2 Dec 2003
CABOT CORPORATION AND GE PLASTICS PLAN TO DEVELOP LEXAN® THERMOCLEAR® SHEET WITH NANOGEL® TRANSLUCENT AEROGEL
(Frankfurt,Germany)Cabot Corporation (NYSE:CBT), a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, announced today its intention to work with GE Structured Products to jointly market a LEXAN® THERMOCLEAR® multi-wall sheet filled with NANOGEL® Translucent aerogel.
Manufactured exclusively by Cabot through a patented process, NANOGEL Translucent aerogel is a lightweight, nanoporous insulation material that when properly installed can deliver increased thermal insulation and light transmission levels between two and four times higher than alternative products currently available in the marketplace.
LEXAN THERMOCLEAR sheet, produced by GE Structured Products, is an impact resistant, energy saving, multi-wall polycarbonate glazing material that features a proprietary surface treatment which provides superior resistance to the degrading affects of UV light.
According to Bernd Springler, commercial leader, GE Structured Products Europe: “Bringing our two world-leading technologies together to create a NANOGEL filled LEXAN THERMOCLEAR sheet, will result in a new and exciting product for the construction industry. It is expected to be an extremely strong panel ideally suited for building features, such as translucent roofing or wall elements that offers outstanding light diffusion and thermal insulating properties.”
James Satterwhite, building and construction marketing director of NANOGEL at Cabot Corporation said, “NANOGEL filled LEXAN THERMOCLEAR multi-wall sheet will allow architects substantially greater design freedom, allowing a wider scope to maximize natural light to ‘museum light’ quality, and at the same time meet the increasingly lower U-values (higher
R-values) required by building insulation regulations. We see LEXAN THERMOCLEAR multi-wall sheet with NANOGEL aerogel as a breakthrough product that will stimulate innovation in building design.”
According to NASA researchers, aerogels are the “worlds most insulating solid material.” NANOGEL is a waterproof translucent aerogel that can be produced in a range of particle sizes to optimize appearance and fenestration performance. Importantly, in a 25mm section panel, NANOGEL delivers up to 40% light transmission and provides thermal insulation as low as 0.8 W/m2-K Value. Furthermore, it also provides an improved acoustic insulation of up to 5 dB.
LEXAN THERMOCLEAR multi-wall sheet with NANOGEL is expected to bring a wide range of benefits to building applications. These include:
* The use of larger panels for significantly improved light diffusion, without shadows and without the need for sunshades.
* Reduced energy costs due to significantly improved thermal insulation.
* Improved comfort due to better sound dampening.
* Superior aesthetic effects when viewed from either the exterior or interior of a building.
Reader enquiries
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Notes for editors
About Cabot Corporation
Cabot Corporation is a global specialty and materials company and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Cabot’s major products are carbon black, fumed silica, inkjet colorants, capacitor materials, and fine particles, comprising carbon, metals and metal oxides. Cabot has approximately 4 200 employees in 45 manufacturing plants located in 25 countries around the world. The website address is www.cabot-corp.com/nanogel.
About GE Structured Products
GE Structured Products, a business unit of the General Electric Company, is the global leader in the manufacturing of high-performance LEXAN sheet and film products. GE Structured Products’ portfolio of LEXAN products are used in thousands of applications and industries as diverse as building and construction to telecommunications.
As the leading supplier of high-performance engineering sheet and film products to markets in the United States, Europe, Africa, India, the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions, GE Structured Products operates a worldwide network of research, manufacturing and technical services facilities.
GE Plastics is a leading producer of engineering thermoplastics with major production facilities worldwide. GE Plastics materials, including LEXAN polycarbonate, are used in a wide variety of applications such as CDs and DVDs, automobile parts, computer housings, cookware, outdoor signage, cell phones, bullet- resistant shielding and building materials. Through its LNP Engineering Plastics business, the company is a worldwide leader in the custom compounding of engineering thermoplastics. In 2003 GE Plastics is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of LEXAN polycarbonate, discovered in 1953 by GE chemist Dr. Daniel W. Fox. The company's web site is located at www.geplastics.com, and to learn more about LEXAN visit www.gelexan.com.
LEXAN and THERMOCLEAR are registered trademarks of General Electric Company.
NANOGEL is a registered trademark of Cabot Corporation.
Editorial enquiries
Donald Beck
Cabot Corporation
Paulien Boumans
EMG