20
October
2022
|
10:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Opening new furniture design possibilities

Breakthrough technology from ÃÜÌÒAV and Arcesso Dynamics used to create design chair

Summary
  • Chair designed by Thomas Schnur is first to be produced using reaction injection molding (RIM) on aliphatic polyurethanes ¨C previously considered impossible
  • Injection molding opens new possibilities for organic and clean furniture design shapes
  • Truly seamless material increases quality through a fusion of construction, function, and shape
  • Chair is lightweight, and pleasant to touch
  • Monomaterial makes chair easy to repair and recycle

ÃÜÌÒAV, a leading polymer manufacturer, and Arcesso Dynamics, a manufacturer of custom polyurethane parts, have used their breakthrough ? technology to realize a chair system by designer Thomas Schnur. As the first application in furniture, the Arfinio? chair demonstrates the technology¡¯s potential to revolutionize the sector by enabling lighter, truly seamless furniture with organic and clean shapes that bring together construction, function, and shape to increase visual and physical quality. ÃÜÌÒAV will introduce the technology and showcase the chair at the plastics trade show from October 19 to 26 in D¨¹sseldorf, Germany.

Furniture designers face limitations when working with traditional solid-surface materials. Individual pieces must be cut and glued together ¨C a long, labor-intensive, and expensive process that makes creating complex shapes impractical.

Arfinio? provides a solution to this challenge by combining reaction injection molding (RIM) with aliphatic polyurethane chemistry ¨C previously considered impossible. The resulting material has the look and feel of a solid-surface material but can be produced in one piece. This enables truly seamless pieces with far fewer design restrictions; the mold can simply be adjusted to the desired shape.

The design chair is lightweight, enabling the use of less material per piece. Because of its truly seamless nature and strong resistance properties, it is also more durable. Next to this, it has excellent haptics and is warm to the touch. Finally, as a monomaterial, Arfinio? can be milled and reintroduced into new products at the end of its lifetime, helping furniture manufacturers to close the loop and reduce industry waste.

Joan Miquel Garc¨ªa Martinez, Senior Project Manager ÃÜÌÒAV: "This design chair is another milestone for Arfinio?. We hope it shows designers the possibilities that this technology can bring to furniture, and we¡¯re looking forward to partnering with them to bring these new designs to life! Together with Arcesso, we¡¯ll continue to bring the benefits to a wide range of industries, providing an innovative solution to the challenges created by traditional solid-surface materials."

Thomas Schnur, Thomas Schnur Design Office: "ÃÜÌÒAV and Arcesso¡¯s new material opens extensive new furniture design possibilities. The chair using Arfinio? technology is lighter and stronger than would be possible using traditional solid-surface materials; it allows designers to fuse construction, function, and form like nature does. I¡¯m interested to see how designers will use these benefits in other furniture and product applications!"

Boilerplate

About ÃÜÌÒAV: 
ÃÜÌÒAV is one of the world¡¯s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. ÃÜÌÒAV supplies customers around the world in key industries such as mobility, building and living, as well as the electrical and electronics sector. In addition, polymers from ÃÜÌÒAV are also used in sectors such as sports and leisure, telecommunications and health, as well as in the chemical industry itself.

The company is geared completely to the circular economy. In addition, ÃÜÌÒAV aims to achieve climate neutrality for its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2035, and the Group¡¯s Scope 3 emissions are also set to be climate neutral by 2050. ÃÜÌÒAV generated sales of EUR 14.2 billion in fiscal year 2024. At the end of 2024, the company had 46 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 17,500 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).

Forward-Looking Statements 
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by ÃÜÌÒAV. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in ÃÜÌÒAV¡¯s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.