Asahi Kasei, Japanese Chemical MNC, has stated that the Company has opened a new Foam Lab at its Research & Development centre in Dusseldorf, Germany. The main aim behind the launching of the new Lab is to localize the technical support and grade development as per the requirements of the European customers.

Asahi Kasei installed the new Foam Lab in December last year, and it is scheduled to start functioning in the Spring of 2022. The key component of the new Foam Lab has been the beads foaming facility, which will be employed to locally produce test samples of the engineering plastics-based particle beads Foam SunForce for the European customers. SunForce is a trademark of Asahi Kasei, which is a high-performance foam family made up of modified Polyphenylene Ether (mPPE) and Polyamide.

"The Foam lab is the next milestone for us to realize a faster local support and allow us to react flexibly to our European customers' needs," said Yoshito Kuroda, General Manager R&D at Asahi Kasei Europe.

The primary focus of the new Foam Lab is to develop high-performance foams with enhanced recyclability. Both Polyamide and mPPE SunForce foams have excellent overall properties including very good adhesion, superior insulation, and high resistance against oils and chemicals.

The new Foam Lab is located at Asahi Kasei Europe's R&D Centre in Dusseldorf Harbour, Germany, the heart of innovation of more sustainable materials.

Takashi Onoe, Manager R&D of SunForce, Asahi Kasei Europe, has stated that the proximity of the New Lab to the European market and the strong collaboration with our partners will help develop new recyclable grades which will perfectly suit the increasing demand of the customers. Enhanced grades capable of maintaining high performance will drastically improve the Company's carbon footprint.

Furthermore, Asahi Kasei Europe will exhibit SunForce foams at the JEC World, the benchmark event for the global composite material industry, in Paris from 3rd May - 5th May 2022.