DPI colloquium - Innovation meets Nanotechnology
June 12th, 2007
Title: Polymer Innovation meets Nanotechnology
Speaker: Dr. Manfred Spindler
Member of the Board of Degussa GmbH
Inorganic fillers and organic modifiers have always played an important role when improving the properties of plastics in their different applications. But in most of these cases the addition of a filler at one hand improving some properties of a polymer on the other hand simultaneously had severe draw backs for other properties of the resulting composite. A typical example are rubber-based modifiers which increase the impact resistance of polymers, but at the same time reduce their stiffness, temperature of use, etc.
Some theoretical considerations predict that with nano-sized fillers these problems should be overcome and synergistic improvements of properties of the polymer matrix should be obtained. However, when compounding polymers with nanoparticles new problems show up: the huge surface of these particles induces very strong inter-particle forces which, without sophisticated counter-measures, lead to their strong agglomeration.
In recent years within our Project-House "Functional Polymers" we at Degussa have bundled the knowledge and technological skills available at our Areas of Compe-tence (AoC) to address and overcome the aforementioned hurdles with polymeric nanocomposites. Starting with highly efficient processes for "Inorganic Particle Design" and taking care of the strong interaction forces of nanoparticles by using appropriate measures of "Interfacial Technologies" and "Designing with Polymers" we indeed were able to realize the predicted synergistic nano-effect.
Event location: TU Eindhoven, Helix building
More information:
http://www.degussa.com/degussa/en/company/employees_management/management_supervisory_board/spindler
