The
next killer app for DuPont's
super-strong Kevlar polymer may be
in outer space, as a
nanofiber for
next-generation rockets and space
shuttles.
by
Peter Galuszka
In
March 2003, a month after the space
shuttle Columbia disintegrated over
Texas, killing seven astronauts aboard,
a distraught NASA official made a
critical telephone call. The researcher
left a message that reached Arnie
Frances, a senior research associate at
DuPont’s sprawling Spruance production
facility in Richmond.
The
Columbia had exploded on re-entry
because a piece of insulating foam had
broken away during launch and damaged
the Shuttle. Did chemical giant DuPont
have anything new in its research
pipeline that could help prevent future
disasters?
“It
turned out we did have something very
new on the drawing board,” says
Frances. DuPont’s Spruance has
turned out steadily improved versions of
Kevlar, a bullet-stopping fiber that is
five times stronger than steel, for four
decades. The latest developments involve
using nanotechnology to make tiny
slivers of Kevlar. In
this new form, Kevlar could be inserted
into cell walls of foam insulation in
ways that will make it stronger and
hopefully more damage resistant.
A
few months after the initial phone call,
DuPont and officials at NASA’s
Marshall Space Flight Center signed an
agreement to explore using Kevlar
“micro pulp” or “nano pulp” in
what would be a dynamic new application.
It might be used as insulation in the
next generation of launch vehicles –
the Ares I and V – that will take the
replacement for the space shuttle into
orbit, to
the
moon
With
demand booming for Kevlar, DuPont is
investing $500 million to boost production
of the light-weight, high-strength fiber.
The first expansion will take place in
Richmond.
by Stephanie Jacobson
As a leader in safety
and protection, DuPont has announced
production expansion plans for its high
performance Kevlar para-aramid brand fiber.
DuPont will invest over $500 million in
a multi-phase production expansion starting
with a Kevlar polymer expansion in
Richmond, Va., later this year. For DuPont,
a world leader in para-aramid sales, this
expansion will increase Kevlar capacity by
more than 25 percent when complete in 2010,
and represents the largest Kevlar expansion
since the product was introduced in 1965.
Details about additional expansion phases
will be announced at a later date.
“Global demand for DuPont Kevlar has
soared with the growing need for safety and
security worldwide,” Thomas G. Powell, vice
president and general manager – DuPont
Advanced Fiber Systems, said. “In
addition,
high energy prices have increased demand for
the lightweight strength of Kevlar in the
aerospace, oil and gas and automotive
industries. Our capacity expansion plan is a
critical step in growing the Kevlar
business, maintaining DuPont leadership in
high performance fibers, and delivering the
innovation customers expect from DuPont."
“This is a significant investment for DuPont
and underscores our commitment to
sustainability and providing products that
improve the safety and protection of people
and critical processes around the world,”
Mark P. Vergnano, group vice president,
DuPont Safety & Protection, said. “We are
focusing our
investment on products like
Kevlar that meet the needs of these
multi-billion-dollar growth industries for
high-performance, innovative materials.” (Press
release, Sept. 19, 2007)More.
Spin
Control
Using an
electrospinning process, VCU researchers
have developed a method to create stable,
well-aligned nano-scale fibers.
by
Sara Hall
On
their path to developing chemical sensors
for detecting bioterror agents, two
Virginia Commonwealth University
scientists discovered a new method for
creating nano-sized polymer fibers that
could be useful to engineers working to
enhance microelectronics, filtration, drug
delivery and tissue engineering.
Polymer
nanofibers can be created through a
technique known as electrospinning, which
uses electrical forces to produce
inherently unstable fibers and nonwoven
materials. By altering this process, Gary
Tepper,
Ph.D., a professor of mechanical
engineering in the VCU School of
Engineering, and Soumayajit Sarkar, a
doctoral student, were able to produce
stable, woven and aligned fibers —
characteristics necessary for creating
microchips for chemical sensors.
Nanofiber
created through traditional
electrospinning (left) produces
inherently unstable fibers and
nonwoven materials. The new process
(right) creates fibers that are
stable and aligned.
The
new method, called biased AC
electrospinning, allowed Tepper’s team
to control and manipulate the polymer
fibers into aligned arrays.
“If these fibers are to be used on a
microchip to make chemical sensors, or in
other applications such as tissue
engineering, we have to control where they
go. We can’t just be happy to make them
and let them go anywhere,” Tepper said.
(University News Services, July 16,
2007) More.
News
Business
Ethyl Resolves
Dispute. Innospec and
Ethyl Corporation
have resolved their differences over the global marketing and supply
agreements for tetra ethyl lead. (June 19, 2007)
More.
Rehrig Merges.
Rehrig
International and United Steel & Wire
have joined forces to form Rehrig-United.
The combined company, with manufacturing
locations in Virginia and Michigan, is
headquartered in Richmond. (May 8,
2007)
More.
Albemarle
Expands Worldwide. The Albemarle
Corporation Board of Directors has
approved a reorganization to target and
develop market opportunities globally.
(April 11, 2007)
More.
Products
Honeywell Launches
Spectra Shield II. Honeywell has
developed a new line, Spectra Shield II,
with improved fiber-based materials that
has 20 percent greater ballistic stopping
capability for body and vehicle armor.
Honeywell plans to meet the growing need
by investing in several productions.
(June 14, 2007)
More.
DuPont
Fibers Lift Airbus A380. DuPont’s
lightweight, high-performance materials
helped lift the first-ever, full-length
twin-deck aircraft, Airbus A380. A new
honeycomb composite made of Kevlar is found
in the airplane from its flooring to
interior walls to wing flaps. (March
20, 2007)
More.
DuPont Fibers Sets Standard.
DuPont Fire Resistant Materials with
Kevlar fiber has helped
mattress manufacturers meet the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC)
new flammability standard for
mattresses. The CPSC estimates that the
DuPont technology will limit the
severity of mattress fires. (June 29,
2007)
More.
Research
UVA
Prof Earns US DOE Grant. University of
Virginia Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
Professor Matt Neurock earned a grant from
the U.S. Department of Energy’s Basic Energy
Sciences program for his work on
hydrogen-powered polymer electrolyte
membrane fuel cells. (August 15, 2007)
More.
VCU
Profs Discover New Class of Compounds.
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers
have discovered a new class of aluminum-hydrogen complexes with unique chemistry
that may be used as building blocks to
create materials in alternate forms of
energy and high-energetic materials. (January
19, 2007) More.
People
Alloy Polymers Founder Dead.
Subhash Pahuja, founder and CEO of Alloy
Polymers, Inc., has died. He is succeeded as CEO by
Charles Chiappone,
the company’s COO. His wife has
assumed the position of company
chairman. (May 24, 2007)
Albemarle Names COO.
Albemarle
Corporation has named John M. Steitz as
executive vice president and COO with
oversight of marketing, sales, research
and supply chain activities. (April
11, 2007)
More.
Fibers Names Fieber.
Performance
Fibers, Inc. has appointed Christopher
L. Fieber vice president of corporate
strategy in charge of the company’s
merger and acquisition activities. (May
2, 2007)
More.
Recognition
Albemarle Wins Award. Albemarle
Corporation has been awarded the 2007 Virginia
Global Business Ambassador Award for
promoting ideals and values that enrich
peoples' lives in the United States and overseas.
(April 19, 2007)
