By Cameron Chai
BASF, a chemical company and Finsa, a wood-based panel manufacturer, will jointly display a lightweight wood-based panel at ZOW trade show that is to be conducted in Germany, between February 6 and 9, 2012.
Wood-based panel
The weight of the new material is 30% less when compared to a conventional board. The material is a combination of SUPERPAN technology of Finsa along with Kaurit Light technology of BASF. The product branded SUPERPAN STAR will be commercially launched this year.
Siro Gómez, Finsa Spain’s Head of Marketing has explained that the known SUPERPAN technology merges the advantages of chipboard and medium-density fiber board (MDF). Fibers are used to make the two outer layers of the board that is manufactured with the SUPERPAN technology. Conventional chipboard forms the middle layer. He added that the SUPERPAN board provides high resistance to bending and advantages during additional processing, from screwing to decorative coating.
BASF’s VP for Glues and Impregnating Resins, Wolfgang Gutting has stated that all the benefits of BASF’s Kaurit Light technology and the SUPERPAN board are combined in a single material. Approximately 30% of weight is reduced in this new panel, besides maintaining the board’s excellent mechanical properties. He added that this Kaurit Light technology can be used not only in this chipboard but also in other different type of boards.
This new lightweight wood-based panels are used in several applications like worktops, interior decoration and furniture production.
The SUPERPAN STAR’s inner layer comprises a polymer, wood chips and a bonding agent. Kaurit light is foamed in a pre-foamer, previous to the addition of the wood chips. The usual materials and machines can be utilized for additional processing. These panels can be recycled like usual MDF or SUPERPAN boards.
Source: http://www.basf.com/