschmidt Corp.
As of Jan. 1, 2012, the US Hanse Chemie business of Hanse Chemie AG and Nanoresins AG, has been merged into Evonik Goldschmidt Corp. At the same time, Hanse Chemie Inc. USA has been dissolved as a legal entity. The acquisition of the two firms by Evonik was finalized on May 12, 2011. Both companies are headquartered in Germany and produce raw materials and components for the manufacture of sealants, adhesives, molding and casting compounds, and other products. Most of the Hanse Chemie Inc. business is incorporated into the Interface & Performance business line whose activities surrounding the silicone specialties are directed at a variety of industrial markets. Activities in the paint and coatings industry, especially those concerning nanocomposites, extremely fine-particle silicas, are now part of the Coatings & Additives Business Unit of Evonik.
3M launches high density versions of its embedded capacitance material at DesignCon 2012
3M announced the initial availability of its high-capacitance Embedded Capacitance Material at DesignCon 2012, providing design engineers a new way to improve power integrity and reduce electromagnetic interference. Unlike previous 3M ECM versions, which have a maximum capacitance density of approximately 10 nF per square inch, and some existing commercial competitor offerings, which have a maximum capacitance density of approximately 6 nF per square inch, the 3M ECM high-capacitance density solutions offer a capacitance density range from 20 up to 40 nF per square inch, making it the one of the highest capacitance density, halogen-free ECM solutions on the market. This helps design engineers provide hi-fidelity signals, high-signal-to-noise ratio in radio frequencies and higher speed digital signals in a variety of high-performance applications such as small form factor computer hardware, high-performance RF boards, microphones, integrated circuit packaging and consumer electronics.
Mantec consolidates ceramic activities
Mantec, the British technology group with a portfolio of manufacturing businesses based in Stoke-on-Trent, has announced that with immediate effect the three companies previously operated as subsidiaries of the technical ceramic division have now merged into a single, business - Mantec Technical Ceramics Ltd (www.mantectechnicalceramics.com). The three companies involved are Taylor Tunnicliff, Ceramic Gas Products and Fairey Filtration Systems. They have in any case been operating under common management, from the same premises, for the past four years and so this a logical step to take. While the name of Mantec Technical Ceramics will now be the one associated with all administrative, legal, accounting and sales channels, leading brand names owned and manufactured by the group will naturally be retained.
Polycrystalline ceramics with cubic spinel structure transmit well in the visible and mid IR wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. ALON and magnesia spinel are especially attractive, and are leading lightweight transparent armor candidates for future combat systems. These have enormous performance advantage over glass and justify their rapid development. Surmet achieves full density and transparency using the conventional sinter/hot isostatic Ppress process that includes green body formation and high-temperature sintering, followed by HIPping.
Molycorp Inc. announced that Molibdenos y Metales S.A. (Molymet), the world’s largest processor of the strategic metals molybdenum and rhenium, has agreed to invest approximately $390 million in the company in exchange for 12.5 million shares of Molycorp common stock. The price of the Molycorp shares to be purchased were valued based on the 20-day volume weighted average share price as of the close of trading on Jan. 30, 2012 plus a 10% premium. Molycorp has agreed to appoint to its board of directors upon the closing of the proposed investment a nominee to be designated by Molymet.
Thermablok aerogel insulation strips installed in new ‘green’ US Border Patrol station in Texas
Crews working construction on the environmentally sustainable Fabens US Border Patrol Station in Clint, Texas have just completed installing 21,000 linear feet of Thermablok aerogel insulating strips on studs throughout the 51,000 square foot facility. The strips reduce thermal bridging, the prime cause of energy loss in buildings. When RVK Architects of San Antonio collaborated with Jacobs Engineering Group of Houston to design the eco-friendly structure already years in the planning, they included Thermablok in the original design. The strips went up easily since they have peel and stick adhesive already attached to the back of the product. The facility also is fitted with solar heaters, sky lights, glazed windows and energy efficient equipment for a low-carbon footprint.
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Toughened, flexible silica aerogel? Joint Japanese–Chinese group shows how to do it
Demonstration of the flexibility of cellulose–silica composite aerogel. Credit: J. Cai et al.; Angewandte Chemie.
This sounds like the type of breakthrough aerogel fans have yearning for.
A newly published paper in Angewandte Chemie reports on an Asian group’s success at using cellulose fibers as a scaffold/template for a resultant silica aerogel that delivers a product that has great mechanical strength and flexibility, while retaining a large surface area and semitransparency.
Aerogel has been something of a tease for many years. It has incredible insulating abilities, but the one enormous problem for silica aerogel is that it is frustratingly brittle and difficult to work into practical applications. Some developers have found limited success via hybridization techniques with support materials such as polyurethane, polystyrene or even nanofibrillar bacterial cellulose and microfibrillated cellulose gel.
However, with support from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s Foreign Researcher Fund of Japan and the National Basic Research Program of China, researchers at Wuhan University, China, and University of Tokyo, took a different cellulose-based route. They already knew that they could exploit “cellulose II” crystallinity (dissolution and then regeneration/reassembly of fibrils) to form aerogels with good mechanical strength, light transmittance and high porosity — characteristics that they suspected would make it an effective substrate for silica aerogel.
In brief, the group, led by Lina Zhang, impregnated a sample of nanoporous cellulose gel (with its interconnected nanofibrillar network) with a silica precursor, tetraethyl orthosilicate. According to the paper, “The resulting composite gels were dried with supercritical CO2 to give cellulose–silica aerogels with low density, moderate light transmittance, a large surface area, high mechanical integrity and excellent heat insulation.”
They then went one step farther and used calcination to remove the cellulose matrix, leaving a silica-only aerogel. The key point here is that this silica aerogel’s structure is much different than pure silica aerogel. In the latter, primary silica nanoparticles form and then randomly coagulate resulting in an isotropic 3D network. “In contrast,” again quoting from the paper, the authors say, “the formation of silica nanoparticles in the cellulose gel seems to cause their deposition onto the cellulose fibrils. As a result, removal of cellulose by calcination results in the nanofibrillar silica network.”
The group compared a variety of aerogels, including silica-only and cellulose-only aerogels; cellulose-silica composites, with varying levels of silica; and cellulose-templated silica aerogel.
What they found at the macroscopic level is that the composite aerogels didn’t inherit the fragility of the silica, but instead seem to inherit the flexibility and strength of the cellulose network (see knotted sample of one of the composites, above).
While the tensile modulus and strength of the cellulose–silica aerogel were less than pure cellulose aerogel, “the compression modulus of the composite (7.9MPa) is more than two orders of magnitude higher than that of silica aerogel, and about 50 times higher than that of the aerogel prepared from bacterial cellulose.”
Because of the cellulose content, the composite aerogels break down when used above 300°C. However, below that temperature, the cellulose-silica aerogel retained strong heat insulating properties. Thermal conductivity of the prepared samples ranged from 0.025 W m-1 K-1 to 0.045 W m-1 K-1.
These numbers compare favorably with polystyrene foam (0.030 W m-1 K-1), however, the researchers note that the ability of the cellulose–silica aerogels to perform up to 300°C give it a leg up on insulation materials made of polymer that soften and breakdown at similar temperatures.
“Thus,” according to the authors,”the cellulose–silica composite is potentially useful as heat insulating material with high mechanical stability, together with processability to form sheets, fibers, or beads. … [They] retained the mechanical strength and flexibility, large surface area, semitransparency, and low thermal conductivity of the cellulose aerogels. The ease of preparation and wide tuneability of composition/properties with this method are expected to form the basis for the development of various advanced nano-porous materials.”
The paper, ”Cellulose-silica nanocomposite aerogels by in situ formation of silica in cellulose gel,” (doi:10.1002/ange.201105730) is written by Jie Cai, Shilin Liu, Jiao Feng, Satoshi Kimura, Masahisa Wada, Shigenori Kuga, and Lina Zhang.
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Ceramics and glass business news of the week
Here is what we are hearing:
ClearEdge Power lands world’s largest utility fuel cell deal
Fuel cell maker ClearEdge Power has scored the mother of all utility deals: a 50 MW, $500 million deal with Austrian utility Güssing Renewable Energy. ClearEdge Power VP of Marketing Mike Upp tells me in an interview that Güssing will run the entire distributed network of fuel cells off of biogas, produced from the area’s forest and agricultural bi-products.
MGI: QuesTek helps develop software to model precipitation in multiphase and multicomponent systems
Thermo-Calc Software AB and QuesTek Innovations LLC have jointly developed TC-PRISMA, a powerful new user-friendly software package available from Thermo-Calc Software AB for modeling precipitation in multicomponent and multiphase systems, which is used in conjunction with well-established Thermo-Calc and DICTRA software. TC-PRISMA evaluates concurrent nucleation, growth and coarsening, and incorporates key models and algorithms from QuesTek’s PrecipiCalc precipitation simulation software. Charlie Kuehmann, QuesTek’s President and CEO, commented, “The launch of TC-PRISMA software is very timely given President Obama’s recent establishment of the Materials Genome Initiative. TC-PRISMA is an important new tool for materials design engineers to computationally design materials.
China’s cement growth slows in November 2011, but flat glass output accelerates
China’s building materials showed different momentum of growth in November 2011, with a slowing cement output growth and a speeding plate glass, according to latest statistics from the country’s top economic planner. Cement output growth in November 2011 stood at 11.2 percent year-on-year, 6.1 percentage points lower than previous year, while plate glass production expansion reached 7.1 percent year-on-year, quickening by by 0.5 percentage points from previous year. Still, China’s cement output reached 1.89 trillion tonnes in the first 11 months of last year, an increase 17.2 percent year-on-year, 1.6 percentage points faster than previous year. The output of flat glass, a sector fraught with overcapacity and duplicated construction problems, rose 17 percent year-on-year to 6.82 trillion weight boxes in the January-November period of last year.
AGA cookers go greener with aerogel ‘Cool Covers’
Designed as a simple retrofit option for the AGA Classic, Cool Covers are aerogel insulated and magnetically attach to the underside of hob lids to obstruct heat transfer from the hob plates to the lids. Not only do Cool Covers reduce total cooker energy consumption, but they also cut CO2 emissions by up to 0.55 tons/year, decrease kitchen temperatures in summer, and act as self-cleaning spatter guards to keep the lid liners clean.
Partnerships are key to the success of companies in printed, organic, and flexible electronics. To see which companies are best candidates for alliances, Lux Research applied the Lux Innovation Grid to rate technology developers in displays, organic photovoltaics, smart packaging, transparent conductive films and thin-film batteries, in a new report. ”Successful projects require bringing together companies to support the three key areas of expertise: materials, equipment and devices,” said Jonathan Melnick, Lux Research analyst and the lead author of the report. “Few, if any, companies have best-in-class capabilities in all of these areas, so picking partners with care is an essential component of a successful strategy.”
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Ceramics and glass business news of the week
Here’s what we are hearing (some information from news releases):
L&L Kiln introduces the Corona kiln
This fiber-lined kiln reaches 2012°F. Heat up time is quick: 15 minutes to 1600°F; 30 minutes to 1900°F. Inside dimensions are 7-3/4″ wide by 8-1/4″ deep by 5-3/4″ high. It weighs approximately 35 pounds and ships by UPS. This kiln is ideal for various precious metal clay firing, low fire small ceramic work, heat treating and glass work. The included automatic program control is an Orton Autofire Express with five Precious Metal Clay programs, three ACS programs and 12 custom programs. Each program has 8 segments with a ramp, soak and set point for each segment.
Surmet strengthens fabrication capability for transparent ceramic armor and IR optics products
Surmet, the manufacturer of ALON and magnesia Spinel, announces significant expansion of its optical fabrication capabilities, in each of its manufacturing facilities across three states in the US, (Murrieta, CA, Burlington, MA, and Buffalo, NY), occupying a total of over 100,000 sq. ft. All facilities are ISO 9001:2008 certified. Surmet’s precision fabrication capability includes a wide variety of shapes and sizes ranging in complexity from transparent ceramic armor windows, through prisms, lenses, hemispherical and hyper-hemispherical domes and windows for sensors, lasers and reconnaissance. Surmet’s fabrication capability extends beyond optical ceramics to materials such as sapphire, silicon and germanium.
Mastersizer 3000 wins award for innovation
Malvern, exhibiting at this year’s Powtech/Technopharm event is showing off its new Mastersizer 3000 on the Malvern stand. As part of the event, the Malvern team collected an Innovation Award for the Mastersizer 3000, which has the widest measurement range on the market in a single instrument (10 nanometers to 3.5 milllimeters), offering major advances in dry dispersion, and featuring software that brings Malvern expertise direct to the user during measurements, were all contributing factors in the Mastersizer 3000’s success.
Rubicon Technology ships 200,000th large diameter sapphire wafer
Rubicon announced that it has shipped a total of 200,000 six-inch sapphire wafers to the LED manufacturing industry. Sapphire, the base material used for the majority of LEDs, is used in consumer products such as LED-based lighting, HDTVs, laptops, netbooks, smart phones and tablets, and automotive lighting. Rubicon was instrumental in the development of large diameter sapphire wafers for use in the RFIC market and further developed the process to serve other markets requiring large diameter sapphire wafers, such as LED lighting and other semiconductor applications.
Enabled by Cabot’s aerogel, Sto launches innovative composite insulation system
Cabot Corp.’s aerogel is featured in Sto AG Deutschland’s new internal building insulation system. The super slim system, called StoTherm In Aevero, comprises a composite board combining Cabot’s aerogel particles for superior energy-savings performance with Sto’s binder and composite technology, resulting in an insulation board that offers greater energy efficiency than traditional materials. Cabot’s aerogel enables an ultra-low thermal conductivity of 0.016 W/mK (R9). Sto’s innovative binder technology and the system design afford permeability and moisture management, thereby managing humidity according to building requirements. The thin profile of the product allows improved insulation especially when interior space is at a premium.
High-temperature adhesive bonds aluminum oxide ceramics
Resisting temperatures to 3,200°F, Ceramabond 503 is applied by brush, spatula, or syringe and cures fully in 1-2 hours at 700°F. Inorganic, water-dispersed, aluminum oxide filled adhesive can achieve tensile-shear strength of 900 psi by curing further at 1,000°F. Inert and chemical resistant, Ceramabond 503 will not outgas in ultrahigh vacuum. Product features volume resistivity of 109 ohm cm and dielectric strength of 250 V/mil.
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Europe Union launches aerogel insulation research and commercialization project
Credit: ARMINES/MINES ParisTech/CEP.
A push like this in Europe was bound to happen sooner or later, and part of me thinks it would have been smart for the US, via the DOE, to put about $25 million of ARRA money (ah, the good old days) into something like this. Yesterday, CORDIS, the European Community Research and Development Information Service, announced that a consortium of research centers and two companies will be getting €4.3 million (about $5.8 million) for a four-year effort to find a real-world silica aeroegel that can be a “superinsulating material” and a widespread commercial success.
The announcement specifically mentions that the “AEROCOINs” effort will address the two major roadblocks currently preventing widespread use of classic silica aerogel: poor mechanical properties (e.g., it is highly fragile) and production costs. (I believe AEROCOINs is something of an abbreviation for aerogel construction insulation.)
CORDIS says
The AEROCOINs project proposes a clever combination of sol-gel chemistry and nanotechnology, which will rapidly advance the development of novel superinsulating aerogel materials.
The actual project is being conducted under the aegis of the EU’s R&D 2007-2013 Seventh Framework Program, and the FP7 project description provides a little more detail.
The AEROCOINs project proposes to create a new class of mechanically strong super-insulating aerogel composite/hybrid materials by overcoming the two major obstacles which have endured for so long and have prevented a more widespread use of silica-based aerogel insulation components in the building industry:
i) strengthening of silica aerogels by cross-linking with cellulosic polymers or the incorporation of cellulose-based nanofibers; and
ii) lowering the production cost of monolithic plates or boards of composite/hybrid aerogel materials via ambient drying and continuous production technology.
The European Union is providing €3.0 million of the project budget. The research centers include Tecnalia (Spain), ARMINES/MINES ParisTech (France), EMPA (Switzerland), VTT (Finland), ZAE Bayern (Germany) and Technical University of Lodz (Poland). The private companies involved in the effort are PCAS (France), Acciona Infraestructuras (Spain) and SEPAREX (France). Tecnalia will coordinate the project.
Tecnalia has already been involved in projects related to energy efficiency and new construction and the development of polymeric nanocomposites for curtain walls. EMPA has done work on aerogel plasters and the Swiss lab’s Matthias Koebel’s research group has been working in translucent aerogels for some time (pdf), so I suspect he will be involved. ZAE Bayern has also been working in sol-gel nanoporous materials.
FP7 projects are supposed to be vetted for a strong impact on the EU region, and the focus on a superinsulator sounds right. Last year, Lux Research issued a report about the appropriate emphasis of energy R&D in various developed regions of the world, and its report asserted that the energy-consumption pattern in many European nations is “dominated by heating” and that, for example, well over 25 percent of Germany’s energy consumption went into residential and commercial space heating.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Cabot and Aspen are also active in developing aerogel applications for the European market.
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