BASF: BASF develops a new material for powder injection molding

MAR 23, 1999, M2 Communications - More than 20 percent of young women and 6 percent of young men in Europe suffer from nickel allergy - and their ranks continue to swell. Wearing jewelry, watches or even blue jeans with their traditional metal buttons can turn into a torture for these people whenever the nickel in these items comes into contact with the skin and causes itchy eczema.

In the future, however, these people will no longer need to make do without such fashionable accessories, since BASF is now offering a new, nickel-free material that does not cause any health problems. Catamold P.A.N.A.C.E.A. is the name of this innovative material that has been developed jointly by researchers from BASF and from the Swiss Technical University - ETH - in Zurich, Switzerland. The name of the product itself reveals the entire spectrum of properties it entails: P.A.N.A.C.E.A. stands for Protection Against Nickel Allergy, Corrosion, Erosion and Abrasion.

In fact, the composition of the material is as remarkable as its processability. It is a pulverulent metal alloy that is "shaped up" by means of powder injection molding. This is a particularly cost-efficient way of creating parts having a complex design that are produced in large numbers such, as for example, watch casings.

In addition to being free of nickel, the material also has a wide array of other advantages: it is highly corrosion-proof, very hard and thus scratch-proof as well as resistant to wear and tear. Moreover, this material cannot become magnetized, which makes it predestined for the manufacture of watches or for use in medical and dental technology. For instance, the brackets employed for orthodontic braces, which are bonded onto the teeth, can be made of Catamold P.A.N.A.C.E.A.

More information about Catamold P.A.N.A.C.E.A. as well as about the entire Catamold product line for metal-powder and ceramic-powder injection molding can be obtained from the BASF specialists who will be manning BASF's stand F 10 in Hall 4 at the trade fair in Hanover, Germany, from April 19 to April 24, 1999.

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