look what we did!Innovations From Polyurethane Manufacturers

Supporting Modern American Architecture

When it comes to insulating a home, spray polyurethane foam (SPF)  insulation is becoming as integral to the building process as good old fashioned bricks and mortar.

Contributing to American Design Excellence

The 2014 New American Home, located near Las Vegas, is considered one of America’s premier show homes. Produced and presented by the National Association of Home Builders, Leading Suppliers Council and Builder magazine, this modern 7,400-square-foot abode has all the comforts of home. Helping to make it so comfortable is SPF insulation.

Bayer provided its Bayseal® open-cell SPF insulation for the walls, as well as its Bayseal®...

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Breathing Down the Necks of Counterfeiters

A technology developed by a team at the University of Michigan, along with research partners in South Korea, has used polyurethane as part of a label that cannot be easily copied. 

 An array of tiny pillars on the top of a surface — comparable to a sub-microscopic toothbrush, says the team — hides the image beneath. When moisture from a breath gets between the minute polyurethane pillars, the image is revealed.

These labels could be produced and inserted into a variety of consumer goods and packaging including, pharmaceuticals, clothes, sneakers, and handbags. The durability of polyurethane ensures that the labels...

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ICIS Digital Interactive Magazine

More than 900 polyurethane professionals attended the 2014 Polyurethanes Technical Conference in Dallas. This is the premier industry event in North America. Learn about the latest developments in the polyurethanes industry in this ICIS interactive publication.

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BASF’s polyurethane chemistry gives runners and Adidas help with their ‘Boost’

How can polyurethane chemistry give runners the bounce they need to power through a 10k? BASF research scientist Dr. Frank Prissok has been developing the answer to that question. As a result, BASF’s new thermoplastic polyurethane, Infinergy^TM, has become an energy store for a runner or athlete, giving them a little extra spring in their step. Find out more about this incredible polyurethane science in our interview with Dr. Prissok below.

Q. What is Infinergy^TM and how did the idea for it happen?

A. Infinergy^TM is the first expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (E-TPU). It is a closed-cell elastic particle foam consisting of individual...

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Polyurethane: Form meets function

As a young architect, Frank Lloyd Wright worked for Louis Sullivan’s architecture firm in Chicago. Sullivan is known for designing some of the earliest skyscrapers using steel-frame constructions. His famous adage, “form follows function,” is still used by many architects who recognize the purpose of a building should be the starting point for its design. Wright later evolved the phrase to “form and function are one.”

Many architects continue to believe that the shape of a building should not be fashioned after some aesthetic tradition, but rather should be determined by the purpose of the building. Polyurethane products used in...

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Temperature indicating technology gets cool upgrade thanks to polyurethane science from Fomo

 Fomo’s Colorwise^TM Temperature-Indicating Nozzles have enabled easy use of temperature indicating technology for use with polyurethane foam. For many industries, including adhesive manufacturing and spray foam, chemical temperature is critical to a good end result. Find out more about this new development in temperature indicating technology in our interview with Mojee Cline, a Technical Department Manager at Fomo below.

Q.  Can you explain Fomo’s Colorwise^TM  Temperature-Indicating Nozzles and how the idea happened?

A. Colorwise^TM  Temperature Warning Nozzles change from clear to blue, indicating that the chemical has reached an extreme cold temperature and the foam should not be dispensed, a visual...

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Winning Papers and Posters from the 2014 Polyurethane Technical Conference

This year’s Polyurethanes Technical Conference featured 14 technical sessions and 59 technical presentations. The presentations spanned a range of topics, including: Appliances and energy critical foams, Automotive, Chemistry and fundamentals, Coatings and footwear, Construction, including PUR/PIR construction foam and spray polyurethane foam, Elastomers, Environment, health and safety, including general and specific to spray polyurethane foam, Flame retardants and combustibility, Flexible foams, Processing innovations, Renewable content polyols and Sustainability.

Dow rocks energy sector with polyurethane-coated sand

Preferred RCSTM resin coasted sand with Dow TERAFORCE^TM Technology is a polyurethane innovation that is changing the energy sector. A collaboration with Preferred Sands, the new and more sustainable technology has ability to help create jobs and contribute to a manufacturing renaissance in U.S. energy. We spoke with Juan Carlos Medina, Director of New Business Development at Dow, about this new innovation. Find out more in the interview below.

Q. Can you explain Dow’s TERAFORCE^TM Technology and how the idea for it happened?

A. So we were approached by a customer who had gone to other venues for help and then came...

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Novomer uses chemistry to reboot a more renewable manufacturing world

Manufacturing technology has gotten a reboot, thanks to Novomer Inc. The commercial introduction of Novomer’s Converge® polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polyols chemistry for use in polyurethane formulations has given innovators a new building block from which to design and create new products. From adhesives to coatings, sealants to elastomers, and rigid and flexible foams applications, Converge is taking on renewable resources in an innovative way. We spoke with Peter Shepard, Chief Business Officer for Novomer Inc. about the new product. Find out more in the interview below.

Q. What are Converge® polyols and how did the idea for it happen?

A. Our...

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