DuPont Adhesives strategically settled in Zhangjiagang

The Yangtze River International Chemical Industry Zone, located in Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone, Jiangsu, will welcome the adhesive project invested and constructed by DuPont. The project has a total investment of 30 million U.S. dollars and aims to meet the strong growth needs of the Chinese and Asian auto markets. During the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show that just concluded, Wu Tong, Global Vice President of DuPont Transportation and Materials Division, President of Asia Pacific, and General Manager of Advanced Solutions, announced the project. She said that the new plant will produce adhesive products for customers in the automotive industry to meet the two major development trends of automotive electrification and lightweight. Construction of the plant will begin in the third quarter of 2021 and is expected to be put into operation in early 2023.

Provide solutions for electric vehicles

Wu Tong said that the production facility to be built in Yangtze River International Chemical Industrial Park is aimed at meeting the market’s growing demand for DuPont’s Transportation and Materials Division’s advanced adhesive technology solutions. It will produce BETAFORCE TC and BETATECH thermal interface materials. Provide support for battery thermal management during charging and running of hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles. Among them, BETAFORCE composite adhesives are used for battery sealing and assembly, and BETAMATE structural adhesives are used for car body structure and battery bonding to improve the impact resistance of the car and reduce the weight of the body structure.

It is reported that the new factory will have advanced process capabilities, excellent product quality, sufficient production capacity, and particularly convenient transportation conditions and logistics advantages to meet the needs of the regional market and provide technical support to ensure a world-class customer experience. Wu Tong said that the establishment of a factory in China is a strategic part of the global layout of DuPont's adhesive industry. Not long ago, DuPont built a new adhesive production plant in Utsunomiya, Japan, to support the development of automobile electrification. As China's electric vehicle market is leading the world in development, DuPont needs to have local production capacity to meet the growing demand in China and the Asia-Pacific region. Wu Tong said that DuPont already has a central laboratory in Shanghai. Together with the new plant to be built, DuPont has independent R&D and production capabilities in the Chinese market, which can better serve Chinese customers and promote the Chinese automobile market to become more electrified and Lightweight development.

Innovative technology to meet consumer demand

DuPont Transportation and Materials Business Unit Asia Pacific Automotive Adhesives and Brake Fluids business director Xing Qiang said that despite the challenge of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, global electric vehicle sales continue to grow due to strong consumer demand. In order to grasp this growth trend, DuPont introduced innovative materials and technologies to meet consumer demand for safe, durable, and high-performance sustainable advanced mobility solutions.

He explained that thermal management, light weight, safety, and NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) performance will continue to promote the innovation of hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicle platforms. The production of adhesive solutions at the Zhangjiagang base will not only help To improve thermal management and achieve lightweight design, it can also improve vehicle safety and NVH performance, which will bring convenient services to the Chinese market and customers.

Xing Qiang said that DuPont composite adhesives can be used to bond different substrates, including high-strength steel, aluminum, plastics, composites and carbon fibers. The continuous adhesive layer in these structures can increase rigidity and strength, thereby improving safety, and at the same time can replace the metal structure using mechanical fasteners to reduce the weight of the car, thereby helping to extend the cruising range. In addition, the continuous adhesive layer can also attenuate abnormal noise and vibration caused by welding points and mechanical fasteners, thereby improving NVH performance, which is particularly important for electric vehicles that require a quieter environment in the car.

Provide sustainable development solutions

Wu Tong also pointed out that DuPont attaches great importance to sustainability in innovation, design, procurement and operations. In 2019, DuPont formulated ambitious 2030 sustainable development goals, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30%, ensuring that 60% of electricity comes from renewable energy sources, and achieving carbon neutral operations by 2050.

DuPont is committed to developing new processes and products, using renewable raw materials to improve its production and operation efficiency, and integrating the principles of circular economy and design safety to achieve the purpose of reducing waste and emissions. She gave an example. The new BETASEAL primerless glossy glass/ink glass adhesive that will be produced in this new adhesive factory can be directly bonded to the surface of the glossy glass or ink substrate without the need for cleaners, primers or activators. This can reduce the number of processes in the automotive glass assembly process, thereby reducing energy consumption, and helping to meet the durability specifications of OEMs and the safety requirements of barriers, rollover, and top compressive strength regulations.