Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. will make a full-scale entry into the animal feed industry, with the company planning to market Lacris – a lactic acid bacteria product – as an animal feed additive for chickens and other livestock. The company made the decision to expand into this market based on studies showing that lactic acid bacteria...
Innovation
Chemical Industry at the Forefront of Digital Push
The chemical industry is at the forefront of a push to digitize business operations for the sake of greater productivity. In 2015, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) touted materials informatics (MI) as a way to incorporate information science into materials design. Since then, four general chemical companies and others have come together...
Taiyo Holdings Develops Stretchable Conductive Paste
Taiyo Holdings Co. Ltd. (TYO:4626) is rapidly bringing new products to market in the field of conductive paste for wearable devices. One such product is the company’s new Elepaste NP1, a conductive paste able to maintain one of the industry’s highest levels of electrical conductivity even when the elastic film — onto which circuits are...
Fujitsu Moves Forward With IT-Soyaku Drug Discovery Technology
Fujitsu Ltd. (TYO:6702) has announced that it will move forward with IT-Soyaku, a new computer technology for in silico drug design, as part of the company’s plan to expand its health care operations. The software uses calculations to optimize the usually costly and time-consuming drug discovery process, analyzing the structure of a small-molecule compound drug...
Casio Launches World’s First 2.5D Printer
Casio Computer Co. Ltd. (TYO:6952) has commercialized the world’s first 2.5D inkjet printer, capable of adding fine 3D textures to a variety of materials. The printer incorporates electromagnetic wave technology cultivated by Casio in its projectors and camera products. With the new printer able to create such tactile surfaces as bricks and leather, Casio is...
Japanese Chemical Giants to Leverage AI, Big Data for Joint Research Into Polymer Materials
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. (TYO:4005), Asahi Kasei Corp. (TYO:3407) and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) plan to work with the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) on basic research into polymer materials. The four firms have agreed to contribute both basic research data on polyolefins and researchers in the hope of developing data...
Japan Polyethylene Fights Influx of US PE With Special LLDPE
Japan Polyethylene Corp., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. (TYO:4188), will commence full-scale mass production of new low-density polyethylene products sometime in 2017. As the competition in generic products seems likely to intensify due to U.S. shale-derived products coming into Asia, Japan Polyethylene is speeding up a shift focused on high-performance chemicals. These new...
Teijin to Supply Polycarbonate Resin for GLM Electric Car Windshield
Teijin Ltd. (TYO:3401) has announced that its polycarbonate (PC) resin has been selected for use in the pillarless front windshield of the Tommykaira ZZ, a sports electric vehicle (EV) manufactured by GLM Co. Ltd., a Kyoto University-spawned automaker. This represents the world’s first production model road car windshield to be made of resin. Teijin uses...
Key to the Car of Tomorrow: V2X – Part 2
When it comes to the connected car and other next-generation automobiles, attention has mostly focused on fuel and driving innovations. Yet improving comfort is also an important factor. New technologies are coming in light of a variety of objectives, such as drivability and ride quality. In addition to air conditioning and lighting, there is growing...
Key to the Car of Tomorrow: V2X – Part 1
The situation surrounding advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), the connected car, autonomous driving and automobiles has been changing at a rapid pace. These changes concern not just in-vehicle electronics but also infrastructural aspects such as communications and electricity supply. As such, many companies are beginning to draft growth strategies that account for these changes in...
Yaguchi Denshi Kogyo Captures Attention With “Invisible TV”
An “invisible TV” is garnering attention in the signage and medical industries. By simply delaminating polarizing film from multiple layers of optical film, the device becomes invisible to the naked eye. When a person puts on special glasses with a polarizing film, however, the television then becomes viewable. The original purpose was to create surprising...
NIMS and NUT Develop Strong, Moldable Magnesium Alloy
A research team from the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and Nagaoka University of Technology (NUT) has developed a magnesium alloy rolled material that has a level of strength and moldability comparable to that of aluminum alloy used in automobiles. The new alloy is age hardened and, through solution treatment, achieves the same level...
Toagosei First to Commercialize Process Making Acrylic Acid From Propane
Toagosei Co. Ltd. (TYO:4045) has success in its sights with a new process for directly manufacturing acrylic acid from propane on an industrial scale. The new process achieves yields comparable with the existing two-step method of oxidizing naphtha-derived propylene, raising the prospect of cutting CO2 emission intensity by 30 percent or more. Demand for acrylic...
Key to the Car of Tomorrow: In-Vehicle Displays – Part 2
With the field of automotive displays showing continued growth, material and component manufacturers join display manufacturers in their hope for the future of this market, which has different requirements than that of displays for smartphones and other consumer devices. In addition to high durability and long lifespan, there is the need for high image quality...
Taiyo Holdings Develops World’s First CNF-Based Insulating Material
Taiyo Holdings Co. Ltd. (TYO:4626) plans to lose no time in commercializing an insulating material made from cellulose nanofiber (CNF). With optimized hydrophobicity and concentration levels, the company’s recently developed CNF-based insulating material combines higher strength and low thermal expansion. This is the world’s first example of CNF being used in an insulating material. Solder...
Key to the Car of Tomorrow: In-Vehicle Displays – Part 1
The automotive display market continues to grow. Increasing at a rate of 10 percent per year, the market is said to reach the 1 trillion yen ($90.21 billion) mark in 2020. Not limited just to car navigation systems, vehicle meters and standard switches are being replaced by center information displays. This presents increasing business opportunities...
LiB Materials Hold Key to EV Market Prospects – Part 2
China is getting on the high-capacity lithium-ion secondary battery (LiB) bandwagon as the country’s government pushes to popularize EVs. This shift makes for business opportunities for Japanese manufacturers. One executive at a Japanese maker of separators identified LiBs using ternary cathodes as one such opportunity. Why would the use of these components prove beneficial to...
LiB Materials Hold Key to EV Market Prospects – Part 1
Automakers around the world are stepping up their efforts to develop electric vehicles (EVs). In Europe, manufacturers have released plans to have EVs account for roughly 25 percent of total automobile sales by 2025. In the U.S., Tesla Inc. has exceeded General Motors Co. in terms of market value. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. (TYO:7203) is...
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical to Offer PWB Materials for 5G Network Devices
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. Inc. (TYO:4182) will begin offering, both to domestic and international circuit board manufacturers, high-function printed wiring board (PWB) materials that support the 5G standard, which is capable of transmitting large amounts of data instantly. The materials offer the electrical properties required by high-frequency semiconductor package substrates, as well as high-standard thermal...
RIKEN Develops Solar Cell Film 3 Micrometers Thick
The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) has developed an extremely thin and lightweight solar cell. The cell’s film is three micrometers thick and is elastic enough to maintain its composition when drastically reshaped. The film was developed with organic macromolecules by the Thin-Film Device Laboratory headed by Chief Scientist Takao Someya. RIKEN hopes...
