Evonik Industries AG
Evonik 3D printed sunglasses with PA
Evonik is introducing a new grade of PA12 powders with significantly reduced CO2 emissions in line with its focus on sustainability in 3D printing.
The previous INFINAM polyamide 12 materials will be replaced for all common powder-based 3D technologies such as Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), High Speed Sintering (HSS) or Multi Jet Fusion (MJF).
The new sustainable INFINAM PA12 powders are produced using renewable energies at the Marl Chemical Park. TÜV Rheinland has certified the associated life cycle assessments, with the company saying it noted an improvement in its own carbon footprint of almost 50%. Evonik states that in the overall life cycle assessment, the comparison of the new sustainable material grade is positive compared with the castor oil-based polyamides of its own Terra range.
“Sustainability is the core element for being successful in the future,” said Dr. Dominic Störkle, Head of the Additive Manufacturing Innovation Growth Field at Evonik. “That’s why we take a holistic view on it at Evonik. Alongside factors such as production efficiency or the reusability of materials, our sustainability approach includes the total life cycle assessments of our materials and their consistent improvement.”
Störkle added: “Using green energy and renewable or recycled feedstocks for production, we are able to significantly improve the overall eco-balance of our materials. And we work on end-of-life opportunities for our polymers.”
Evonik is also working to expand its range of sustainable PA12 polymers to include the INFINAM eCO product line, which is set to launch on the market in 2023.
Evonik’s 3D printing activities are collected in the company’s Additive Manufacturing Innovation Growth Field. The focus is on developing and manufacturing industrial ready-to-use high-performance materials for all major polymer-based 3D printing technologies.
Evonik will have the new sustainable AM materials on display at Formnext 2022 in Frankfurt next month.
