Covestro Taiwan Ltd (台灣科思創) yesterday launched a new research and development center that is to specialize in resin synthesis and fiberoptic coating after its parent company, Covestro AG, acquired a resins business from Royal DSM, it said.
The German company in September 2020 agreed to buy the resins and functional materials business from Royal DSM for about 1.61 billion euros (US$1.69 billion), corporate data showed.
The Dutch company’s local units, such as Covestro Resins (ROA) Ltd (帝昇) and Covestro Resins (Taiwan) Ltd (新力美), are next month to be integrated into Covestro Taiwan Ltd, with their employees continuing resins development, Covestro Taiwan said.
Photo courtesy of Covestro Taiwan Ltd
The Covestro Global Energy Curing Innovation Center was established at National Central University (NCU) in Taoyuan as part of its collaboration with local universities, the company said.
The 1,322m2 facility marks the first global research center located on a Taiwanese university campus and managed by a foreign company, it said.
Aiming to find new solutions to make its ultraviolet (UV)-cured resin synthesis process more sustainable, the company asked eight NCU professors, along with about 20 students, to work on four projects, and expects results by the end of next year, research center head Steve Shih (石健學) told the Taipei Times in an interview.
“Tin is a key production component, and we have managed to minimize tin residues to lower than one part per million, but in the event something goes wrong, we need another material with comparable performance that can substitute for tin,” Shih said, citing an example of one of the center’s projects.
The company is also attempting to seek appropriate bio-based materials, such as plant matter, to replace fossil-based material, as 25 percent of its products are to be made from bio-based materials by 2030, Shih said.
Covestro Taiwan is also working with National Taiwan University and National Chung Hsing University on cutting-edge research on resin development, Shih added.
UV-curable resin is used in a variety of coating applications for fiber optic cables, solar panels, electronic materials, ink printing, floors, premium wood items and papers, Covestro Resins Ltd general manager Troy Shao (邵仲益) told the Taipei Times.
It can also be used inside computing technology given its ability to refract light, Shao said.
A leading Taiwanese semiconductor company has utilized Covestro Taiwan’s technology to make its manufacturing process more sustainable and efficient, he said.
Covestro Taiwan is optimistic that its technology will be applied in Taiwanese 5G networks and to help install thinner glass fibers, he added.
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