Polycarbonate (PC) is cool, highly transparent, strong, and easy to shape, and is being used in all aspects of modern life, in applications such as electrical and electronic products and appliances, automotive parts, medical devices, and LED lighting. As one of the key components of Crestron's business, the Polycarbonate Division is committed to creating innovative and sustainable materials that are safe and durable to meet the needs of multiple industries.
Innovation leads to revolutionary breakthroughs in automotive design
Costron presented the future of automotive design concept at K 2016 in Germany, thanks to the good properties of PC such as thinness, transparency and heat resistance, thus enabling many design applications, such as the holographic integrated taillight at the rear end of the concept car, where a holographic film made of molded cloned polycarbonate film was used for the rear lighting components to bring a 3D visual effect.
"Interior trim is another revolutionary breakthrough," said Lei Huanli, senior vice president of Asia Pacific for Costron's polycarbonate business unit, at CHINAPLAS 2017 International Rubber & Plastics Show in Guangzhou, "Autonomous driving is a trend, and if autonomous driving is realized, interior trim will be used as a part of a mobile space. We are currently working with a design school in the U.S. to design the interiors of self-driving cars using polycarbonate, and thanks to the maturity of self-driving technology, the car of the future will be a new mobile scene, and we are very optimistic about this trend."
Polycarbonate, with its special characteristics, allows the manufacture of particularly clear automotive windows that can be used for side and rear windows, panoramic headliners, and even entire rear hatches. The parts thus made are up to 50 percent lighter than those made from glass.
Costron has a very long history in the automotive sector, and in cooperation with the major car manufacturers, Costron has spared no effort in developing new products, technologies and applications that will allow the industry as a whole to continue to move steadily forward.
In addition to innovation, another very important core of Costron is sustainability, as it is the soul of Costron. Costron's sustainability revolves around 3 aspects: first: the planet; second: people; and third: profit. "Sustainability is all our technologies that benefit people beyond taking care of the planet, not overusing energy and wasting resources. It's when many of our products and technologies make life very convenient, but at the same time don't waste our resources. It's not just Crestron, but all of our partners in the entire value chain of our company that benefit, and that's sustainable." Mr. Lei said.
Sustainable development to meet global challenges
To address the aging trend, Costron needs not only breakthroughs in medical technology, but also special materials that can meet the demands of demanding applications. Costron develops polycarbonates and hybrid materials that can help enable medical and healthcare applications. For example, Costron's Arba® high-temperature resistant polycarbonate resin, a transparent, strongly co-polycarbonate, is suitable for medical applications requiring high-temperature sterilization and is easy to release, resistant to high temperatures and hydrolysis, and its biocompatibility meets many ISO 10993-1 test requirements, making it widely used in surgical instruments, sterilizers and endoscope sterilization systems.
In response to energy shortages, Möncron® LED polycarbonate grades from Costron help make LEDs more energy efficient, longer-lasting, environmentally friendly and high performing. lighting applications such as LED lamps and luminaires often require heat-resistant materials that enable complex molding designs. For lenses and secondary optics, the Möncron® LED polycarbonate grade series meets these complex needs, and offers higher clarity and light transmission compared to standard grades.
It is 64 years today since Costron invented and industrialized polycarbonate as a material. During these 64 years, Costron has been committed to the development of products, technologies, production, applications and new business models, insisting on continuous innovation in these areas. After expanding its annual production capacity to 400,000 tons last year, Crestron decided to increase its capacity to 600,000 tons in 2019. As the world's largest polycarbonate producer, the current growth in the global PC market demand is about 4%, and the core business of Costron's polycarbonate business segment grew strongly by up to 14.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year.
"China used to be a world processor, but now China has moved up the value chain in many industries, improving and has somehow reached the highest quality requirements. And when it comes to the Belt and Road, we have a lot of cooperation with related industries, and this is a future direction for us to lead the market." Mr. Lei said, "We are applying our products and processing technology in various industries according to the needs of the market, which may be a future development model while we are changing our business model."
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