look what we did!Innovations From Polyurethane Manufacturers

Scientists Develop Sweat-Powered Polyurethane Battery

You’ve heard of renewable energy sources like the wind and the sun, but what about a stretchy battery powered by human sweat? It’s happening, and polyurethane helps make it all possible.

Who developed it?

Recently, a team of scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), developed the technology, which could have applications in the future for athletes interested in powering smart devices to measure performance. The new battery technology has the potential to limit bulky battery packs necessary to power electronic devices.

How does it work?

The wearable battery is powered by silver flakes that are contained in ink along...

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Polyurethane Advances Helicopter Technology

You may already know polyurethane is a smart choice for use in airplane parts. After all, polyurethane is durable and lightweight. But, did you know polyurethane-based parts and components play a key role in helping helicopters take off, fly and land safely? It’s true. The next time you see a helicopter hovering high above, consider just a few of the polyurethane parts on board.

The Seat

What’s that the pilot is sitting on? More than likely, that seat is made out of polyurethane foam. Polyurethane can mold to the body and keep it cushioned and safe at high speeds. A...

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Polyurethane Stories That Made Headlines in 2019

Polyurethane Modular Homes

At the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, Astrid Diaz, a Puerto Rico-based architect, announced her plans for a new polyurethane-based modular home. Her designs consist of polyurethane foam walls and a roof, reinforced with a steel frame, then covered with mortar. The homes — which can withstand winds of up to 184 miles per hour — blend in well with the existing architecture of similar structures that populate the island where there was a need for an estimated 75,000 homes in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

In spring,...

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Polyurethane Helps Data Centers Keep It Cool

As computer processing becomes progressively faster — able to handle larger amounts of data — and our world becomes even more connected, we find ourselves increasingly reliant on the complex and highly expensive computer hardware, housed in server rooms, that keeps it all running.  

Providing Ideal Conditions

A dry setting and cool temperature generally provide an ideal operating environment for this equipment. To maintain these optimal conditions, polyurethane often plays an important role. 

Temperature Control

You likely already know that PU is an effective and highly scalable insulator. In the form of open-cell, flexible foam, it can be used to...

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In Hollywood, It’s Lights, Camera, Polyurethane!

In response to a demand from audiences for objects and scenery that look real, today prop houses, set designers and costumers are busier than they have been in years. Polyurethane is helping these creative artisans achieve the kind of authenticity on the big screen that movie-going audiences both desire and demand.

A CGI Backlash

For the past few decades, Hollywood has been experiencing a renaissance driven by computer-generated imagery (CGI). As the years have progressed, the technology has grown more and more advanced. Through CGI, it’s now possible to create huge cityscapes, entire worlds and — of course — all...

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3D-Printed Polyurethane Webbing Helps Robots Develop a Gentler Touch

Could a new form of flexible polyurethane lace provide robots with a sense of touch? Researchers at Cornell University think they may have come up with the next big breakthrough in robotic sensory perception with a kind of webbing they refer to as “optical lace.”

How It’s Made

To create this new form of flexible lace, first engineers must 3D-print a lattice-type structure using polyurethane technology. Next, once the webbing is printed, it is then threaded with more than a dozen sensors along with LED lights to illuminate it. Finally, the entire structure is fitted snugly onto the robot.

The...

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Polyurethane Wheels Take Elevator Innovation Ever Skyward

As engineers build buildings ever skyward, issues of practicality, come into play. For example, take elevators.

The elevator banks in giant buildings structures are as much of a modern marvel as the skyscrapers they service. Elevators in these buildings and their components must be both well-thought-out and durable. Maybe that is why so many employ the use of polyurethane wheels in their design.

Polyurethane elevator wheels, with their excellent loadbearing properties and shock absorbing qualities, are an ideal choice to stand up to the taxing demands of busy elevator systems.

Taller Buildings Stretch Elevator Demand

Polyurethane elevator wheels are an...

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Looking for a Career Path with Promise? PU May Be Right for You!

If you’re one of the 80 percent of students who change their declared major or begin their college careers undeclared, listen up: a future in polyurethane may be right for you. The polyurethane industry is poised for growth over the next few decades and, as mentioned before in this blog, polyurethane is an essential contributor to the U.S. economy in ways that reverberate throughout the supply chain. 

There are several options for you to consider as you look to embark upon a viable and rewarding career:

Research & Development

Are you an idea person willing to work tirelessly to get...

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Will Polyurethane Supercapacitors Power the Prosthetics of Tomorrow?

As prosthetics grow ever more advanced — some now with a motorized function capable of grasping, pointing and even holding objects — one question remains: how will these futuristic limbs, which rely on considerable energy, be powered?

A Wearable Supercapacitor

Engineers at the University of Glasgow believe they have created a solution: a kind of electronic skin made from graphene, polyurethane and graphite that can generate and store solar energy for prosthetic devices. 

A thin layer of graphene acts as a solar converter, converting sunlight to electrical energy. The polyurethane-graphite composite sits below the graphene, acting as a supercapacitor that...

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