Lanxess subsidiary Bond-Laminates expands capacity in Germany

Bond-Laminates, a subsidiary of German specialty chemical company Lanxess that belongs to the business unit High Performance Materials, has completed capacity expansion at its site in Brilon, Germany, for the high-performance composite Tepex on schedule. The two new production plants were recently taken into operation.
 
Altogether, the company now has facilities with a total annual capacity of well over four million square meters Tepex. In addition to a new production hall, further storage areas and office space were also added. “These investments come in response to the rapidly rising demand for Tepex, particularly in the automotive, sports equipment and consumer electronics industries,” said Jochen Bauder, Managing Director of Bond-Laminates.
 
This capacity expansion comes alongside new developments at the application center in Brilon. By the end of the year, a hybrid moulding facility will be installed that will enable Tepex to be formed and over-injected directly with thermoplastics in a single one-shot process. “We want to use this facility to present this manufacturing technology to our customers in the sports and consumer electronics industries in order to support them in the development of innovative applications. We also want to optimise the processing behaviour of new composites and customer-specific material recipes,” said Ulrich Jecmeniza, an application developer at Bond-Laminates.
 
Tepex comprises continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites. Polyamide, polypropylene, thermoplastic polyurethane, polycarbonate or polyphenylene sulfide is used for the thermoplastic matrix. The continuous-fibre fabrics are made of glass, aramid or carbon fibres. Application examples include soccer boot soles, racing cycle brake levers, backpack frames, snowboarding and cycle helmets and smartphone, tablet and notebook cases. Tepex is also used in the automotive industry for applications such as lightweight seat shells, front ends, brake pedals, infotainment brackets and engine compartment guard plates.