The 'Specialties' segment embraces a variety of research activities and innovative product developments that are still at the beginning of their life cycle. Developments in the field of nanotechnology research point the way to highly promising improvements in the performance characteristics of existing products. Innovative surface technologies hold out excellent prospects for new and improved applications in medical technology.
Functional films are films whose surfaces or structure can be given additional properties that enable the substrate to conduct electricity, light up, or serve as a storage device, for example, thus opening up previously undreamed-of possibilities. Take television sets, for example: In the past, viewers stared into the good old cathode ray tube, which has now been replaced by the LCD flatscreen. In the future, thanks to functional films, foldable TV screens will provide unprecedented picture quality. The technology can also be transferred to many other types of display, which opens up a huge market. Other examples include electroluminescent, three-dimensionally deformable films offering maximum design freedom to product developers and industrial designers in the automotive, telecommunications and home electronics sectors.
Thanks to their excellent mechanical properties, polycarbonate films provide an exceptionally high level of protection against forgery for security cards and driver’s licenses. Next-generation photovoltaic systems could conceivably no longer be made of complex silicon wafers, but instead be supplied as reels of paper-thin film. These and many other projects are expected to be realized in conjunction with partners along the value added chain.