K 2007: WACKER Showcases Innovative Silicone Products and Solutions for the Plastics Industries

WACKER, the Munich-based chemical company, will use the “Power by Performance” motto to showcase a large number of product innovations for the plastics industries at K 2007, the world’s largest plastics fair to be held in Düsseldorf from October 24 to 31. WACKER’s portfolio will range from ultra-high molecular weight silicone additives, silicone-based thermoplastics and permanently flexible hybrid adhesives to oil-bleeding silicone rubber grades. A further focus will be the company’s extensive service and technical support portfolio, encompassing all aspects of the plastics-manufacturing and processing supply chain – ranging from idea generation and prototype manufacturing to after-market support.
At K 2007 in Düsseldorf, WACKER will be highlighting innovative silicone products, customized solutions and qualified service for the chemical and manufacturing industries. “The challenge facing our customers is their need to strengthen and expand their competitive edge through constant product and process innovation. That’s why we’re offering a great many different approaches at K 2007,” says Dr. Christoph von Plotho, president of the WACKER SILICONES business division, in explaining WACKER’s tradeshow program.
The solutions and service offerings on show are focusing on the entire supply chain, ranging from the development of new products to process engineering as well as packaging and logistics. WACKER will be using specific examples to spotlight the way in which product innovations, technical support and first-class service help to solve its customer’s complex problems.
WACKER will present several such solutions in a special energy-related exhibition at its booth. Examples include silicone-based thermoplastic films that enhance protection of solar modules and raise the efficiency of manufacturing processes. Also shown will be weather-resistant silicone insulators and silicone rubber safety cables that maintain electrical power during a fire.
Product Highlights
As at K 2004, WACKER will again be able to present a great many product highlights at this year’s show. Our silicone additive line, GENIOPLAST® Pellet S, offers a solution tailored to a large number of thermoplastics compounders. The product is a pelletized, ultra-high molecular weight polysiloxane that has proved highly effective in thermoplastics compounding as a processing auxiliary and as an additive.
GENIOPLAST® Pellet S is a flow improver and reduces deposits on the die. Compounders and processors benefit from increased throughput, reduced energy consumption and hence greater overall cost-effectiveness. GENIOPLAST® also makes it possible to considerably enhance the compound’s mechanical properties. The end products are notable for scratch-resistant and wear-resistant surfaces as well as a smoother and glossier look.
GENIOPLAST® Pellet S is so versatile that there is no need for traditional masterbatches. The compounder can get by with just a single product for a large number of different polymers, which greatly simplifies logistics. Preferred applications include compounds for cables, white goods, and automotive parts.
GENIOMER® for Polymer Films and Optical Applications
K 2004 saw WACKER premiering a silicone-based thermoplastic that combines specific properties of silicones with the features of thermoplastic (i.e. heat-softenable) polymers. Since its debut, the hybrid material has been marketed as GENIOMER® . Not only can it be processed like conventional thermoplastics, but it also has excellent release and slip properties, high UV stability and outstanding transparency. Additionally, GENIOMER® repels water and contains no catalysts or plasticizers.
At the upcoming K 2007, WACKER is focusing on various optical and polymer-film applications. For instance, GENIOMER® is ideal for embedding electronic and optical components. GENIOMER® films can be used, for example, to encapsulate solar modules in just one simple and effective processing step. As will be demonstrated at K 2007, GENIOMER® can also be used to (co-)extrude protective film and films for labels. The thermoplastic has good release properties and lends surfaces very pleasant haptic effects.
GENIOSIL® N 550: Hybrid Adhesive Offering Good Anchorage
GENIOSIL® N 550 is a novel hybrid adhesive from WACKER. It is a high-quality, permanently flexible adhesive and sealant based on silane-modified polymers. Well-known silicone properties such as resistance to high and low temperatures, UV and weathering resistance, high elasticity and good anchorage are combined with totally new ones such as paintability.
GENIOSIL® N 550 can be coated with appropriate paints either in a cured state or by a wet-on-wet process. A further plus is that its ready adhesion makes the use of primers unnecessary in most applications. Metals, plastics, wood and other materials can be bonded together and sealed. Typical applications include metal-panel bonding and (seam) seals in the automotive and shipbuilding sectors, in caravan, railcar and bus construction, mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as in household goods.
First-Ever Self-Adhesive Solid Silicone for Extrusion
WACKER’s range of innovations covers traditional solid silicones. For example, novel grades in the ELASTOSIL® R plus 4700 series. Our new elastomers adhere to a wide variety of substrates at atmospheric pressure. This makes them ideal for coextruding with metals, plastics and other silicones.
Our adhesion technology, for which a patent is pending, forms a chemical bond very quickly right in the heating tunnel. Productivity is thus on a par with standard extrudates. Complicated preparation, such as priming or flame treatment, is unnecessary. This not only lowers energy consumption and manufacturing costs, but also reduces the solvent load.
Novel Oil-Bleeding ELASTOSIL® LR 3800 Liquid Silicones and ELASTOSIL® R plus 4800 Solid Silicones
WACKER SILICONES is well known for its consistently high-quality liquid silicone rubber. The same can now be said of our self-lubricating product grades, the novel ELASTOSIL® LR 3800 line, which will be debuting at K 2007. The last digit in the numerical code indicates the oil content and thus the bleeding behavior. A complete range of oil contents and Shore hardnesses is available. The new line offers much easier processing. Besides being more resistant to injection molding, the new grades can also be molded faster and demolded more easily. Additionally, novel tear-resistant grades improve puncture resistance.
Where the 3800 line’s good mechanical properties are still not enough, WACKER’s new self-lubricating platinum-catalyzed ELASTOSIL® R plus 4800 solid silicones come into their own. Not only have they been especially designed for cable-bushing applications, but they also withstand exacting cable-bushing tests in which the elastomers do not tear or lose their seal quality.
Silicones with New Haptics and Transparency
Silicone elastomers are often seen as materials with a rather dull, non-slip surface. K 2007 will be WACKER’s showcase for ELASTOSIL® LR 3065 product grades, which have a greatly reduced coefficient of friction. The practical benefits are that components made of this material will slide more easily and are thus better suited to automatic assembly.
WACKER’s innovative ELASTOSIL® R plus 4305/90 likewise boasts very low friction and looks more like plastic than rubber. As the hardest silicone elastomer known to date, it can be used to manufacture rigid parts that previously needed non-silicone support materials. What is more, this silicone rubber is highly transparent.
ELASTOSIL® C: Silicone System Solutions for the Manufacture of Composite Parts
WACKER SILICONES is offering the composites industry a novel silicone rubber for the dimensionally accurate production of reusable vacuum bags: ELASTOSIL® C 1200. It is a two-part, platinum-curing low-viscosity silicone that cures in just a few minutes at room temperature without shrinking.
The ELASTOSIL® C system makes it possible to produce reusable, totally precision-fit, fabric-reinforced silicone vacuum bags by a spray-up or lay-up method. Exhibiting constant properties across a wide temperature range, the bags can be used repeatedly in autoclaves or ovens. After their production, the bags can be fitted onto the mold rapidly and reliably before the individual components are made. Continual time-consuming packing with conventional vacuum film before each part is produced is no longer necessary. At K 2007, WACKER employees will be giving live demonstrations on how to make these silicone bags.
In addition, K 2007 will be an opportunity for WACKER to showcase the following products:

* ELASTOSIL® RT 629 – a low-abrasion and at the same time antistatic elastomer for print pad applications
* GENIOSIL® organofunctional silanes for silane crosslinking and the manufacture of curable polyolefin compounds
* Donor silanes as co-catalysts in the Ziegler-Natta polymerization of polypropylene
* ELASTOSIL® AUX BTB for producing solid silicone foam with mixed-cell structures
* ELASTOSIL® FLR line of fluorinated liquid silicone rubber grades resistant to oils and fuels; these grades are designed for the automotive and aviation sectors
* Self-adhesive ELASTOSIL® LR 3070 liquid silicone rubber for the economical production of multicomponent moldings
* Transparent platinum-catalyzed solid silicones for optical and optoelectronic applications
* POWERSIL® silicone rubber for greater safety in the transmission and distribution sector

Visit WACKER at K 2007, Booth A 10, Hall 6.