News

Together with a large industrial consortium, VTT Technical Research of Espoo, Finland, has launched a €4.5-million project to speed-up the development of fibre-based products as alternatives to oil

FRX Polymers Inc of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA, has launched a range of non-halogenated polyphosphonates designed as a replacement for antimony (ATO) in brominated flame-retardant (FR) systems.

A consortium of international companies is being formed to drive the development of high-performance sheet moulding compound (HP-SMC), an established and cost-efficient material for the production

3M has added 4076 Extended Wear Medical Tape to its product portfolio.

Diab Americas of Desoto, Texas, USA, has invested in additional stabilization chambers to support the growing need for its Divinycell HT and Divinycell HP foam cores.

A water-based, flame-retardant (FR) acrylic coating is now available that its Japanese co-developers claim is halogen-free, transparent and suitable for application to a range of substrates, includ

A sustainable adhesion system for bonding textile reinforcing materials to rubber based compounds in tyres is being developed by Continental of Hanover, Germany, and Kordsa of İzmit, Turkey. 

Markforged of Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, is introducing two three-dimensional (3D) printers for carbon fibre-reinforced parts that it claims are fast and cheap.

Toray Industries of Tokyo, Japan, is to construct a polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) compound production facility at the site of its subsidiary and large-tow carbon fibre manufacturer Zoltek in Nyerges

A work jacket, the ergonomics of which have been adapted for an exoskeleton that supports employees carrying out overhead work, has been developed by researchers at the Hohenstein Institute in Bönn

BASF New Business of Ludwigshafen, Germany, has acquired the filament producer Innofil3D of Emmen, The Netherlands. 

Haydale of Ammanford, UK, has agreed heads of terms for a technical and commercial collaboration with Rogers Advanced Composites (RAC) Ltd of Fawley, UK. 

A solid-state flexible supercapacitor has been manufactured by using conductive graphene oxide ink to print electrodes onto cotton fabric by researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK.

A quick and accurate inspection method for composite components has been developed by FACC of Ried, Austria, and the Upper Austrian University of Applied Sciences and the Higher Technical College (

Automotive supplier Valeo is producing a top column module whose housing and levers are made of BASF’s Ultramid polyamide (PA) and Ultradur polybutylene terephthalate (PBT). 

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and nano-enhanced nonwovens are among the innovations to be exhibited by Technical Fibre Products (TFP) of Kendal, UK, at the CAMX show in Orlando, Florida,

Improved reinforced meshes for retropubic implants for the treatment of urinary incontinence and/or pelvic floor disorders are disclosed in US Patent 9 655 706 by Boston Scientific Scimed.

Advanced composites manufacturer Pentaxia is to double its existing production capability through the purchase of a large manufacturing site in Derby, UK. 

A mesh implant for use in the reconstruction of soft-tissue defects is disclosed by Novus Scientific in US Patent 9 668 847.

Standard Textile and Vestagen Protective Technologies have entered into a strategic partnership to market Vestex Active Barrier garments.