# Products
22.09.2023
Smart Plastics: How Covestro Combines Functionality, Sustainability, and Aesthetics
At ALBIS, we want to show how our smart plastics technology can make everyday applications more durable, sustainable, safe, and efficient. With our interview series, we share insights from industry stakeholders on trends, challenges, and customer needs. In today’s interview, Dr. Niklas Meine, Marketing Specialist for Engineering Plastics for E&E at Covestro, shares the holistic approach that has proven successful for this ALBIS partner when it comes to supporting customers in smart home endeavors.
Niklas, what are the main topics keeping you busy right now?
Niklas: As a chemist by education, I am responsible for marketing in the E&E industry in Europe within the business entity engineering plastics. My job is to identify new trends and applications, launching new solutions in the European market and developing business together with our skilled engineering plastics team. Our focus lies on innovation and circular economy. We are pushing related projects within Covestro and are working closely together with customers and partners to establish circular value chains.Concerning the use of plastics at home, which trends do you currently observe in the industry?
Plastics are used in various applications in our homes, ranging from classical electrical applications such as switches and sockets to lighting and luminaires, smart meters and fuse boxes, televisions, laptops and home audio systems, fridges and hair dryers, to washing and coffee machines. In all these products, plastics are used because of their special property profiles. Thermoplastics in particular are very versatile and exhibit outstanding material properties.
Plastics are used in various applications in our homes, ranging from classical electrical applications such as switches and sockets to lighting and luminaires, smart meters and fuse boxes, televisions, laptops and home audio systems, fridges and hair dryers, to washing and coffee machines. In all these products, plastics are used because of their special property profiles. Thermoplastics in particular are very versatile and exhibit outstanding material properties.
“There is a lot more to come”
What makes traditional applications different from smart home applications is certainly connectivity, e.g., wireless connectivity to an Internet of Things (IoT) network. The major advantage of such digitally connected devices is that the increasingly broad network can generate greater added value than isolated devices that usually only perform one function. In the smart home, one may think of temperature and electricity management to save energy and to support grid optimization, as well as automatic house cleaning with the help of robotic vacuum cleaners. These are just few examples and there is a lot more to come, since IoT applications are just about to start.
What does the increasing popularity of such devices and the IoT mean for plastics?
On the one hand, their housings must allow for good signal transmission. On the other hand, the materials used must also respond well to further requirements regarding flame retardance, light integration, coloring options, sensor wavelength transparency, or thermal conductivity. Polycarbonates fulfill all these needs, which makes them a material of choice for many producers.What role does sustainability play when plastic is used for these applications?
In addition to their excellent properties, it has become increasingly important to consider how such materials can be recycled to further contribute to the circular economy, and rightly so. At the same time, the industry requires materials with high standards while designers look to combine attractive aesthetics with new ways for intuitive interaction to improve user experience (UX). With the trend of electrification, the integration of electricity use and energy management, power supply e.g., by own home photovoltaics, and storage in home batteries or electric vehicles have also become part of the smart home, which is constantly transforming. By using resources wisely and responsibly, the CO2 footprint of these products can be reduced. Following the guidelines of “design for sustainability”, truly smart products add value for both the people and the planet.
In addition to their excellent properties, it has become increasingly important to consider how such materials can be recycled to further contribute to the circular economy, and rightly so. At the same time, the industry requires materials with high standards while designers look to combine attractive aesthetics with new ways for intuitive interaction to improve user experience (UX). With the trend of electrification, the integration of electricity use and energy management, power supply e.g., by own home photovoltaics, and storage in home batteries or electric vehicles have also become part of the smart home, which is constantly transforming. By using resources wisely and responsibly, the CO2 footprint of these products can be reduced. Following the guidelines of “design for sustainability”, truly smart products add value for both the people and the planet.
“We must ensure that today's products become tomorrow's raw materials”
How does Covestro respond to this general need for sustainable solutions?
We must ensure that today's products become tomorrow's raw materials. It is not ecologically justifiable that we extract more and more raw materials from the ground to the current extent, be it lithium for batteries or crude oil for fuels, chemicals, and plastics. This is why we at Covestro have set ourselves the goal of becoming "fully circular" and working with customers and partners to transform the linear economy into a circular economy.
We must ensure that today's products become tomorrow's raw materials. It is not ecologically justifiable that we extract more and more raw materials from the ground to the current extent, be it lithium for batteries or crude oil for fuels, chemicals, and plastics. This is why we at Covestro have set ourselves the goal of becoming "fully circular" and working with customers and partners to transform the linear economy into a circular economy.
“The shift from fossil-based to more sustainable products is gaining momentum”
In our Engineering Plastics business entity, we focus on recycling (mechanical, chemical, and bio-circular) and circular design to improve the recyclability of products. To save material in general, we have also developed resins that have excellent performance at low wall thickness. In our CQ portfolio, you can find resins with up to 90 % post-consumer polycarbonate content and resins that have up to 89 % allocated bio-circular content. These exhibit a very low carbon footprint and Covestro provides third-party verified LCA data to customers for their own sustainability assessment. I am happy to say that the topic is also a very high priority at our customers, and the shift from fossil-based to more sustainable products is gaining momentum.
Click here to find out about the sustainability challenges the team faced in the realization of the Nighthawk demonstrator.
What can you tell us about the market segments of this industry that Covestro is covering?
For smart homes, we are offering material solutions that combine functionality with aesthetics and sustainability. This includes materials that are recyclable and based on recycled or renewable raw materials. At the same time, these products exhibit good signal transmission, enabling easy-to-use human machine interfaces (HMI), and are suited for CMF design, light integration, seamless touch functions or voice control, sensor integration as well as easy-to-clean surfaces with special finishes and aesthetic colors.The segments for smart home appliances are quite diverse, ranging from kitchen applications to environmental and personal care and also including consumer electronics as well as energy and power applications. These applications further cover security installations and, of course, everything related to telecommunication – from routers, set top boxes, laptops to smart phones.
What challenges need to be addressed in the future?
One question that drives the industry is how all the devices in our future homes will be controlled and how the user interface (UI) will look. Will it be mainly via our smart phones, screens or by hidden touch-buttons on the device surface? Or will entirely new ways of interacting such as gesture control gain importance? Regardless of how the interaction of user and device will take place, Makrolon® and Bayblend® resins offer designers a bouquet of design options: with our product and application specialists and the Covestro CMF team, we help our customers to find exactly the right material solution for their product. We stand by as a partner for completely new ideas to help our customers to be one step ahead of their competitors.
One question that drives the industry is how all the devices in our future homes will be controlled and how the user interface (UI) will look. Will it be mainly via our smart phones, screens or by hidden touch-buttons on the device surface? Or will entirely new ways of interacting such as gesture control gain importance? Regardless of how the interaction of user and device will take place, Makrolon® and Bayblend® resins offer designers a bouquet of design options: with our product and application specialists and the Covestro CMF team, we help our customers to find exactly the right material solution for their product. We stand by as a partner for completely new ideas to help our customers to be one step ahead of their competitors.
Can you tell us more about CMF and what Covestro offers in this area?
CMF (Color, Material, Finish) is playing an increasingly important role in the design and aesthetics of electronic products. Designers typically have specific looks or haptics in mind, and we know how to translate this into a material solution that also fulfills the technical properties of the device and can be scaled to mass production.
CMF solutions especially come into play when it is about combining desired emotions with technical aspects: in the past, customers wanted a specific color and asked us for a color match. Today they understand that Covestro can help in a more holistic way, starting from developing ideas to translating them into market-ready solutions.
CMF (Color, Material, Finish) is playing an increasingly important role in the design and aesthetics of electronic products. Designers typically have specific looks or haptics in mind, and we know how to translate this into a material solution that also fulfills the technical properties of the device and can be scaled to mass production.
CMF solutions especially come into play when it is about combining desired emotions with technical aspects: in the past, customers wanted a specific color and asked us for a color match. Today they understand that Covestro can help in a more holistic way, starting from developing ideas to translating them into market-ready solutions.
Click here to find out about the role CMF played in the Nighthawk demonstrator project.
Can you provide an example of such a holistic approach?
The visualization of design drafts using rendering software is a common practice to obtain a photorealistic image of the future product at an early design stage. In the past, these digital material renderings originated from a rather artistic approach without a real material twin that could be realized in production. As a result, the very realistic-looking digital product visualizations on the PC often did not correspond with the result that emerged in the following industrial implementation of the product. By digitizing our material portfolio, we use complex optical measurement processes that generate a digital twin of the material. The resulting photorealistic renderings are visually very close to the end product. Instead of time-consuming and costly mockups that slow down the product development process, renderings can be used to create highly efficient, very realistic virtual prototypes. The best part: all of this can be done digitally without even having to build an injection mold.
You identify new trends and applications for the E&E industry. Are there any developments you can already share with us?
We are always working on new topics. Exploring the trend towards miniaturization of electronics, we developed the so-called Colibri demonstrator with our partner Cicor, illustrating digital printing of thin electronics on Makrolon® polycarbonate with aerosol jet technology. This technology enables easy customization and smaller devices.
In our Phoenix demonstrator we also showed how laser engraved modified molds enable stylish surfaces with PCR Bayblend®. This way, different looks and haptics can be realized in one mold with only one type of resin which makes recycling of such enclosures easier. For the backside of the Colibri, Phoenix, and Nighthawk demonstrators, Makrolon® TC was chosen for passive cooling. To illustrate the effectiveness of Makrolon® TC for heat management, the real-time interior temperature is shown on a display of the Colibri shining through the digitally printed frontside.
Another example is the wallbox design demonstrator we developed together with KURZ, Burg Design, and Sumitomo to showcase how unique fusion of design, sustainability, and innovative technologies for stylish EV chargers go hand in hand. With Renato Lab, we launched a Circular Design Guidebook for the EE industry to inspire our customers to incorporate circular design strategies in their product developments since we can support them with our CQ material solutions (CQ stands for "circular intelligence"). Together with sustainability-driven customers and recycling partners, we run lighthouse projects to close material loops for specific E&E applications and products.
We are always working on new topics. Exploring the trend towards miniaturization of electronics, we developed the so-called Colibri demonstrator with our partner Cicor, illustrating digital printing of thin electronics on Makrolon® polycarbonate with aerosol jet technology. This technology enables easy customization and smaller devices.
In our Phoenix demonstrator we also showed how laser engraved modified molds enable stylish surfaces with PCR Bayblend®. This way, different looks and haptics can be realized in one mold with only one type of resin which makes recycling of such enclosures easier. For the backside of the Colibri, Phoenix, and Nighthawk demonstrators, Makrolon® TC was chosen for passive cooling. To illustrate the effectiveness of Makrolon® TC for heat management, the real-time interior temperature is shown on a display of the Colibri shining through the digitally printed frontside.
Another example is the wallbox design demonstrator we developed together with KURZ, Burg Design, and Sumitomo to showcase how unique fusion of design, sustainability, and innovative technologies for stylish EV chargers go hand in hand. With Renato Lab, we launched a Circular Design Guidebook for the EE industry to inspire our customers to incorporate circular design strategies in their product developments since we can support them with our CQ material solutions (CQ stands for "circular intelligence"). Together with sustainability-driven customers and recycling partners, we run lighthouse projects to close material loops for specific E&E applications and products.
Speaking of temperature: how important is thermal conductivity (TC) when it comes to material choices?
For smaller devices in particular – but also other devices with added electronic functionality – engineers must counteract the risk of increased heat generation in smaller spaces. Managing heat efficiently is important for prolonging the lifetime of electronics, batteries, and LEDs. At Covestro, we have developed a portfolio of TC materials that enable passive cooling in a lightweight solution, which can help dissipate heat cost-effectively, even in complicated geometries.
For smaller devices in particular – but also other devices with added electronic functionality – engineers must counteract the risk of increased heat generation in smaller spaces. Managing heat efficiently is important for prolonging the lifetime of electronics, batteries, and LEDs. At Covestro, we have developed a portfolio of TC materials that enable passive cooling in a lightweight solution, which can help dissipate heat cost-effectively, even in complicated geometries.
What relevance does this have for home applications?
Passive cooling helps to prolong the lifetime of batteries and electronics. This is relevant for all IoT devices and other electrical or electronic applications in our homes. Makrolon® TC efficiently enables heat management for LED applications and electronic housings, e.g., Wi-Fi router housings. Another example is the use of Makrolon® TC in a socket with integrated USB fast-charging port. Here, our customer Vimar found a Makrolon® TC solution that lowers the temperature and meets the requirements of the EC/EN 62368-1 safety standard for IT and audio/visual. It is also possible to change the look and even print on the surfaces of Makrolon® TC, so textured surfaces with e.g., a stone or slate-look are possible – and attractive eye-catchers.
Passive cooling helps to prolong the lifetime of batteries and electronics. This is relevant for all IoT devices and other electrical or electronic applications in our homes. Makrolon® TC efficiently enables heat management for LED applications and electronic housings, e.g., Wi-Fi router housings. Another example is the use of Makrolon® TC in a socket with integrated USB fast-charging port. Here, our customer Vimar found a Makrolon® TC solution that lowers the temperature and meets the requirements of the EC/EN 62368-1 safety standard for IT and audio/visual. It is also possible to change the look and even print on the surfaces of Makrolon® TC, so textured surfaces with e.g., a stone or slate-look are possible – and attractive eye-catchers.
How was thermal management solved in the past and what makes Covestro’s materials an ideal solution for the issues generated by heat?
Typically, there are two ways to remove heat – active cooling, e.g., with a fan or passive cooling, e.g., with heat sinks. Traditional heat sinks are made of aluminum and require space inside the housing. Their only function is heat dissipation. Thermal conductive plastics offer more design freedom and can be easily integrated into housings. Our Makrolon® TC portfolio also comprises electrical insulating grades that can be 2K molded with other materials used for housings of electronics. And beside their effectiveness in passive cooling, Makrolon® TC materials also open new opportunities for designers in terms of haptics because they are literally cool to touch.
Typically, there are two ways to remove heat – active cooling, e.g., with a fan or passive cooling, e.g., with heat sinks. Traditional heat sinks are made of aluminum and require space inside the housing. Their only function is heat dissipation. Thermal conductive plastics offer more design freedom and can be easily integrated into housings. Our Makrolon® TC portfolio also comprises electrical insulating grades that can be 2K molded with other materials used for housings of electronics. And beside their effectiveness in passive cooling, Makrolon® TC materials also open new opportunities for designers in terms of haptics because they are literally cool to touch.
You also mentioned flame retardancy (FR). How does Covestro respond to related requirements?
Since many electronic devices in our homes are permanently connected to electricity or run on battery power, they must be operated safely. This is where the flame retardancy of plastics plays an important role. Polycarbonate is already intrinsically flame retardant so it requires fewer additives than e.g., ABS to achieve V0 flame retardancy at thin wall thicknesses. Depending on the norms, our skilled product experts support in selecting best suited materials. At Covestro, we offer polycarbonate and PC blends in flame-retardant grades such as Makrolon® FR and Bayblend® FR resins, which meet UL94 V0 standards up to 0.75 mm wall thickness.
Since many electronic devices in our homes are permanently connected to electricity or run on battery power, they must be operated safely. This is where the flame retardancy of plastics plays an important role. Polycarbonate is already intrinsically flame retardant so it requires fewer additives than e.g., ABS to achieve V0 flame retardancy at thin wall thicknesses. Depending on the norms, our skilled product experts support in selecting best suited materials. At Covestro, we offer polycarbonate and PC blends in flame-retardant grades such as Makrolon® FR and Bayblend® FR resins, which meet UL94 V0 standards up to 0.75 mm wall thickness.
Click here to find out how flame retardancy and thermal management have been managed in the Nighthawk.
“The opportunities for CMF design in smart home applications are almost endless”
Let’s come back to smart home interactivity and the "Internet of Things" you mentioned initially. How does Covestro help improve the user experience in smart home applications?
One certainly fascinating user experience are hidden-until-touch buttons, which are illustrated in our Nighthawk demonstrator as well. The surface finishes we offer range from cool and high gloss to a warm, leather-like feel. While the use of micro texturing doesn't make the surface more scratch-resistant, it can help hide any marring of the surface. Just by changing the mold surface, you can get many different looks. I am tempted to say that the opportunities for CMF design are endless.
One certainly fascinating user experience are hidden-until-touch buttons, which are illustrated in our Nighthawk demonstrator as well. The surface finishes we offer range from cool and high gloss to a warm, leather-like feel. While the use of micro texturing doesn't make the surface more scratch-resistant, it can help hide any marring of the surface. Just by changing the mold surface, you can get many different looks. I am tempted to say that the opportunities for CMF design are endless.
Thank you for the interview, Niklas.