WACKER commissions new plants for specialty silicones in China

WACKER continues its successful “in China for China” strategy with this expansion

22-May-2025 - WACKER is responding to rising demand for high-quality specialty silicones in China by expanding its production capacities at its Zhangjiagang site. The Group held a ceremony to celebrate the mechanical completion of the facilities. Going forward, the new production complex will manufacture ...

Startups shaping the future of Europe’s circular economy

Green Alley Award Finalists

03-Apr-2024 - The Green Alley Award, Europe’s first and longest-running award for startups and entrepreneurs pioneering the circular economy, has announced its finalists for 2024. Six startups have been selected from a total of over 300 applications and will pitch at the Green Alley Award finals on April 25, ...

Inspired by the gecko: Better adhesion properties of plastics through combined micro- and nanostructures

Structured surface improves adhesion, wettability, optical reflection, hydrophobicity and recyclability.

27-Feb-2024 - With a patented process for micro-nano-structuring, the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS in Halle (Saale) has achieved significant improvements in the adhesion properties of polymers. The process, in which structured surfaces are produced by hot imprinting or ...

WACKER Plans New Production Site for Silicone Specialties in the Czech Republic

The investment volume is in the low triple-digit million euro range

15-Jan-2024 - Wacker Chemie AG plans to further expand its silicone specialties business and is reorganizing its production operations in Europe. A new production site for silicones is to be built in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. The main drivers of this expansion measure are megatrends such as ...

Non-toxic plasticisers for use in elastomers and thermoplastics

Bio-based plasticizers from Central Germany

08-Dec-2023 - The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS is working with partners to develop a marketable, completely bio-based and non-toxic plasticizer for use in elastomers and thermoplastics. Using rapeseed oil as a starting product, more sustainable solutions for tires and ...

WACKER Expands Specialty Silicone Production in China

27-Sep-2023 - Wacker Chemie AG is expanding its specialty silicone manufacturing capacities in China. A kick-off event at the Zhangjiagang site in Jiangsu Province marks the start of construction of several new production lines, where the globally operating chemical group will manufacture functional silicone ...

Surprise! Weaker bonds can make polymers stronger

By adding weak linkers to a polymer network, chemists dramatically enhanced the material’s resistance to tearing

26-Jun-2023 - A team of chemists from MIT and Duke University has discovered a counterintuitive way to make polymers stronger: introduce a few weaker bonds into the material. Working with a type of polymer known as polyacrylate elastomers, the researchers found that they could increase the materials’ ...

A fairy-like robot flies by the power of wind and light

It sounds like science fiction: Robots for artificial pollination - can it work?

02-Feb-2023 - The development of stimuli-responsive polymers has brought about a wealth of material-related opportunities for next-generation small-scale, wirelessly controlled soft-bodied robots. For some time now, engineers have known how to use these materials to make small robots that can walk, swim and ...

Powered-up plastics

Sensors and orthoses are possible fields of application

23-Sep-2022 - Until now, it has not been possible to additively manufacture sensors and other electronic devices in a single operation. However, a research team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA has now succeeded in doing just that. The key to this achievement? ...

Elastic polymer that is both stiff and tough, resolves long-standing quandary

More sustainable, long-lasting polymer materials could decrease consumption of plastics

12-Oct-2021 - Polymer science has made possible rubber tires, Teflon and Kevlar, plastic water bottles, nylon jackets among many other ubiquitous features of daily life. Elastic polymers, known as elastomers, can be stretched and released repeatedly and are used in applications such as gloves and heart valves, ...