plastics - The customer magazine from BASF 1/2009

The customer magazine from BASF 1/2009 

www.plastics-magazine.com 

Focus: 

Research 

BASF Plastics – key to your success

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Editorial 

“We are working 

on the future” 

Dr. Martin 

Brudermüller 

Dear Readers, 

The world is still in the throes of the economic 

crisis and the recovery will be slow 

to come. BASF is, of course, also affected 

by this recession. Our sales in the first quarter 

of 2009 fell by 23 percent in comparison 

to the previous year, and the EBIT dropped 

by a full 58 percent. 

“As for the future, your task is not to foresee 

it, but to enable it.” A nice quote from Antoine 

de Saint-Exupéry. Instead of trying to 

guess what the future has in store for us, we 

should work to make sure that new and better 

things will come along, things that translate 

into genuine progress. And what says 

“working hard for the future” better than research? 

Every year, BASF pours well over 

one billion euros into research. BASF researchers 

are constantly working on new or 

improved products and processes for their 

customers, helping them deal with problems 

such as dwindling resources. Especially 

here, the plastics industry has quite a lot to 

offer – be it products that allow lightweight 

designs, that can replace metal or that contribute 

to energy-efficient construction and 

housing. After all, wherever energy consumption 

or weight can be reduced in the 

overall balance, resources and thus money 

can be saved. 

BASF Research has a number of novelties 

to showcase, as you will be able to read in 

this issue of “plastics”. We will also show 

you which research products have already 

made their way into new applications of our 

customers, for instance, in the automotive, 

household and packaging sectors. 

Enjoy your reading, 

Dr. Martin Brudermüller 

Member of the Board of Executive Directors 

Responsible for the Plastics segment and 

the Asia, Pacific Rim region 

3

Contents 

Research means laying down the 

foundation for continued success in 

the future as well. Especially in 

these economically challenging 

times, BASF is working hard to 

find new plastic solutions for its 

customers. 

Page 8 

Focus: Research 

Thinking ahead to develop 8 

the plastics of the future 

BASF Polymer Research seeking solutions 

for the world of tomorrow 

Interview 12 

With Dr. Christian Fischer, 

head of Polymer Research 

Content 

is 

linked! 

Automotive 

Faster towards new components 14 

Expanded CAE competence by BASF 

Keeping sparks at bay 14 

Electrically conductive POM 

Ultramid in the fast lane 16 

Safety and esthetics for the Opel Insignia 

No problems with fuel 16 

New generation of quick connectors 

Boom in high-tech 17 

automatic transmissions 

Control units for dual-clutch transmissions 

Making brakes lightweight 17 

Compressed-air reservoirs for trucks 

An air-intake manifold – 18 

and more – for the Nano 

BASF solutions for the Tata Nano 

A hidden masterpiece: 19 

Polyamide ensures tire safety 

With adipic acid by BASF 

Sporty and light with 20 

a body made of plastic 

With a lightweight body made of Polyurethane 

Sport 

Visionary shoe made of 22 

polyurethane: PURE 1.0 

Concept shoe shows the potentials of PUR 

Green as grass 23 

but less sensitive 

Artificial turf with a cusion made of Neopolen 

Region 

A region on the move 24 

The plastic industry in Central Europe 

has constantly grown 

Three questions to … 27 

Stefan Rotter, BASF’s head of sales for 

engineering plastics in Central Europe 

The Artega, a 300-horsepower 

sports car, is the first with a body 

made entirely of BASF polyurethane. 

It weighs a mere 3.72 kg/HP. 

Page 20 

4

PL 

Contents 

CZ 

SK 

AT 

H 

SLO 

HR 

BiH SRB 

MNE KS 

MK 

AL 

RO 

BG 

BASF is very active in Poland, 

the Czech Republic, Croatia and 

Slovenia. Based in these countries, 

companies such as Gorenje and 

Zelmer have set out to conquer the 

entire European market. 

Page 24 

Building + Construction 

Swimming quietly 28 

Basotect in the Beijing swimming stadium 

On the safe side 29 

Palusol SW fire-protection panels certified 

Feelgood factor for terraces 29 

With Luran S UV-resistant 

and unaffected by the environment 

Get active, build a passive house 30 

BASF insulating materials 

contribute energy saving 

Miniature passive house 30 

on its travels 

Mobile Energy Saving House by BASF 

Insulation of roller shutter casings 31 

with the BASF foam Basotect 

Official approval for multilayer 31 

XPS under foundation slab 

Household + Living 

Vegetation as inspiration 32 

Designer chair made of Miramid 

From windshield wipers 33 

to coffee machines 

New Ultradur types for contact with food 

Packaging 

Shrinking without wrinkles 34 

New application for Styrolux HS 70 

Milk on the light side 34 

Lightest half-liter polystyrene bottle in the world 

Well-anchored, no wobbling 35 

Stretch hoods made of Styroflex 

Iridescent like a rainbow 36 

Effect film Aurora for packaging 

Going shopping 37 

with renewable materials 

Biodegradable plastic Ecovio in 

ALDI shopping bags 

Miscellaneous 

Colorful flying machines 38 

made of Neopolen 

Drinking in the view 38 

Play to Win | 

Calender of Events | 

Flag 

Win a Polar watch 39 

Calendar of Events 39 

Trade fairs and events 

that BASF will attend 

Imprint 39 

The designers Bouroullec have developed 

a new chair that resembles 

the branches of a tree. It was made 

with Miramid polyamide employing 

the GIT process. 

Page 32 

5

Focus Research 

Thinking ahead to develop 

A very close view of 

Neopor and its foam 

structure 

6


the plastics of the future 

BASF Polymer Research seeking solutions for the world of tomorrow 

7


Urbanization, growing mobility and an 

ever-increasing demand for energy – 

these are the major trends that will decisively 

shape our future. As an innovationdriven 

company, we at BASF feel that we 

can be the masters of our future as we influence 

the developments that will impact upon 

our lives. It is these challenges and the ensuing 

requirements of our customers that drive 

research at BASF. This is why BASF invested 

around 1.35 billion euros in research and 

development in 2008. 

“Earlier crises have shown that the companies 

that pursue innovation, precisely in difficult 

times, are the ones to emerge from a crisis 

even stronger,” explains Dr. Christian Fischer, 

head of Polymer Research at BASF 

(see interview on page 12). “It is our aim to 

offer our customers products with which they 

can stay one step ahead of the competition, 

for instance, plastics that help to reduce 

weight in the manufacture of cars or to tap 

into new market segments such as LED 

technology.” 

New plastic blends combine 

the best of two products 

One way to extract new qualities from known 

materials is to mix different plas tics. “The 

idea is to combine the good properties of 

two polymers and to offset the less desirable 

ones,” elaborates Dr. Martin Weber, expert 

for blends at BASF Plastics Research. Most 

polymers are not really compatible with each 

other, which is why they break down into 

separate phases on the microscopic level. 

“The secret lies in controlling this separation 

in such a way that adhesion between the 

phases is retained.” 

A proven BASF product in this 

context is Terblend ® N, a mixture 

of ABS and 

polyamide 

(PA). This 

material 

combines 

the 

toughness of 

ABS with the 

thermal stability of polyamide, while reducing 

the disadvantageous aspects such as, for 

example, inadequate low-temperature impact 

resistance. BASF researchers have developed 

a new Terblend N that now combines polyamide 

with the more UV-resistant ASA 

rather than with ABS. As a result, the ASA-PA 

blend is very color-stable, opening up new 

applications in automotive construction, especially 

where parts are exposed to sun and 

thus had to be coated up until now. 

The type of polyamide used and the mixing 

ratio of the components also play a decisive 

role in increasing the flowability. “The new 

Terblend N NM-21 EF yields considerably 

larger and more complex parts without flow 

marks,” says Dr. Marko Blinzler, product 

manager. “Moreover, finely structured, matt 

surfaces can be made employing even 

lower pressures or lower mold temperatures. 

This, in turn, translates 

into a reduction in system 

costs and cycle 

times.” 

8


Blindtext Blindtext 

Blindtext Blindtexext 


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Blindtext 

Dr. Hans-Helmut 

Görtz, Dr. Dietrich 

Scherzer, Dr. Martin 

Klatt and Dr. Klaus 

Hahn (from left) discuss 

a result of the 

latest research 

Another way to discover attractive new sides 

of familiar polymers is to use new processing 

methods. BASF not only has decades of 

experience with all kinds of plastics but it 

also possesses vast expertise in processing 

them, for instance, in foaming polymers. This 

is evidenced by successful products such as 

Styropor and Neopor. 

Tried and true plastics for new foams 

“We merge these two competences as we 

strive to combine spe cific properties of plastics 

with the low weight and insulating capacity 

of foams. In other words, we are making 

foams with plastics that had not been used 

in this way before,” explains Dr. Klaus Hahn, 

specialist for foams at Polymer Research. 

The new foams show a great deal of potential 

for the realm of automotive con struction, 

among others. As electric cars become more 

and more popular, the question arises, “How 

can you heat them in the winter?” Up until 

now, the heat dissipated by the internalcombustion 

engine has kept the feet of passengers 

warm. A battery, however, does not 

generate this heat automatically as a waste 

product. “This is why there will be an interest 

in moving away from passenger compartments 

made of metal, since its heat conductivity 

is too high,” explains Dr. Hahn. “The 

idea is to find a foam that provides good 

thermal insulation and that is also very stable 

and temperature-resistant.” In addition to 

this, the new foam should also be able to 

absorb energy in case of a collision. 

AMSAN is the latest addition to the foam 

family. Up until now, this α-methyl-styreneacrylonitrile 

copolymer has been admixed, in 

unfoamed form, with ABS in order to improve 

its thermal stability. This is how heat-resistant 

Terluran HH for the automotive industry is 

made. “We managed to foam AMSAN, and 

in this process, we obtained a rigid foam that 

is thermally stable up to a temperature of 

110°C,” states Dr. Ingo Bellin, who was involved 

in developing this product at the Research 

Department. This new foam is also 

highly chemical-resistant. 

Modern internal-combustion engines are 

supposed to consume less fuel and yet deliver 

a high performance. Now that they are 

9


The flowability can 

be shown with a 

flow spiral 

smaller and more compact, they become 

much hotter which, in turn, raises the requirements 

made of the material in the engine 

compartment. 

Plastics that are more heat-resistant 

replace metal 

Ultramid ® , BASF’s polyamide, has long since 

replaced metal for such components as 

intake manifolds and engine cov ers. “We are 

constantly working on further improving the 

temperature resistance of polyamide. This 

means that we are well prepared for the 

coming generation of high-performance 

engines,” adds Dr. Martin Klatt, responsible 

for the further development of engineering 

plastics at Polymer Research. 

One way to bring the properties of plastics 

even closer to those of metal is to use continuous 

glass fibers. “We normally enhance 

the stiffness of plastics by a factor of about 

three by using short glass fibers. If we could 

succeed in incorpo rating continuous glass 

fibers into the plastic, then the stiffness could 

be increased much more,” explains Dr. Klatt 

enthusiastically, although with a caveat, “It 

is still early days; a few hurdles will have to 

be overcome before we have a commercial 

product.” 

Nanotechnology: miniscule particles 

for maximum effect 

From continuous filaments to nanoparticles: 

BASF’s plastics researchers have recently 

developed a new method with which an additive 

in the form of so-called carbon nanotubes 

imparts the plastic POM (polyoxy- 

methylene) with high elec tric conductivity 

without altering its other properties (more on 

this on page 14). This modified POM is of 

interest in applications where electrostatic 

charging and thus the possibility of spark 

formation have to be prevented. 

Other nanoparticles, finely dispersed in the 

plastic matrix, can significantly lower the melt 

viscosity, so that the flowability can be doubled 

at times. The size of these additive 

particles is about 50 to 300 nanometers: one 

nanometer corres ponds to the length of 

merely four adjacent atoms in a piece of 

metal. In prin ciple, these miniscule particles 

function like the tree trunks used by the ancient 

Egyptians to roll across the land the 

giant stones needed for their pyramids – the 

individual polymer molecules slide past each 

other more easily and thus more smoothly 

into the injection molding tool. “We are currently 

working on more nanoadditives that 

influence other properties as well,” reports 

Dr. Hans-Helmut Görtz, who is the specialist 

in charge at Polymer Research. 

Beyond nanoadditives, “nanofoams” are 

also a subject of investigation for BASF researchers. 

“The cell gas is a key factor when 

it comes to improving today’s foams, which 

already have very good thermal insulating 

properties,” explains Dr. Jan Sandler, an 

expert in foams. The heat is dissipated, among 

other things, by the fact that the molecules 

of the cell gas strike each other. “This contributing 

factor to energy transmission can 

even be completely eliminated by reducing 

the foam cells to the nanometer range. This 

greatly lowers the overall thermal conductivity 

of a foam while markedly improving its 

insulating capacity.” 

10


New light technique calls for thermally 

conductive plastics 

Conventional light bulbs are on the way out. 

The state of the art now is the energy-saving 

light bulb. But for how long? It is very well possible 

that it will, in turn, be displaced by LEDs 

(light-emitting diodes), thus opening up a new 

mar ket for plastics. “LEDs are minuscule points 

of light. In order for them to gener ate sufficient 

brightness, their light has to be bundled and 

reflected by a reflec tor,” explains Dr. Martin 

Klatt. LEDs have been in use for several years 

now in high-end automobile headlights. The 

reflectors are usually made of aluminum. LEDs, 

however, only function within a certain temperature 

range. Dr. Klatt goes on to say, “We 

are looking for heat-conductive plastics that 

can replace the aluminum and dissipate the 

heat generated by the LEDs, so that the 

tempera ture in the reflector does not rise too 

much, since this could cause the LEDs to fail.” 

Research is also being aimed at finding a 

plastic with which LED light bulbs can be produced 

on a large scale as a replacement for 

the energy-saving light bulbs. “In other words, 

the plastic has to be inexpensive and at the 

same time technically very advanced.” 

It is quite the exception when completely 

new structural polymers are discov 

ered in plastics research. 

Dr Hans-Helmut Görtz and 

his team have succeeded 

in doing exactly that: 

“One of our research 

goals is to utilize readily available 

carbon dioxide as a raw material. Catalytic 

polymerization has allowed us to meld carbon 

dioxide with an epoxide, giving rise to an 

aliphatic carbonate.” This material is biodegradable, 

transparent and has a glass-transition 

temperature of about 40°C. “When you 

hold the material in your hand, it gets softer, 

which is a very nice feeling. This could be of 

interest for designers.” Consumers, however, 

will have to wait a while before they can 

come across exciting designer articles made 

of this novel plastic – the new carbonate is 

still in its infancy. 

Seen through 

the microscope: 

crystalline 

caprolactam 

A new polymer: adaptable 

and biodegradable 

11


Polymer Research: 

creativity on solid ground 

Dr. Christian 

Fischer, 

head of 

Polymer 

Research 

What are the trends in plastics? 

The trends in plastic research stem from the 

global challenges we face today: how can 

we utilize raw materials and energy more 

efficiently and thus more sustainably? We 

are working on quite a few different approaches. 

Our new generation of foams can 

offer a huge potential for saving energy and 

can open up new applications in lightweight 

construction. New drive concepts are a hot 

topic in the automotive sector for which we, 

as plastics researchers, intend to come up 

with solutions in the form of new polymer 

systems. We are focusing our efforts on 

another modern field of research, namely, 

the so-called bio-polymers. We see these 

biopolymers as a valuable addition to our 

product portfolio, rather than as a substitute 

for petroleum-based plastics. 

How can you guarantee that 

researchers do not run out of ideas? 

We are certainly not going to run out of ideas 

since plastics have what it takes to make a 

major contribution towards meeting the 

challenges the society is facing. At Polymer 

Research, we have built up a global and 

interdisciplinary network so as to ensure 

that we remain close to the market and to 

top-notch scientific partners in colleges and 

universities. Together with the business 

units, we organize innovation workshops 

with our customers. Our more than 120 

cooperation undertakings yield ideas that 

allow a scientific novelty to evolve into a 

marketable product. 

How creative are BASF 

researchers allowed to be? 

We set no limits on creativity since it is a 

fundamental prerequisite for our researchers. 

The important aspect is to channel this 

creativity towards the requirements of our 

customers, in other words, we have to ask 

the right questions. We do not undertake 

research for the sake of merely acquiring 

knowledge but rather, in order to develop 

products that help our customers and society 

at large. 

Which plastics still need 

to be invented? 

Plastics have to evolve from structural materials 

into intelligent materials. We have to 

think more in terms of (polymer) systems. 

For us, polymer systems are foams, composites, 

switchable polymers or nanostructured 

materials. Printed electronic components, 

a market of the future, are a good 

example of polymers in systems. We plan 

to develop not only semiconductive polymers 

but also printable polymeric semiconductor 

inks and make them ready for the market. 

Towards this end, we also have to know 

quite a lot about circuits and printing. 

12


A few highlights*) of BASF’s 

plastic research 

1929 Development of 

industrial-scale 

styrene synthesis 

1940 Polyamide 6 made 

of caprolactam 

1940 New process for 

high-pressure polyethylene 

(Lupolen ® ) 

1951 Process for foaming 

polystyrene 

(Styropor ® ) 

1970s 

Development of the 

first fuel tank made 

of polyethylene 

1979 New melamine resin 

Basotect ® 

1980s 

Development of the 

first intake manifold 

made of polyamide 

1995 Development 

of Neopor ® 

1996 Highly elastic 

Styroflex ® 

1998 First biodegradable 

plastic Ecoflex ® 

based on naphtha 

2006 Biodegradable plastic 

Ecovio ® based 

on renewable raw 

materials 

2007 First engineering 

plastics with 

nanoadditives 

Nano structures of a 

foaming test 

*) Only the highlights are listed here. 

Hundreds of new types of already 

known plastics, customer projects, 

etc. have not been mentioned. 

13

Automotive 

Faster towards 

new components 

ULTRASIM: the new name for the expanded CAE competence 

Cost reduction, lightweight 

construction and the 

desire for design freedom 

– coupled with optimal mechanical 

properties of the 

components – are the driving 

forces behind the use of engineering 

plastics in vehicles. 

Plastic manufacturers are no 

longer just material suppliers that 

process the raw material in accordance 

with quality standards and deliver 

them on time. BASF offers applicationstechnology 

know-how that goes far beyond 

the material and accompanies the development 

of the component from the concept all 

the way to serial application – all combined 

under the new name ULTRASIM. This does 

not refer to a material like the tried-and-true 

engineering plastics Ultramid ® , Ultradur ® , 

Ultraform ® and Ultrason ® . Rather, this name 

stands for BASF’s entire competence in 

cutting-edge CAE (computer-aided engineering) 

methods for developing innovative 

automotive parts made of BASF plastics. 

This evaluation of component concepts 

on a virtual basis starts with the 

material, continues with 

the manufacturing 

process 

and 

goes all the way 

to the finished part – 

ULTRASIM is not only the means to 

calculate the component properly but also to 

pave the way to the correctly designed part. 

Components can be quickly and reliably 

configured with an eye towards specific loadrelated 

factors such as strength or crash 

behavior. 

Strategic customer partnerships 

Within the scope of strategic partnerships, 

in recent years BASF has expanded the 

added value of its applications technology 

for each phase of the parts de- 

14 

Keeping 

sparks at bay 

Electrically conductive 

BASF plastic Ultraform 

with nanotubes being 

used by Bosch 

As a first, BASF is launching a plastic 

containing carbon nanotubes (CNT) 

onto the market. This material is Ultraform ® 

N2320 C, a polyoxymethylene (POM, also: 

polyacetal) that, thanks to the novel additives, 

acquires a high level of electric conductivity 

without much of a decrease in 

toughness. This material has gone into its 

first serial application at Bosch, for a fuel 

filter housing for the Audi A4 and A5. The 

new type of plastic is available in commercial 

quantities on a worldwide basis. 

For its filter unit, however, Bosch demands 

compliance with the high requirements of 

SAE standard J1645 of August 2006, which 

can only be met by a conductive material. 

This standard of the Society of Automotive 

Engineers (SAE) recommends a maximum 

specific volume resistance of 10 6 ohm.cm 

for materials that will be used in components 

through which fuel flows. Under 

measuring conditions according to ISO 

3915 (four-point method), the conductive 

Ultraform attains a value of a mere 30 ohm. 

cm, making it 30,000 times more conductive 

than necessary, so that it meets the 

requirements of SAE J1645 with ease. This 

eliminates the risk of electrostatic charging 

and sparking as fuel flows through the 

filter. 

Thanks to the type of additives and the 

way they have been incorporated, the new

Automotive 

A lower bumper 

stiffner (LBS) as a 

finished part and in 

the simulation 

velopment. ULTRASIM now covers not 

only the so-called integrative simulation but 

also mathematical parts optimization, 

topological optimization and design optimization, 

including morphing. This makes 

ULTRASIM a key service module of a comprehensive 

and yet flexible BASF business 

model for engineering plastics tailored to 

individual customer requests. With ULTRASIM, 

sophisticated automotive parts made of 

thermoplastics can be developed very 

efficiently. Weight, costs and emissions can 

all be reduced and a high 

level of protection for passengers and 

pedestrians can be achieved even more 

quickly and reliably. 

Weight reduction by up 

to 50 percent 

A shining example is the so-called 

lower bumper stiffener 

(LBS), whose latest 

generation 

is 

now improving 

pedestrian safety in the Opel 

Insignia. This LBS was developed with 

the aid of ULTRASIM, which 

helped the Opel Insignia attain 

the highest score in the EuroN- 

CAP Lower Leg Test. Not only 

was the LBS validated with 

BASF’S support, but BASF was 

also instrumental in this achievement 

by contributing its know-how 

during serial production. After all, the 

technical challenges encountered 

during the manufacture of such large 

components are quite daunting. Other new 

applications are oil pans, structural chassis 

inserts and high-strength automotive engine 

bearings made of plastic, all of which reduce 

the weight by as much as 50 percent. 

e-mail: ultrasim@basf.com 

Ultraform has retained its POM-typical properties 

such as toughness, dimensional 

stability and elastic resilience. 

Also suitable for micro-electronic 

components 

Moreover, when this material comes into 

contact with fuels, it is stronger and more 

creep-resistant than conventional POM, in 

addition to which it is less costly than other 

conductive plastics. Thanks to its abrasion 

resistance, it is just right for the manufacturing 

processes employed for micro-electronic 

components where, under clean-room 

conditions, static charging has to be prevented 

and the absence of dust is paramount. 

This material is easily processed by laser 

welding and injection molding. 

The carbon nano tubes are firmly fixed in the 

plastic matrix and the material can be handled 

safely throughout its lifetime. BASF developed 

Ultraform N2320 C and optimized it 

for this application in a collaborative effort 

with Bosch. Various application-technology 

tools from BASF’s laboratory played a role 

in designing the component: parts calculation 

using the CAE instrument ULTRASIM, 

welding and burst-pressure experiments as 

well as creep-resistance tests. 

www.plasticsportal.eu/ultraform 

Fuel filter housing made of Ultraform 

15

Automotive 

Ultramid in the fast lane 

Safety and esthetics for the Opel Insignia 

Following in the footsteps of the Opel 

Corsa, now the Opel Insignia also has a 

lower bumper stiffener (LBS) made of a 

crash-optimized BASF polyamide, namely, 

Ultramid ® B3WG6 CR. This part – developed 

by BASF using its expanded computer program 

for integrative simulation ULTRASIM 

– meets stringent requirements in terms of 

pedestrian safety. 

Other innovative components used in the 

Opel Insignia were also created with BASF 

plastics and know-how, including the highly 

stressed torque brackets. 

Miramid ® B3EG3 GIT, a PA 6 with excellent 

surface quality that is suitable for gas injection 

technology (GIT), is now available in 

the interior colors (trim colors) used by 

automotive manufacturers. This material 

has already gone into serial production for 

the beige and black seat-adjustment levers 

of the Opel Insignia. Up until now, GIT grades 

had been considered to be difficult to 

color. Work is also under way on Miramid 

grades with improved tribological properties. 

The first variant of this new family is 

Miramid B3EG4 TR. 

No problems with fuel – new generation of quick connectors 

16 

U ltramid® T KR4357 G6, a partially aromatic, 

high-temperature resistant polyamide, 

is being used in a new application. 

The French company A Raymond, an international 

supplier of fastening systems for the 

automotive industry, is now using BASF’s 

specialty polyamide (PA6/6T) for its quick 

connectors for fuel lines. Almost every renowned 

car and truck manufacturer in Europe 

uses these quick connectors. These exacting 

small parts are produced by means of highprecision 

injection molding. 

These unassuming parts, weighing a mere 

15 grams, must be highly resistant to fuel and 

zinc chloride at temperatures in the exposure 

range of up to 130°C [266°F]. A special 

Sturdy quick connectors made of Ultramid T 

advantage of Ultramid T KR in this application 

is not only its low tendency to creep but also 

its outstanding combination of stiffness and 

toughness, which means it can withstand the 

impact of flying stones. These properties 

place this plastic above conventional polyamide 

66 and allow it to replace PA 12.

Automotive 

Safeguarding pedestrian 

safety: the Opel 

Insignia with a lower 

bumper stiffner (LBS) 

behind the bumper 

Boom in high-tech automatic transmissions – 

new control units for dual-clutch transmissions 

Dual-clutch transmissions are among the 

most innovative automatic transmissions. 

And the same applies to their control 

units, which have been improved by Continental 

over the past five years since they 

were first used at Volkswagen. Now, the 

next generation of this complex family of 

components is being used in series production 

by numerous car manufacturers. The 

plastic parts of the integrated control units 

for these dual-clutch transmissions used at 

VW, Audi, Ford and BMW are made of 

Ultramid ® A3WG6, a proven PA 66 produced 

by BASF. This material is highly heat-stabilized, 

oil-resistant and, when necessary, can 

be laser-written. 

The transmission control unit is a sophisticated, 

compact mechatronic component 

that is installed directly on the transmission 

and is thus surrounded by hot transmission 

oil. Consequently, the main requirement 

made of this plastic part – into which numerous 

sensors, molded interconnect devices 

and other metallic structures have to be 

securely integrated – is that it has to be 

chemically resistant to transmission oil 

within the temperature range from -40°C to 

+145°C [-40°F to +293°F]. It even has to be 

able to withstand brief peak temperatures 

of up to +170°C [+338°F] without sustaining 

damage. In this context, transmission oils 

pose quite a challenge since they are considerably 

more aggressive than motor oils. 

But even under such harsh conditions, this 

BASF material has no problem ensuring the 

requisite high level of dimensional stability. 

Making brakes lightweight – first serially produced compressed-air 

reservoirs made of plastic for use in trucks 

The first compressed-air reservoirs made 

of plastic for use in truck trailers have 

been developed by the Comat company of 

Kaiserslautern (Germany), using three precisely 

harmonized Ultramid ® types (PA: polyamide) 

from BASF’s product line-up. The 

reservoir measures 1.2 meters in length, has 

a diameter of 32 cm and holds 80 liters. It 

serves for the compressed-air control of numerous 

mechanical functions in trucks, especially 

for the brake and air-suspension 

systems. Up until now, the compressedair 

reservoir had been made of 

metal. 

The novel multi-step process for 

the manufacture of these reservoirs 

makes use of a highviscosity 

Ultramid extrusion type 

(PA 6), a heat-stabilized Ultramid 

grade and a BASF polyamide for 

the cover. One advantage of these 

plastic compressed-air reservoirs in comparison 

to metal tanks is above all their corrosion 

resistance. “A weight reduction of 10 kg, 

along with costs that are comparable to those 

of the predecessors, was the main reason 

why we invested in this development,” explains 

Ralph Funck, CEO of Comat. “The new 

compressed-air reservoirs made of plastic 

meet the high requirements that we had also 

set for the earlier metal versions,” adds Mark 

Hengst, of Schmitz Cargobull AG, which 

introduced this component at the IAA Commercial 

Vehicles 2008. “This is a huge step 

towards using more plastic in trucks.” 

www.ultramid.com 

Massive and yet 

lightweight: the first 

plastic compressedair 

reservoirs for 

trucks 

17

Automotive 

An air-intake manifold – and more – for the Nano 

BASF contributed innovative solutions for the new Tata Nano 

By the help of its network of experts BASF 

supplies products and engineering solutions 

which are needed by Tata Motors to 

One man’s car is another 

man’s watch 

One hundred thousand Indian rupees, 

approximately 1,500 euros – that is the 

price of the first one hundred thousand 

Tata Nanos sold in India. How else 

could these 1,500 euros be spent? 

How about an overnight stay in a suite 

at the upmarket hotel, The Dorchester, 

in London? Another option would be 

an appointment, together with your 

best friend, at Garren’s, New York’s star 

hair stylist. His clients include Victoria 

Beckham and Madonna – official price: 

US $700 per person per hair cut. On the 

other hand, a Breitling designer watch 

only starts at about 2000 euros. And 

for a Gucci handbag, the “New Jackie” 

model, you would have to shell out 

another 400 euros on top of the price 

for the Tata Nano. Or maybe you would 

prefer to eat same delicious caviar: 

1500 euros buys you 150 grams of the 

very delicate Beluga caviar from Iran 

(caught in the wild, of course)…. 

improve its new model Nano and to reduce 

emissions and enhance fuel efficiency. “We 

believe that helping our customers to be more 

successful is strategic to our future growth,” 

said Mr. Prasad Chandran, Chairman, BASF 

Group in India and Head South Asia. “Hence 

BASF works closely with customers and strives 

to offer innovative and customized solutions. 

The Tata Nano project has been special to 

BASF as we were able to cross geographical, 

technical and intellectual boundaries to meet 

Tata’s specific needs.” 

Weight savings for better fuel efficiency 

The Nano’s air intake manifold will be produced 

by Tata Visteon and uses BASF’s 

Ultramid ® glass-fiber reinforced engineering 

plastic. By replacing aluminium with 

Ultramid leads to 40 percent weight 

saving which in turn leads to better 

fuel efficiency and lesser emission. 

BASF also provided development 

support ranging 

from computer simulations 

in the design phase to component 

tests in the trial 

phase. 

BASF’s most noticeable 

contribution to the Nano will 

be the color and luster of the 

vehicle’s exterior. BASF has been supplying 

automotive coatings to Tata Motors 

since 1998 for the company’s Indica, Sumo, 

Safari and Indigo. BASF also developed a 

catalytic converter for the Nano to meet 

India’s current emission standards. BASF 

operates a catalyst manufacturing plant 

in Chennai, India. Additionally the 

seats will consist of BASF polyurethanes 

- more precisely 

a MDI and TDI based system 

specially developed 

for the Nano. 

“Innovative products, 

service and efficient 

3.1 meters long, 

1.5 meters wide and 

1.6 meters high: 

the Nano 

18

Automotive 

A hidden masterpiece: 

Polyamide ensures tire safety 

BASF adipic acid for Turkish global market leader 

processes are particularly 

important to supply a project like the 

Nano,” says Hermann Althoff, Group Vice 

President and head of BASF’s Automotive 

Industry Coordination Group in Asia Pacific. 

“BASF is well-positioned as a global 

system supplier of such programs. We have 

successfully developed plastics, catalysts 

and coatings solutions for manufacturers 

of innovative car concepts in Europe, North 

America and Asia. In doing so, our goal is 

not to just supply the cheapest product. 

Instead, we work with customers to develop 

the most efficient, overall solution in 

terms of cost and performance.” 

www.automotive.basf.com 

Street scenery in India 

Automobile tires are extremely complicated 

structures whose numerous 

individual parts vanish under a rubber 

compound during vulcanization. One of 

the main components is the tire cord 

fabric, an extremely resilient material which 

ensures that the tire retains its shape even 

when subjected to high internal pressure. 

Kordsa Global is one of the leading 

manufacturer of these reinforcement products. 

Reliable deliveries and punctuality 

are important 

Kordsa Global is an integrated supplier 

with a wide range of products including 

high tenacity polyamide 6.6 and HMLS 

polyester yarns (HMLS = high modulus 

low shrinkage) from which it manufactures 

tire cord fabrics and reinforcement 

textiles. BASF recently began supplying 

Kordsa Global with the adipic acid 

required for polyamide production. 

“We chose BASF as our supplier because 

reliable deliveries and punctuality are 

main criteria for our production”, stated 

Bulent Bozdoğ an, Vice-President, 

Finance and Sourcing, Kordsa Global. 

“Today’s production is characterized 

by extreme flexibility in deliveries and 

shorter reaction times to changes. Reliability, 

worldwide presence and value 

added services are key criteria in 

supplier performance. We are expecting 

a more dynamic and supportive approach 

from our suppliers in today’s 

competitive environment.” 

At its parent plant in 

Ludwigshafen, 

BASF has an annual capacity of around 

270.000 tons of adipic acid for internal and 

external customers, who primarily fabricate 

polyamide, polyurethane and plasticizers. 

Kordsa Global, which is part of the Turkish 

Sabanci Group, has 9 sites and 4500 employees 

across the world. 

www.kordsaglobal.com 

BACKGROUND 

The substructure 

guarantees safety 

Most automobile tires are similar in 

structure. The substructure, which is 

particularly important in terms of safety 

and resilience, is composed of several 

layers of thin, coated steel wires (the 

steel belt) above the tire cord (made 

from textile fabric). A rubber layer which 

surrounds the air in the tire is located 

right inside the tire. The entire substructure 

is vulcanized so that only the black 

“rubber” can still be seen. 

At the point where the tire touches the 

wheel rim, the substructure layers have 

a bundle of steel wires wrapped around 

them forming a kind of bead by means 

of which the tire grips the wheel rim. The 

tire bead, also known as the base of the 

tire, must ensure that the tire sits firmly 

on the wheel rim even if the tire pressure 

decreases. 

Finally, the tire tread acquires a profile 

which ensures that the tire grips the 

road correctly and that the braking 

response is satisfactory. 

19

Automotive 

Sporty and light with a body 

made of plastic 

First series-production car with lightweight body entirely made of polyurethane 

Stunningly beautiful, comfortable and 

agile: with a power-to-weight ratio of 

3.72 kg/HP, the new German sports car 

Artega ® GT is setting new standards in the 

300 HP league. As if that were not enough, 

the agile two-seater is the first seriesproduction 

vehicle in the whole world to 

have a body completely made out of polyurethane 

(PU). Consistently relying on 

lightweight-construction, the airy chassis 

was developed by the creative hotbed for 

sports cars Artega – a subsidiary of the 

automotive supplier Pargon (located in 

Delbrück, Germany) in co-operation with 

the BASF subsidiary Elastogran. The breathtakingly 

styled coupé captivates with its unique 

synthesis of power development, consumption, 

cruising range and travel ability. 

300-HP, lightweight and 

direct-shift gearbox 

Although the Artega GT manufactured in an 

exclusive small series, is not a super sports 

car, with its vehicle dynamics it can certainly 

compete with them, and also has 

excellent long-distance and everyday qualities. 

With the exception of the 300 HP V6 

and sporty comfortable manual gearbox 

(both made by VW) everything on the 

Artega is new. 

The Elastogran experts were tasked to create 

the carbon fiber-reinforced PU component 

in the race-tested material combination 

of aluminium and high-tensile steel. The PU 

lightweight frame and body was developed 

in close co-operation with Elastogran. Today 

it is manufactured by expert partners such 

as Erwin Friedmann Kunststoffwerk GmbH 

20

Automotive 

(Offenburg, Germany) and Automobil- und 

Kunststofftechnik GmbH (Hörselberg, Germany). 

The mudgards, rear end, front and side parts 

of the sports car are made out of Elastolit ® , 

the carbon fiber reinforced, microcellular PU 

system made by Elastogran. It stands out due 

to its enormous robustness and very good 

impact resistance even at extremely low temperatures. 

Thanks to the RIM technology 

(Reaction Injection Molding) established in 

frame-and-body construction, it is possible 

to realise thin prefabricated parts that have a 

distinct inherent rigidity. The low thermal expansion 

coefficient of the fiber reinforced 

Elastogran PU system ensures a high accuracy 

of fit and an extreme dimensional stability 

under heat. Due to its high surface quality 

the lightweight construction material is ideally 

suited for Class A finishes of visible freeform 

surfaces. 

For the PU body parts of the Artega manufactured 

with the RIM method the twocomponent, 

liquid and highly reactive PU 

system Elastolit is injected into a closed 

tool within the space of one second. After 

15 to 30 seconds consistently high quality 

finished components are demolded. 

Removed from the mold 

after 15 to 30 seconds 

Unlike in conventional injection molding 

processes PU RIM materials maintain a low 

viscosity and therefore possess an excellent 

flowability during the reaction time. 

These facts are key to the production of 

complicated component geometries and 

sophisticated designs. 

Car body part made 

of Elastolit ® , the 

carbon fiber reinforced, 

microcellular 

PUR system of the 

Elastogran company 

(BASF-Group) 

BACKGROUND 

Technical data of the Artega GT 

Engine: rear-mounted V6 

with direct-fuel injection 

Engine capacity: 3.597 ccm, 

220 kW (300 HP) 

Dry weight: 1.116 kg 

Power-to-weight ratio: 3.72 kg/HP 

Transmission: 6-speed direct-shift gearbox 

Acceleration: 4.8 sec (0 to 100 km/h) 

Maximum speed: 270 km/h 

Consumption according to EU standard: 

8.9 liters (Super Plus grade) 

CO 2 

emissions: 211 g/km 

Dimensions (LxWxH): 401 x 188 x 118 cm 

Price: 75,000 euros 

21

Sport 

Visionary shoe made 

of polyurethane: PURE 1.0 

Concept shoe shows the potentials of PUR 

With the premiere of the concept shoe 

PURE 1.0 Elastogran has created a 

true surprise. From heel to sole, from tip to 

clasp: the futuristically designed study is 

made of 100 per cent polyurethane (PU). 

That is to say over a dozen PU applications 

demonstrated the technical and optical 

finesses which are feasible thanks to polyurethane. 

Over a dozen applications 

It took less than a year from the initial sketches 

to the birth of the “All-PU-Shoe“. PURE 

concentrates the comprehensive competence, 

cumulative knowledge and decades of experience 

of Elastogran, the BASF subsidiary 

specialized in Polyurethanes, in one product. 

Together with selected experts of the shoe 

industry from all over Europe specialists in 

the fields of polyurethane systems and thermoplastic 

PU have developed the design, 

feel and material variances of the more than 

a dozen individual parts. 

The manifold applications involved range 

from Elastopan-Climate Control, Keep Walking 

and Gel Comfort to Elastollan Supersoft, 

Non Woven and Breathable Film. 

“Even experts who know polyurethane well 

have discovered new applications and are 

very interested in our proposals“, say 

Dr. Diedrich Brand and Martin Vallo from 

Elastogran, the project leaders who have 

driven the concept in co-operation with wellknown 

names of the shoe industry. 

Ideas for future shoes 

Dr. Uwe Hartwig, Group Vice President BASF 

Polyurethanes Europe, who initiated the development 

of this study, explains the concept: 

“PURE is a vision of the polyurethane shoe 

of the future. It demonstrates in an impressive 

way the enormous design and development 

potential of polyurethane. The study also 

shows that we can put ourselves in the position 

of our customers, understand their 

problems and requirements and develop 

intelligent targeted solutions for them.” 

BACKGROUND 

Awarded twice for Design 

The “IF International Forum 

Design“ honoured the 

Elastogran Concept Shoe 

with the “iF material award 

2009”. With this prize the 

International Forum paid 

tribute to its “innovative 

design; for without new material combinations 

and developments it will not be 

possible to generate novel products”. 

The invitation competition “Design Plus 

Material Vision“ by the German Design 

Council, rewarded the concept of the 

PURE with the “design plus” award. This 

prize is endowed for exceptional and 

highly innovative design. The German 

Design Council, founded in 1953, is 

one of the world’s leading competence 

centres for communication and 

knowledge transfer in design. 

22

Sport 

Green as grass 

but less sensitive 

A cushioning layer made of Neopolen for artificial turf 

The landscape at the training grounds of 

SpVgg Bayreuth, a German regional 

league football club, resembles a giant 

puzzle: the entire area is covered by hundreds 

of panels made of Neopolen ® P 

– BASF’s expanded polypropylene (EPP) – 

each measuring about one square meter. 

They are shaped like puzzle pieces so that 

they can easily be joined together. Workers 

then roll out four-meter long strips of verdant 

green artificial grass over the panels and 

glue the individual strips to each other. 

First place made of XL TURF in Germany 

This is how Germany’s first football pitch 

made of artificial turf manufactured by the 

Swiss company XL TURF came into being; 

BASF’s foam Neopolen P played a major 

role in this undertaking. The new turf not 

only looks good but is also very durable, 

easy to maintain and comfortable: the 

20 mm-thick cushioning layer made of 

Neopolen absorbs the energy generated as 

the players run around on the field and it 

only gradually releases this energy. This is 

gentle on the joints of players,” explains 

Albert Beerli, the inventor and CEO of 

XL TURF. 

Artificial grass will become an increasingly 

important alternative in football stadiums 

since nowadays, playing fields are subject 

to ever greater wear and tear. More and 

more teams are training in the clubs, and 

on top of it all, they want to play in winter 

and summer. Only with intense maintenance 

and high expenditures can natural grass 

withstand the onslaught of the hordes of 

kids, adults and seniors who flock onto the 

fields. 

And yet, many clubs continue to shy away 

from switching over to artificial grass. “This 

has a lot to do with the way the shock absorption 

of fields is handled,” explains 

Beerli. Conventional artificial-turf pitches are 

in-filled with sand or rubber granules that 

are only applied after the turf has been laid. 

Like the clay on a tennis court, the granules 

shift over the course of time, which has a 

detrimental impact on the evenness of the 

field and thus on its playing characteristics. 

Ultimately, the entire surface has to be replaced 

and the old one has to be properly 

disposed of, all at great expense. With XL 

TURF, there is no need for such a complete 

overhaul. Individual pieces can be simply 

cut out with a carpet knife and replaced. 

Thanks to the outstanding recovery capacity 

of Neopolen, even such partial replacement 

is only necessary after 10 years at the 

earliest. Consequently, XL TURF’s service 

life is about four times longer than that of 

conventional artificial turf, so that the slightly 

higher acquisition costs are quickly recouped. 

Suitable for tennis, football 

and playgrounds 

XL TURF can be used not only in football 

pitches but also on tennis courts and playgrounds. 

The thickness and density of the 

shock-absorption layer made of Neopolen 

is adapted to the particular application so 

that the playing speed is not adversely affected. 

In Germany, the business potential 

is greatest for football. BASF anticipates that, 

in the future, as many as 50 fields per year 

will undergo a “facelift” with XL TURF. 

www.xlturf.ch 

www.neopolen.com 

23

Region 

Republic of Croatia Austria 

Republic of Bulgaria 

Republic of Albania Slovenia 

A region on the move 

During the last years, the economy of Central Europe has grown at cyberspeed. 

Also in the fast lane: the local plastics industry 

The construction cranes that dot the skyline 

of many Central European cities like 

Warsaw, Bucharest and Prague announce 

the emergence of this region stretching from 

the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Since the 

political changes of 1989, no other region in 

Europe has seen such high growth rates. 

Whereas the gross domestic product in the 

euro zone rose by 2.5 percent in 2008, Central 

Europe experienced a growth of 4 percent. 

More and more Western European companies 

are taking advantage of this opportunity to 

invest in the region. Central Europe’s proximity 

to the established Western European 

market and to the new Eastern European 

market makes it an attractive production 

location for foreign companies. Besides, a 

skilled labor force, moderate wages and low 

taxes speak for themselves. 

Skilled technical personnel, low taxes 

Within the scope of the eastern enlargement 

of the European Union, several nations that 

have joined the EU since 2004 – Poland, the 

Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, 

Bulgaria and Slovenia – are all places 

where BASF’s Business Center Europe 

Central has operations. These countries 

have not only dismantled bureaucratic 

hurdles and increased foreign direct investments 

(FDI), but they also offer good prospects 

for the plastics industry in the region: 

the annual per capita consumption of plastics 

in Central Europe amounts to approximately 

50 percent of the value in the Western 

markets. “Consequently, there is still a 

lot of room for growth. Even if the effects of 

the global economic crisis are certainly perceptible 

at the moment since a high percentage 

of the plastics production is earmarked 

for export, the long-term forecasts for this 

region remain good,” explains Stefan Rotter, 

BASF head of sales for engineering plastics 

in Central Europe. 

Luran S and polystyrene are used for the frame of the porthole 

doors of washing machines and the linings of refrigerators 

Slovenia: Gorenje household 

products conquer 

the Western European 

market 

Aspiring domestic companies are responsible 

for a growing demand for polymers 

in Central Europe. These include Gorenje, a 

Slovenian manufacturer of large household 

appliances, which exports 90 percent of 

its products. BASF’s assortment of 

plastics has numerous application 

possibilities: polystyrene is used for 

the linings of refrigerators, Luran ® (SAN) 

for the frame of the porthole doors of 

washing machines, foams for safe 

transportation of the products and PUR 

foams as insulating material. “The collaboration 

with Gorenje has been extraordinary. 

In recent years, our joint 

activities have increased markedly,” 

reports Mihael Vodenik, in charge of 

polystyrene plastics in Slovenia and 

Croatia. 

24

Region 

Slovakia 

Kosovo 

Serbia 

PL 

BACKGROUND 

Central Europe 

(Business Center BASF) 

The region: 15 countries located between 

the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea (Poland, 

Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, 

Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, 

Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and 

Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia) 

Languages: 13 

Currencies: 11 

Inhabitants: 130 million 

GDP growth in 2008: 4 percent 

CZ 

SK 

AT 

H 

SLO 

HR 

BiH SRB 

MNE KS 

MK 

AL 

RO 

BG 

Czech Republic: Automotive-interior made 

of polyamide and polyurethane 

Along with ongoing economic growth, the 

consumption of plastics in the Czech 

Republic has also risen by an average of six 

to seven percent in recent years, reaching a 

figure of almost 800,000 tons in 2008. 

The industries generating the highest demand 

are multinational OEMs and their suppliers. 

Hyundai and Kia, for instance, have opened 

new production sites in the Czech-Slovakian 

border region. The entire European market 

will be supplied from there. 

Reducing weight with Ultramid 

BASF engineering plastics are now being used 

in the Czech Republic in the Skoda Octavia 

and the Skoda Superb. Cadence Innovation, 

a BASF customer, develops and produces the 

armrests for these car models. The pivoting 

arm and the sliding block, which serve to position 

the armrest, are made of fiberglass-reinforced 

Miramid ® , the base of 

Ultramid ® – both are BASF polyamides. These 

materials replace aluminum, thus reducing 

costs and weight while also cutting the CO 2 

emissions. 

Investments for a prompt and competent 

local sercive 

The automotive supplier industry as well as 

many other branches of industry are also the 

driving force behind the demand for polyurethane 

(PU) system solutions in Central Europe. 

These are used in cars, for example, in dashboards, 

in car bodies as well as in head-rests 

and seats. BASF is the leading supplier of PU 

system solutions world-wide and, in Central 

and Eastern Europe, it already has production 

sites in Hungary and Russia. In order to meet 

In the PU System Houses of BASF for example 

dashboards are manufactured 

the requirements of the fast-growing markets 

in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, 

BASF’s subsidiary Elastogran will start up 

two new PU System Houses in Bratislava and 

Poznan. Like all other System Houses, these 

two have production, sales and development 

units so that they can offer customers fast 

and competent local service. “With these 

investments, we are solidifying our leading 

position in polyurethanes and demonstrating 

to our customers that we will be there for 

them as they grow in all regions of the globe,” 

explains Jonathan Mawbey, responsible for 

the construction of the new PU System 

Houses. 

25

Region 

Republic of Hungary Montenegro Romania Czech Republic Poland 

The speciality 

plastic Terlux adds 

a splash of colour 

to Zelmer’s vacuum 

cleaners 

Poland: Putting electrical devices 

in a brilliant perspective 

With its 38 million inhabitants, Poland 

is the largest sales market for plastics 

in Central Europe: Since Poland joined the 

European Union, its demand for plastics 

has almost doubled, allowing it to surpass 

the Scandinavian region in plastics processing. 

The demand is being 

driven primarily by 

the packaging 

and construction 

industries; 

Poland 

is using 

approximately 

30 

percent of 

its thermoplastics 

as 

it improves its 

infrastructure to 

catch up with the rest 

of the European Union. This 

country is on the move, as can be 

seen from the fact that Poland and the 

Ukraine have been chosen to host the European 

Football Championship in 2012. 

This means that plastics will play a crucial 

role in the construction of new stadiums in 

Warsaw and Gdansk for the European 

championship. 

The electrical and electronics industry is 

another major market for plastics in Poland. 

An up-and-coming Polish company in this 

sector is Zelmer, which manufactures 

vacuum cleaners and small kitchen appliances. 

Zelmer has already been recognized 

a number of times for its product design 

and advertising, receiving the Good Design 

Award and the Effie Award in 2007. 

Terlux and Luran S create mother-ofpearl 

effects and deep colors 

BASF plastics such as Terlux ® (MABS) or 

Luran ® S (ASA) ensure that Zelmer’s products 

are making such a brilliant impression. 

Terlux is used for the cover of the Zelmer 

vacuum cleaners. Extraordinary visual effects 

can be realized with this specialty 

plastic: deep colors, mother-of-pearl or 

glitter effects. Moreover, Terlux is easy to 

process and can be printed on without difficulty. 

The UV resistance of Luran S translates 

into household products with longlasting, 

glossy colors. 

No yellowing of 

household products 

with Luran S and its 

extraordinary ultraviolet 

resistance 

26

Region 

Bosnia 

Republic of Macedonia 

Croatia: Clear view 

in ticklish situations 

U ltrason® , a PESU (polyether sulfone) made 

by BASF, is being used in an exceptional 

application in Croatia. The Croatian 

company PAB, a manufacturer of safety equipment, 

is employing the highly transparent 

variant of this material for the visor of its 

highly heat-resistant firefighting helmet FIRE 

HT 04. Together with the visor, this helmet 

has to be able to withstand a temperature of 

250°C [482°F] for 30 minutes, and even 1000°C 

[1832°F] for 10 seconds. Ultrason E, with its 

glass transition temperature of 225°C [437°F], 

is superbly suited for this purpose. This plastic 

also stands out for its inherent fire safety 

and its high resistance to breaking. 

Ultrason E typically has an intrinsic yellow 

color and would actually have been unsuitable 

for the helmet visor. But BASF has succeeded 

in optimizing the production conditions 

for the manufacture of a highly transparent 

variant of this material: the new Ultrason 

E2010 HC. “Our cooperation 

with PAB exemplifies the efforts 

of our employees to 

find the right plastic for 

every application,” explains 

Bogdan Konec, 

in charge of engineering 

plastics in Croatia 

and Slovenia. 

10 seconds, 

1000 °C [1832°F]: 

The helmet visor 

made of Ultrason 

E2010 HC is able 

to cope with these 

extreme conditions 

Three questions to … 

Stefan Rotter, BASF’s head of sales for 

engineering plastics in Central Europe 

What is the impact of the present economic crisis 

on the situation in Central Europe? 

This crisis is inhibiting economic growth and hampering investment 

activities of Western European producers of plastics parts 

in the region since capacities are not being fully utilized. Nevertheless, 

we would like to take advantage of the opportunities 

afforded by this slowdown period. For example, we are talking 

with potential customers whose plants are not running at full 

throttle right now so that we can move forward with producing 

samples and obtaining approvals for our products. Moreover, 

customers can now make greater use of our applications consultancy 

for product design, be it to optimize injection-molding 

processes or regarding our expertise in the virtual development 

of plastic components – a tool which has recently been named 

Ultrasim TM (see more page 14) 

What strategy is BASF pursuing for the Central 

European market? 

Our highest priority is to be available to our customers locally. 

That way, we can promptly and efficiently handle and meet 

their needs and desires in today’s difficult environment. Customers 

can consult with experienced account managers who 

speak the language of the country and who can tap into the 

know-how available within BASF’s worldwide integrated network. 

This locally available customer management allowed us 

to achieve two-digit annual growth rates in Central Europe 

between 2006 and 2008. 

In the past, Poland and the Czech Republic have been 

the driving forces behind the growth in the region. In your 

opinion, which countries will play a major role in Central 

Europe in the future? 

The Polish and Czech economies are quite robust at a high 

level. The know-how of their employees continues to make 

these countries attractive. Since Poland is comparatively less 

dependent on the automotive industry, it could recover more 

quickly. As a result, the relative significance of the Central European 

plastics industry within the overall European market 

will continue to rise. 

27


Swimming quietly 

The Beijing swimming 

stadium is also named 

„Water Cube“ 

BASF specialty foam as decorative and functional sound 

protection in the Beijing swimming stadium 

BASF’s specialty foam Basotect ® is being 

used in the Beijing swimming stadium 

in order to clad the interior of the 

building with flame-retardant and environmentally 

friendly acoustic insulation. The 

National Aquatics Center has been fitted 

with a specially developed ceiling structure 

made of large Basotect panels that not 

only provide sound protection but fulfill additional 

prerequisites: The lightweight panels 

blend in with the architectural design 

and meet the environmental requirements. 

They are load-bearing, flame-retardant and 

able to withstand high levels of humidity. 

The first competitions to take place in the 

stadium were the swimming competitions 

of the Olympic Games in 2008. 

Novel and invisible 

cladding construction 

The BASF melamine resin foam stands out 

for its extraordinary acoustic properties. 

Thanks to its open-cell and fine foam structure, 

the sound-absorption values in the 

medium and high frequency ranges are 

particularly good. Moreover, the lightweight 

material is easy to process. For instance, 

the ventilation conduits under the ceiling 

were wrapped in such a way that the suspension 

structure for the cladding is not 

visible. 

The installation is made of Basotect panels 

of different sizes, some of which span more 

than two meters. Securing these panels over 

such a distance called for their reinforcement 

with tubes. This resulted in a novel construction 

that is sufficiently stiff and can expand 

in response to temperature fluctuations. The 

entire installation was tested for its loadbearing 

capacity, sound protection and fire 

safety in a series of examinations. The company 

Entech (Shanghai) has processed the 

Basotect panels for this purpose. 

www.basotect.com 

28

White and certified: 

Palusol fire-protection 

panels on the 

inside of doors 


On the safe side 

BACKGROUND 

Preventive fire protection 

Palusol SW fire-protection panels certified 

according to British standard 

Palusol fire-protection panels have been 

officially approved for use in construction 

for over 30 years; they are rated A2 

in accordance with German standard 

DIN 4102 and provide passive fire 

protection, for example, in fire doors, 

fire-retardant glazing, safety cabinets 

and fireproof bulkheads. Palusol consists 

essentially of sodium silicate and 

glass fibers that are coated with epoxy 

resin and cured. At temperatures above 

100°C [212°F], the panels expand under 

foaming pressure, giving rise to a finecell, 

compression-resistant, non-flammable 

and thermally insulating foam. 

This foam then fills joints and gaps, thus 

preventing the propagation of heat, fire 

and smoke for a certain period of time. 

BASF’s Palusol ® S W fire-protection 

panels have now been certified according 

to the British standard: fire-protection 

doors made with Palusol SW have been 

successfully tested for their capacity to 

withstand fire for 30 and 60 minutes. Thanks 

to the approval obtained by BASF, door 

manufacturers that supply markets with 

British fire-protection standards can now 

save money when it comes to their own 

development work and the statutory firesafety 

testing of their doors. 

Withstand fire for 30 and 60 minutes 

In Europe, door manufacturers have to test 

the fire safety of every type of door. The 

stipulations vary from country to country. 

With the British approval of Palusol SW, that 

is to say, Palusol fire-protection panels as a 

sandwich system with high-density fiberboard 

(HDF), different types of doors can be produced 

and different fire-protection stipulations 

can be met. The certificates pertain to 

British Standard 476 (Part 22) and apply to 

single-leaf and double-leaf doors. All of the 

certificates are based on the testing of real 

paneled doors (flat or raised and fielded). 

The door systems that withstand fire for 30 

and 60 minutes were tested and certified in 

softwood layout. 

Only HDF panels belonging to Emission Class 

E1/E0 and having a formaldehyde limit 

value of 0.1/0.05 ppm go into Palusol SW. 

www.palusol.com 

Feelgood factor for terraces and verandas 

With Luran S: UV-resistant and unaffected by the environment 

Warm colors, a natural texture, matte 

gloss: wooden floors lend a very special 

ambience not just for indoor rooms but also 

for outdoor verandas and terraces. In the 

USA, many homeowners create their own 

decks: a wooden terrace which – often built 

on stilts – extends out into the garden. 

However, traditional wooden floorboards 

require a great deal of care: sanding, sealing, 

and repeated painting or staining. Recent 

advancements in wood plastic composite 

decks create a smooth surface, but over time 

they tend to fade in color and stain. 

Elegance and functionality combined 

Anyone who still wishes for the ambience of 

wood will find that Genovations TM is the perfect 

choice. These PVC deckboards made 

by the American company, Genova, combine 

elegance with great functionality: eliminating 

warpage, breakage, splitting, and staining. 

Their outstanding resistance to the effects 

of weathering comes from the plastic Luran ® S 

(ASA), a styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer from 

BASF, impact-modified with acrylic ester 

rubber. “Genovations is based on coextrusion 

technology: The PVC substrate gives 

the deckboard its strength, but it is coated 

with a thin layer of Luran S, which adds the 

finishing touch“, says Joe Lynch, Business 

Director for the Luran S ASA product line in 

Florham Park (USA, New Jersey). 

BASF and Genova worked closely together 

to develop this new floor covering, which is 

available in four earth tone shades. “BASF’s 

advanced material technology and the expertise 

and assistance of their associates 

has been invaluable in the development of 

our next generation decking product”, 

stresses Dwight Van Steenkiste, CEO of 

Genova. 

No need for sanding, sealing or painting: 

PVC deckboards with a surface made of 

Luran ® S 

29


Get active, build a passive house 

BASF insulating materials contribute to energy savings 

passive house can make do without conventional 

heating and air-conditioning and 

A 

yet it stays cool in the summer and warm in 

the winter. Passive houses not only save energy 

but have also been proven to offer a 

better living climate than conventional buildings. 

A bill currently before the European Union 

calls for the passive-house standard to become 

the mandatory energy standard required of 

all new construction in the future. Typical aspects 

of this construction technique are wellinsulated 

building shells and an ingenious 

ventilation and heat-recovery system. The 

energy expenditures are low and, as defined 

by the Passive-House Institute in Darmstadt, 

Germany, the total primary energy used to 

generate supplementary heat and to supply 

hot water and electricity has to be less than 

120 kWh per square meter per year. 

One of the first passive houses with a load- 

bearing wooden structure consisting of stacked 

board elements and façade insulation using 

BASF’s Neopor ® has now been completed. 

Timber construction of 

a passive house using Neopor 

New Neopor plant started up 

BASF has started up its new plant for 

Neopor ® in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The 

plant has a yearly production capacity of 

90,000 metric tons and works with a new 

process: In contrast to the suspension 

method employed so far, the extrusion 

process of the new plant will yield more 

uniformly sized granules and will permit 

a targeted setting of the panel properties, 

e.g. compression resistance. 

This free-standing duplex house, which is 

located in the town of Weinheim, in the German 

state of Baden-Württemberg, has a 

stacked board wall that is exposed on the 

inside and, thanks to its arched roof that makes 

a transition to a slanted wall, it efficiently utilizes 

the construction space available. The 

thermal insulation composite system made of 

Neopor (EPS: expandable polystyrene) is a 

mere 30 centimeters thick and has a very high 

insulating capacity. This is why the panels are 

as much as 20 percent thinner than those 

made of conventional EPS. Neopor is instrumental 

in reducing heat losses and in lowering 

CO 2 

emissions. This certified passive house 

has a supplementary heat demand of 13 kWh 

per square meter per year, which corresponds 

to a heating value of 1.3 liters of heating oil. 

Interior insulation no longer necessary 

Model of a passive 

house with a 

timber construction 

and Neopor 

insulation 

An arched roof and an east wall that is slanted 

by 5° towards the outside give this house 

the silhouette of a traditional German wicker 

beach chair while also optimally utilizing the 

space available. This house demonstrates 

that the thermal insulation composite system 

made of Neopor is simpler and faster to install 

on the smooth wood construction than other 

insulating materials are. Moreover, Neopor 

makes interior insulation superfluous: the 

exposed wood walls inside the house, together 

with the ventilation system, ensure a 

comfortable living climate. 

As is typical of passive houses, the living areas 

Miniature passive house on its travels 

The mobile energy-saving 

house 

(MESH) shows 

BASF insulating 

products at trade 

fairs 

BASF and partners present the Mobile Energy-Saving House at trade fairs 

In 2009, BASF will be sending the Mobile Energy-Saving 

House (MESH) out on its travels across 

Germany. It is designed to be a passive house 

and, over an area of 24 square meters, offers all 

of the relevant solutions required for the design 

of such a low-energy house: innovative insulation 

with the BASF products Neopor ® and Styrodur ® C, 

intelligent air-conditioning technology and energysaving 

windows. The partners for the MESH are 

r-m-p architects (Mannheim), the window and door 

manufacturer Ludwig Häußler GmbH (Speyer), the 

building systems provider Nilan Deutschland 

GmbH (Rödental), the manufacturer of stay-inplace 

formwork and floor panels with Styrodur C 

Lohr Element (Gemünden). Inholz GmbH (Mannheim) 

has built MESH. 

30


Cross section of 

a roller shutter 

casing with 

Basotect thermal 

insulation 

Insulation of roller shutter casings 

with the BASF foam Basotect 

In order to retrofit roller shutter casings with 

thermal and acoustic insulation, BOSIG 

GmbH, Germany, has turned to BASF’s 

Basotect ® . This lightweight, flame-retardant 

foam is used in the Rolaflex ® system, which 

simply and cost-effectively provides built-in 

or walled-in roller shutter casings with energy-efficient 

thermal and acoustic insulation. 

Thus, Basotect is making a contribution towards 

meeting the standards for passive and 

low-energy houses. So homeowners can 

lower their heating costs and reduce CO 2 

emissions. 

The gray, specially coated Basotect strips 

have a thermal conductivity of < 0.035 W/m•K, 

so they reliably prevent so-called thermal 

bridges, in other words, heat losses that can 

occur when roller shutter casings are inadequately 

insulated. This measure also improves 

the living climate, eliminates drafts and reduces 

sound transmission. 

Quick installation 

Moreover, it prevents mold growth on the walls 

due to condensation brought about by wide 

fluctuations in temperature. Rolaflex is quick 

and easy to apply: the roller shutter casings 

are lined with one or more layers of Basotect 

and the strips are fastened with a pasty, solventfree 

adhesive. It is not necessary to replace 

the windows or roller shutter casings. 

www.basotect.com 

and bedrooms are ventilated with fresh air that 

flows through the halls and is exhausted from 

the bathrooms and kitchen. The woodaluminum 

composite windows are tripleglazed. 

The basement is made of precast 

concrete components and is insulated with 

BASF’s compression-resistant and waterrepellant 

polystyrene Styrodur ® C (XPS) rigid 

foam panels. They serve as perimeter insulation 

under the foundation slab and in the area 

that comes into contact with the ground. All of 

these measures contribute towards making 

this house largely independent of fossil fuels. 

Styrodur C 

panels for 

sophisticated 

construction 

projects 

www.mesh.basf.com 

Official approval for multilayer XPS 

under foundation slab 

The German Institute for Construction 

Technology (Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik), 

Berlin has given its official approval 

to multiple layers of BASF’s Styrodur ® 3035 CS, 

Styrodur 4000 CS and Styrodur 5000 CS 

used under the foundation slab. For the first 

time, this approval extends the use of the 

green extruded polystyrene rigid foam panels 

(XPS) to two or three layers as load-bearing 

thermal insulation under the foundation slab. 

The thickness of each sheet can be up to 

120 mm, the total thickness of the insulation 

layer can be up to 300 mm. The multiple layers 

of high compressive strength Styrodur C 

can provide a simpler and less expensive 

solution in demanding construction applications 

with stringent thermal insulation requirements, 

for example passive houses. 

31


Vegetation as inspiration 

Miramid plastic in the Vegetal chair made by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra 

It is called Vegetal, looks like an exotic 

plant, can also be used prosaic as a chair 

for indoor as well as outdoor. The new object 

was created by designers Ronan and 

Erwan Bouroullec in co-operation with Vitra, 

the renowned Swiss furniture manufacturer. 

The chair is made entirely of BASF’s 

plastic Miramid ® by means of the so-called 

GIT process, a special injection molding 

technique. Since mid-2009 it is offered in 

six different colors. 

The chair and its idea 

In developing their new chair, the Bouroullec 

brothers were inspired by a 

fashion dating back to the beginning 

of the 20 th century: in 

North America, systematic 

pruning and painstaking 

care of young 

trees made them 

grow in the shape 

of chair-like 

structures. 

The central 

BACKGROUND 

BASF’s designfabrik: A service concept for design in plastics 

Good design helps manufacturers differentiate 

their products from those of 

their competitors. With its service platform 

designfabrik, BASF is aiming to help 

its customers to turn design ideas into 

successful products more quickly. BASF 

assists designers in the various phases of 

product development: ranging from the 

idea phase to the concept phase up to the 

implementation phase. Co-operating with 

further BASF experts, the BASF industrial 

designers provide their customers advice 

with regard to applications engineering 

and design geared towards plastic. They 

also help to select the suitable processing 

method and to choose the right material. 

In the color library of the designfabrik 

designers looking for inspiration can find 

approximately 20,000 color samples with 

various haptics. 

www.designfabrik.basf.com 

element of the Vegetal chair is a seat shell 

that looks like branches of different thicknesses 

woven together. This universal chair 

lends itself for indoor and outdoor use, 

which is why it has to be made of very 

sturdy plastic. 

The plastic and 

its processing 

The creation of this weatherresistant 

designer chair called 

for a reinforced polyamide 

that, on the one hand, could 

be processed by means 

of the GIT method and 

that, on the other hand, 

could easily be dyed in 

the desired earth colors. 

This led to the choice 

of Miramid B3EG3 

GIT. The Miramid GIT 

grades in BASF’s 

range of engineering 

plastics are specially 

optimized for gas injection 

technology (GIT) 

and they meet the high 

requirements made in 

terms of the surface quality, 

even in special colorations. 

Gas injection technology 

allows the manufacture 

of very lightweight and yet 

stable plastic parts: after the 

classic injection-molding process, 

compressed air then blasts the 

not-yet hardened plastic out of 

certain portions of the chair structures, 

making the four legs and part 

of the seat shell of the Vegetal chair 

hollow and particularly stable. As 

a result, the chair weighs a mere 

5.5 kilograms. 

This sturdy and UV-resistant chair is 

made up of three components: the seat 

shell and the two front legs are formed in 

a single processing step while the two rear 

legs follow in a second step. 

www.miramid.com 

32


From windshield wipers to coffee machines 

New Ultradur types for contact with food 

Spatulas, cans, coffee machines, candy 

bar wrappers – plastics find wide-spread 

use in the food sector. But before plastics 

are allowed to be used here, they have to 

meet a number of statutory food-safety requirements 

laid down in EU regulations and 

directives and, particularly in Germany, in the 

Consumer Goods Act. BASF has developed 

several Ultradur ® types (PBT) that are specifically 

suited for contact with food products. 

Resists high temperatures 

to high temperatures and pressures, also 

electric kettles, deep fryer lids and packaging 

as well as toothbrush bristles. These 

considerations also apply to the valves used 

in toilet flushing tanks since components 

that are part of the drinking water system 

also have to comply with all regulations 

pertaining to materials that come into contact 

with food. Uncompounded Ultradur 

BACKGROUND 

Legislation: high demands on plastics 

can be employed in multilayered composite 

films for beverage cartons as well as for 

candy bar wrappers in combination with 

polypropylene. This material allows customers 

to reduce the transparency of the packaging 

film as desired. Another conceivable 

application is the coating of aluminum coils 

with Ultradur for use in the production of 

beverage and food cans. 

Ultradur is an engineering plastic that, aside 

from being used in the automotive sector, 

is constantly making inroads into new areas 

of daily life such as household appliances, 

packaging films or coatings that come into 

contact with food. There are three nonreinforced 

and undyed basic polymers 

(Ultradur B2550 FC, Ultradur B4500 FC and 

Ultradur B6550 FC) as well as compounded 

PBT grades for injection-release applications, 

including non-reinforced Ultradur ® 

B4520 FC with a mold-release agent and 

the fiberglass-reinforced Ultradur B4300 

G6 FC (30% glass fibers), which is also 

available with 20% glass fibers. A highly 

reinforced version with 50% glass fibers 

(G10) is still in the experimental stage. All 

of the reinforced products are offered undyed 

or in black. 

Typical areas of application are components 

of coffee machines that are briefly exposed 

Food-safety legislation is based on three sets 

of regulations that have to be observed for 

plastics that come into contact with food. As 

the basic set of regulations, (EC) Framework 

Regulation 1935/2004 stipulates the fundamental 

requirements made of materials and 

of articles intended to come into contact with 

food. (EC) Regulation 2023/2006/EU provides 

information about good manufacturing 

practices (GMP) for materials and articles intended 

to come into contact with food. This 

GMP regulation went into effect on August 

1, 2008. It requires a quality-assurance and 

quality-control system in every link of the 

delivery chain. The third set of regulations is 

EU Directive 2002/72/EC. It contains specific 

rules for plastics that come into contact with 

food: only monomers and additives listed 

there are approved for the manufacture of 

such plastics. In Germany, this directive has 

been implemented in the Consumer Goods 

Act (Bedarfsgegenstände-Verordnung). 

The plastics that BASF makes for the food 

sector have long been produced to meet 

high safety standards. Nevertheless, the new 

regulations require plastic manufacturers to 

select special materials, to additionally obtain 

approvals for these materials and to undertake 

even more comprehensive measures in 

terms of documentation and quality assurance. 

BASF provides its customers with the 

requisite written certificates substantiating EU 

conformity. For applications that involve contact 

with food, BASF is now marketing GMP 

grades that bear the FC designation, indicating 

suitability for food contact. Almost all of 

these FC types have already received the applicable 

approvals from the Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA), which is required for the 

American market. 

33

Packaging 

Shrinking without wrinkles 

New serial application for Styrolux HS 70 

S tyrolux® HS 70, an innovation showcased 

at the K 2007 plastics trade fair in 

Düsseldorf, Germany, has now gone into 

one of its first serial productions in Europe, 

at AXIAL, an Italian film manufacturer. AXIAL 

has just started to produce shrink films made 

of BASF’s SBC (styrene butadiene copolymer), 

and is distributing the material to the 

main converters, not only in Italy. 

Shrink film without smile effect 

Sutter, e.g., an Italian producer of cleaning 

products, is using them to sleeve-wrap its 

bottles. AXIAL decided in favor of the new 

film material because of its optimized shrinkage 

behavior in comparison to the commercially 

available SBC/PS blends. Films made 

of the new material can reach final shrinkage 

values of up to 80 percent, which allows 

containers having a wide array of shapes to 

be tightly sleeve-wrapped. “Our customer 

Sutter, which so far had shrink-wrapped its 

bottles with a PET shrink film, is now introducing 

our film made of Styrolux ® HS 70. 

This eliminates the so-called ‘smile effect’ 

– folding, for example, at the neck of the 

bottle – that up to now had been encountered 

at the transition from large radii to small radii 

in objects having a complex geometry,” 

explains Marco Ruspa, technical manager 

at AXIAL. Moreover, this very lightweight 

material yields about 30 percent more film 

per kilogram of plastic than is the case with 

PVC or PET. Besides, unlike PET, Styrolux 

HS 70 does not require any pre-drying 

during processing, which means that 

this material is an energy-efficient and 

cost-effective alternative. 

www.basf.de/styrolux 

Thanks to 

Styrolux films: 

complex 

geometries 

without 

folds 

Milk on the light side 

Lightest half-liter polystyrene bottle in the world 

BASF recently succeeded in using a conventional 

stretch blow-molding machine 

to create the lightest half-liter polystyrene 

bottle ever: it weighs a mere 7.5 grams. This 

innovation project gave BASF the opportunity 

to see 

how extremely 

lightweight 

bottles for dairy 

products 

can be made of 

polysty- 

rene using stretch 

blow-molding methods. After all, less weight 

always translates into lower costs and less 

consumption of resources. Since polystyrene 

has a lower density than PET, it can be used 

to produce bottles that weigh 

less but have the same wall 

thickness. Owing to the special 

properties of this plastic, BASF 

recommends the new polystyrene 

type (PS BX 3580) specifically for 

containers used for milk products. 

www.plasticsportal.eu/polystyrol 

34

Packaging 

Well-anchored, no wobbling 

Stability on pallets: serial production of film for stretch hoods 

made of highly elastic Styroflex 

highly elastic styrene-butadiene copolymer 

(SBC) Styroflex ® 2G66 provided by 

A 

BASF is now also used in stretch hoods and 

protecting their cargo against slipping. 

BISCHOF + KLEIN, a manufacturer of packaging 

material with worldwide operations, is 

now using Styroflex to produce the stretch 

hood films of its SmartFlex ® SE series, and 

at almost the same time, two of its major 

international customers as well as the German 

company PCI Augsburg have switched 

over to this film for packaging their cargo. 

The new stretch hood films consist of several 

layers, the core layer being made of 

Styroflex 2G66. “We chose Styroflex for our 

films because, in addition to being very easy 

to process, it also displays good recovery 

properties. Tests have shown that the film 

containing Styroflex wraps tightly around the 

load, holding it securely on the pallet, even 

after being stretched by as much as 220 

percent. Films made of pure polyethylene, in 

contrast, can only be stretched between 20 

and 50 percent in industrial use since otherwise 

they do not recover sufficiently”, explains 

Ulrich Drögsler, head of sales for industrial 

packaging at BISCHOF + KLEIN. 

Stable pallets, 

lower costs 

Thanks to its high puncture resistance, the 

Styroflex film can be even thinner than pure 

PE films, which are usually from 80 µm to 120 

µm thick. This entails a two-fold benefit for 

customers since greater stretchability and less 

thickness reduce the film weight per pallet 

while the improved pallet stability lowers insurance 

and logistics costs. The PCI Augsburg 

company – a manufacturer of building chemicals 

located in Augsburg (Germany) and a 

BASF subsidiary – is utilizing the advantages 

of this film especially in order to package items 

with sharp edges which are otherwise difficult 

to wrap with film; these products include tile 

adhesives in buckets and footfall-insulation 

panels. Tear resistance and recovery capacity 

ensure that the film continues to stabilize 

the packaged goods even if the pallet is tilted 

by up to 35 percent, thus greatly enhancing 

the stability of the load. Besides, a single film 

tube size can accommodate different packaging 

tasks and pallet sizes. This saves not only 

storage costs but also cuts the time needed 

for retooling. 

www. styroflex.de 

Styroflex stretch hoods secure the load, even when tilted by 35 percent 

35

Packaging 

Iridescent like a rainbow 

Special-effect film Aurora puts packaging and labels into the limelight 

Up to 30,000 products vie for customers’ 

attention on supermarket shelves. On 

average, a single article has one-sixth of a 

second to catch the eye of the consumer. 

During this brief moment in time, what counts 

most is the outward appearance: the packaging 

is an effective way to make one product 

stand out above the competition. Here, 

BASF’s Aurora ® – a special effect film made 

of polymers such as PET – opens up a wide 

array of possibilities. These films can be 

used for labels and packaging, for laminated 

cardboard and laminated film as 

well as for bags. Moreover, they are processed 

into glitter for the cosmetics industry. 

These films are sold by BTC 

Specialty Chemical Distribution GmbH 

(see box). 

Soap bubbles and mother-of-pearl 

as source of inspiration 

The Aurora films irradiate colors and 

mother-of-pearl iridescence even 

though they themselves are not dyed 

with pigments or colorants. Like soap 

bubbles, they appear in a myriad 

of colors, depending on the 

viewing angle. The broad color 

spectrum and many combination 

possibilities with differently 

dyed substrates – ranging 

from paper and cardboard 

all the way to plastic – yield a 

multitude of effects. 

The films consist of two outer 

layers surrounding the so-called 

optical core. It is in this core that 

the color impressions are created, 

while the outer shell accounts for 

the mechanical properties of the film. 

For instance, Aurora is tearproof, resistant 

to moisture and solvents, and 

Aurora films are an 

eye-catching feature of 

packaging made by the 

Beiersdorf company 

can also adapt to the complex contours of 

packaging such as cream jars. 

Optical core made up of more than 

100 polymer layers 

The iridescence of the film stems from the 

more than 100 polymer layers that make 

up the optical core. “The polymer layers 

reflect some of the white light that strikes 

the film. The thickness of the optical core 

determines the way the film reflects color,” 

explains Dirk Kinzel of BTC. 

This is how it works: humans perceive light 

in different colors whenever light is in the 

wavelength range between 400 nanometers 

(violet) and 700 nanometers (red). The multilayered 

structure of the film breaks white 

light into several complementary colors: 

the individual polymer layers each reflect 

parts of the incident light. Interactions among 

the rays additionally amplify some wavelengths 

and attenuate others. This creates 

iridescent color reflections that look like a 

rainbow. 

BACKGROUND 

BTC Speciality Chemical 

Distribution GmbH 

BTC Specialty Chemical Distribution 

Europe is the sales organization of 

the BASF Group for all of Europe and 

it caters to small and medium-sized 

customers who buy specialty chemicals, 

care chemicals and performance 

polymers. An essential cornerstone of 

BTC Europe is BTC Specialty Chemical 

Distribution GmbH, which is headquartered 

in Cologne, Germany and 

active on a global scale. BTC supplies 

more than 3000 finishing chemicals 

to the market segments comprising 

cleansers and detergents, formulators, 

automotive applications and oil, 

textiles, coatings, plastics, printing inks 

and special dyes as well as adhesives 

and construction materials. 

36

Packaging 

Going shopping 

with renewable materials 

Biodegradable plastic Ecovio in German ALDI shopping bags 

The large German discount supermarket 

chain ALDI SÜD is now offering its German 

customers shopping bags made of 

BASF’s biodegradable plastic Ecovio ® . These 

bags are manufactured for ALDI by the 

VICTOR Güthoff & Partner Group, headquartered 

in Kerpen, Germany. 

The plastic Ecovio consists of Ecoflex ® and 

of polylactic acid (PLA), which is obtained 

from corn, a renewable raw material. Ecoflex 

is a petrochemical-based polyester. 

And yet, thanks to its special molecular 

structure, it can be digested 

by microbes under precisely defined 

conditions: it is completely 

biodegradable according to European 

standard EN 13432. Whereas 

Ecoflex makes the bag flexible, tearresistant, 

waterproof and suitable 

for printing – giving it the 

properties of a classic 

plastic – the stiff PLA contributes the renewable 

raw material. 

Bags with tailor-made properties, thanks 

to Ecovio and Ecoflex 

The combination of Ecovio and Ecoflex 

allows film manufacturers such 

as VICTOR to produce plastic 

bags and other 

film products with 

tailor-made 

properties 

– a higher percentage of Ecoflex renders the 

film more flexible whereas a higher percentage 

of Ecovio renders it stiffer. 

Biodegradable shopping bags offer customers 

an additional advantage: they not only are 

strong enough to be used multiple times as 

a shopping bag, but at the end of their days, 

they can also serve as a bag for collecting 

and disposing of organic kitchen garbage – in 

most of the German communities this is already 

permitted. 

www.plasticsportal.eu/ecoflex 

Not only for 

grocery shopping 

but also for composting: 

bags made 

of Ecovio 

37

Miscellaneous 

Colorful flying machines 

made of Neopolen 

The “Libray” cuts quite a figure as it takes 

off from the water: this bright yellow flying 

boat becomes airborne effortlessly. Another 

model, the “Piper Cepp” overshadows the 

competition as it takes to the skies, where it 

executes loops and rotates with elegance 

around its own axis. 

These model aircraft embarked on their 

maiden flight in Baindt, near Lake Constance 

in Germany, where Franz Bormann and four 

colleagues design and produce 

remote-controlled model aircraft as well 

as UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for industrial 

applications such as, for instance, surveying 

cameras. 

Neopolen ® P, a BASF plastic, is always on 

board. The model planes manufactured by 

the Borjet company are made almost exclusively 

of this polypropylene foam (EPP). Its 

impact 

resistance 

ensures that 

no damage occurs 

even in the 

case of rough crash 

landings. And yet 

these model planes are lightweight: 

despite a wingspan of one 

meter, the Piper Cepp, for example, 

tips the scales at a mere 220 grams. “It 

was not only these properties, but also 

the broad range of colors of Neopolen ® P 

that won us over. For example, the 

Neopolen variants in saturated 

blue and vibrant yellow are 

perfect for the Libray, which 

is modeled after the so-called 

‘Dornier amphibious aircraft’”, explains Franz 

Bormann. 

Milling instead of foaming 

Moreover, Neopolen ® P is also available in 

stoplight red and raspberry red as well as 

green. “We decided in favor of these bright 

colors in addition to the standard black, white 

and grey in order to tap into new markets. This 

has allowed us to acquire new customers, 

especially in the leisure and 

toy sectors,” elaborates Christian 

Mühlbauer, responsible for the product 

management of Neopolen P at BASF. 

Borjet’s airplanes are made using hot-wire 

machines: once a design has been set 

on paper, the contours are refined 

on the computer and digitally sent 

to the cutting machines, which then 

fully automatically mill the individual 

components of the model plane out of 

the colorful Neopolen panels. “For our production, 

it is very important for us to be able to 

cut filigree parts out of this material without 

having to foam them,” explains Bormann. This 

allows us to use one and the same machine 

for each of our new models, and even to offer 

tailor-made solutions in large as well as small 

production runs. Borjet sells about 300 aircraft 

per month, mainly to wholesalers. Those who 

want to try their hand at air acrobatics with 

the Piper Cepp or to practice water take-offs 

with the Libray can also order a model for 

themselves from the Borjet shop. 

www.borjet.com 

www.neopolen.com 

Drinking in the view 

The straw winds its way around the 

drinkware like a mini rollercoaster, 

and drinks flow through it in bright 

colors. Unusual shapes characterize 

drinkware under the Krazy Straw ® brand 

from the manufacturer Fun-Time International 

from Philadelphia. At the same time, 

they are highly durable and cost-effective. 

To combine these two characteristics, Fun- 

Time International set out to find a new plastic 

capable of replacing the conventional PET 

and PC materials used in the drinkware. The 

company opted for Styrolux ® 3G46 (SBC) 

from BASF. First, this material has the necessary 

high transparency needed to ensure that 

the contents in the straw are visible. Second, 

it is very easy to print lettering and 

logos on the material. As Styrolux also has 

a density which is 30 percent less than that 

of PET or PC, the material is less expensive 

and easier to process. Lastly, Styrolux 3G46 

is compliant with the US Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA) for contact with food. 

In short, it is a plastic offering undiluted drinking 

fun. 

38

Win a Polar watch 

It’s summer, the weather is great, our bodies are 

geared up for activity – why not get out there for 

some exercise? If you want to check whether 

your body is functioning properly and to monitor 

your heart rate, put on a Polar watch when you 

go jogging, biking or mountain climbing. 

This watch measures your heart rates and stores 

the data. The display also shows your calorie 

expenditure and, of course, also the time. You 

Polar Running and Multisport Computer 

RS 300X Run 

don’t have a Polar watch? Visit our Plastics- 

Portal at the Internet to have a chance to win 

one! 

www.plastics-magazine.com 

P.S. You can also order the brochures 

about the published topics on our 

website www.plastics-magazine.com 

Calendar of Events 

Trade fairs and events that BASF will attend: 

expojc 

Shanghai International Energy Saving & 

Advanced Building Material Exhibition, 

Shanghai, China 

August 18 to 21, 2009 

www.expojc.com/ 

Fakuma 

The international trade fair for plastics, 

Friedrichshafen, Germany 

Oktober 13 to 17, 2009 

www.fakuma-messe.com 

USGBC Greenbuild 

U.S. Green Building Council; Greenbuild 

International Conference and Expo, 

Indianapolis, IN, USA 

November 11 to 13, 2009 

www.greenbuildexpo.org/ 

NordBau 

The greatest building trade fair in Northern 

Europe, Neumünster, Germany 

September 10 to 15, 2009 

www.nordbau.de/ 

Bâtimat 

Le Salon International 

de la Construction, 

Paris, France 

November 2 to 7, 2009 

www.batimat.com/ 

Editorial Office: 

Karen Kling, 

(in charge) 

Jutta Schmidt, 

(in charge) 

Dr. Julia Endres 

David Baumgart, 

Dr. Ulla Biernat, 

Hannes Wulf, 

BASF SE; 

Publisher: 

BASF SE 

KT/KC – E 100 

67056 Ludwigshafen, 

Germany 

Distribution: 

BASF SE 

All articles in the magazine as well as the complete 

magazine are available for download in .pdf format 

at www.plastics-magazine.com 

WMN: KST 0907 BE 

Dr. Sylvia Kaufmann, 

Elastogran GmbH 

Chris Wilson, 

BASF UK; 

Kathy Dennis, 

BASF North America; 

Ian DeSouza, 

Beverly Tan, 

BASF South East Asia. 

Tel.:+49 621 60-20191 

Fax: +49 621 60-49497 

Layout: 

Spektrum, 

Ludwigshafen 

Photo credits: 

Cover and Pages 

3, 6-17, 27-31, 34-35, 36, 38 : BASF SE 

Page 16: Adam Opel GmbH 

Page 18-19: TATA MOTORS 

Pages 18, 33, 37, 39: Spektrum 

Pages 20-22, 25: Elastogran GmbH 

Page 23: XL TURF AG 

Page 24: Gorenje, d.d. 

Page 26: Zelmer Trading Sp. z o.o. 

Page 29: Genova 

Page 32: Paul Tahon/Ronan&Erwan Bouroullec 

Page 38: Borjet

plastics - The customer magazine from BASF 1/2009

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