Plastics News reported that NASA’s test of the Orion spacecraft in December took advantage of spray polyurethane foam insulation on its second-stage liquid fuel tanks.
The spacecraft was successfully launched Dec. 5, the first such take-off since the Space Shuttle program ended.
Read more here.
Category: Innovation Bonds
Everyone knows that enormous amounts of helium fill Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons each year.
But, do you think about the volume of engineering, science and technology that go into making each balloon?
Did you know that the giant balloons seen by more than 50 million viewers across the world begin as a lump of clay?
The balloons are conceived, manufactured and cared for by 28 full-time studio employees in the Macy’s Parade Studio in Moonachie, New Jersey.
Here’s what happens when an idea becomes a parade balloon:
In the spirit of the season, let’s give thanks for the many ways that polyurethane improves and enhances our lives every day.
Below are some of the unique ways polyurethane enhances our Thanksgiving celebrations:
Healing people may not be the first thing that come to mind when you think of what polymers can do, but polyurethane-based films, adhesives and foams are useful for a variety of wound care treatments that help accelerate healing and prevent infection.
Adjustable Adhesives
Polyurethane raw materials have been successfully used internationally in wound dressings for more than 15 years, although utilization in the U.S. is just starting to expand. For example, Baymedix® A, a polyurethane-based adhesive from Bayer MaterialScience, has been used in a wide range of wound care and skin contact applications. In addition to being tolerant of...
Category: Innovation Bonds
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...
Category: Innovation Bonds
Fomo’s ColorwiseTM 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 ColorwiseTM Temperature-Indicating Nozzles and how the idea happened?
A. ColorwiseTM 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...
Category: 2014 Polyurethane Technical Conference, Innovation Bonds
Preferred RCSTM resin coasted sand with Dow TERAFORCETM 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 TERAFORCETM 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...
Category: 2014 Polyurethane Technical Conference, Innovation Bonds
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...
Category: 2014 Polyurethane Technical Conference, Innovation BondsThe Lubrizol Corporation’s LifeScience Polymer Market announced an innovative pharmaceutical-grade polyurethane that can be used in continuous drug delivery. This polyurethane application is being studied to relieve pain in cancer patients, combat HIV, act as an effective birth control method, and be used as a continuous drug delivery system for additional applications.
The wide variety of uses of this excipient-grade polyurethane is the result of its ability to slowly release drugs into a human’s body without degrading or breaking. Polyurethane’s durability helps ensure that the substance can remain intact inside the body for periods of up to eighteen...
Category: Innovation BondsPolyurethane provides lighter option for power transmission
Power transmission towers are a part of our landscape and a critical part of our country’s infrastructure. As new towers need to be constructed or old ones replaced, engineers are looking for ways to do so effectively. From production to installation to the long-term maintenance, these structures must be both cost effective and durable.
Dow’s VORAFORCETM polyurethane manufacturing system enables efficient production of strong, tough and durable composites for these transmission structures. With the filament winding fabrication technique afforded by this system, composites can be more easily used to construct this...
Category: Innovation Bonds