Dow's polyurethane solutions tackle new mobility's biggest challenges

With evolution comes opportunity.

Provided, of course, you have the kind of creativity and innovation that allows you to capture those opportunities.

Dow Inc. believes it does. And as the automotive industry continues its electrification evolution, the material science company is putting all of its know-how into the kinds of solutions that meet the needs of OEMs and consumers alike.

"The mobility industry is undergoing a major transformation, … and I think that electrification is changing dramatically how to make a car," Esther Quintanilla, Dow's global market leader for polyurethanes, told Rubber News.

But that's also a good thing, Quintanilla said. Because it gives Dow Mobility Solutions the opportunity to do what it does best: Innovate.

"Electrification, in the case of Dow, is representing an amazing opportunity for bringing new materials for the battery assembly, and for us, in the polyurethane division, (it creates opportunity) with all the innovation," she said.

For Dow, opportunities for greater innovation are not confined to any corner of the vehicle. From bumper to bumper and floorboard to roof, Dow solutions can play a critical role in helping vehicles perform optimally, more sustainably and—of course—with greater safety.

And that's especially true in the polyurethane space, where Dow Mobility Solutions products can address it all.

"We are everywhere in the car," Quintanilla said, "… from the interior and all the different bumpers and to the battery and the battery packing."

Sustainability is bigger than a buzz word. It's a calling, an imperative for every player along the automotive supply chain. And as OEMs move closer to their ambitious sustainability targets, Dow too is focused on moving forward more sustainably.

"This is what is making mobility science so exciting, yes? Because we can have this combination from the different chemistries and the possibilities," Quintanilla said.

In the polyurethane foam space, that dedication to more sustainable solutions—and more sustainable possibilities—is embodied by the SpecFlex C line of polyurethane foams for vehicle interiors. These products lean into the use of recycled content—as much as 55 percent, according to Dow.

SpecFlex, Dow notes in a 2021 news release, has been certified by an independent mass-balance certification agency, which helps to ensure the quality of the polyurethane intermediates produced from the recycled materials.

Moreover, SpecFlex focuses on circular feedstocks to help improve performance and reduce carbon emissions.

"Automotive is really under this end-of-life vehicle directive, and what it is promoting is a lot more of the circularity. So, it is containing closed-loop automotive targets," Quintanilla said. "… Something (very) important for this industry is the use of circular materials."

With SpecFlex C, Dow is harnessing that opportunity.

Without an engine providing a steady hum of background noise, every little sound the vehicle makes—rattles and road noises—are especially noticeable inside the cabin.

"I think the acoustics is a segment that (engineers) probably did not think of in the beginning, but (there is) the fact of not listening to the motor and the fact that you are hearing things that you have not heard before," Quintanilla said.

Noise reduction means opportunity. And that's why there's Betafoam.

The polyurethane foam is designed for dampening those unwanted sounds for a more comfortable, quieter ride. The low-density, lightweight foam can fill vehicle cavities providing a barrier to the outside sounds.

Moreover, Dow notes, Betafoam is manufactured from renewable materials, making it another sustainable option for the OEMs' toolbox.

When it comes to EVs, the solution is also the challenge. Because EVs are intended to be more sustainable mobility offerings, loosening the reliance on fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions in the process.

But that battery creates a whole new world of challenges.

"The battery is wonderful," Quintanilla said, "but there is an additional weight."

For an industry pushing hard for more sustainable performance—greater range or better fuel efficiency—the added weight from the batteries makes those efforts harder to achieve. So the sustainability challenge funnels down to suppliers, whose product lightweighting becomes all the more important.

And lightweighting? That's just another one of Dow's opportunities, Quintanilla said.

Dow's materials, used in everything from the battery cells to the in-cabin carpeting, can make a difference one gram of weight at a time. And one of those gram-by-gram, difference-making solutions is Voratron.

Voratron, a 2023 Edison award product, can enhance the performance of EV batteries because of its customizability. With its lower-weight densities, the two-part, room-temperature-curing polyurethane systems can help ensure lighter weight powertrains, which then can contribute to the overall energy efficiency and emissions reduction of the vehicle.

Voratron Polyurethane Systems are designed for both thermally and non-thermally conductive adhesives, gap fillers and pottants used in a range of battery types from prismatic to pouch to cylindrical cells.

Moreover, Quintanilla noted, Dow's vast portfolio of solutions allows for its products to work well in tandem, helping OEMs and their suppliers more effectively achieve their goals around sustainability, performance and lightweighting.

"We have Voratron solutions, and together—for example—with the silicone ones, the Voratron—the urethane base—they really bring the structure," Quintanilla said. "And they really complement very well the DowSil portfolio (for) all the battery fire protection."