Specialty chemicals firm Cabot launches its transfinity-brand elastomer composites for automotive, aerospaces and mining uses.
Earlier this year, the company has launched the Transfinity line, which it is producing in Malaysia, a reliable source of NR latex. The elastomer composites under this new line are made in a liquid phase mixing process, predispersing the carbon black through an aqueous solution that will be mixed with natural rubber latex.
According to Cabot, this process will result to materials that are structurally different from compounds mixed in the solid state, thus rendering better dispersion and improvement of the properties of the material.
Cabot invented this technology a decade ago but focused on early developed on tyre application, where natural rubber is used. But in 2008, the company signed a contract with tyre manufacturer, Michelin for exclusive use of Cabot’s technology in their tyres.
With the contract in place, David Reynolds, business manager for Cabot Elastomer Composites, said they shifted focus on applying the technology for non-tyre production, resulting in the Transfinity brand.
Transfinity is being used in products for tracked vehicles, both in military and commercial sectors.
The company sees strong business opportunities in mining in all regions of the world; and in the automotive sectors in Japan, North America and Western Europe, where the top automotive suppliers are.
(RJA)