SGL Group invests in enhanced coating technology
The Carbon Company will invest into its production facility in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, USA. A new state-of-the-art coating line will be set up to apply silicon carbide (SiC) in thin layers onto graphite-based materials. In addition, also the respective buildings at the St. Marys facility will be modernized accordingly. The enhancement will be implemented starting in 2016 and shall be completed by 2017. The total investment amounts to million 7.5 € and is thus, the second largest investment in GMS in the last 5 years following the isostatic press in Bonn, Germany.
"The new production system will add additional coating capacity and will allow us to reach higher process and product consistency to meet future customer specifications", explains Burkhard Straube, Chairman of the business unit Graphite Materials & Systems at SGL Group.
Coatings based on silicon carbide (marketed as SIGRAFINE SiC) are dense, wear-resistant, with high corrosion and heat resistance and very good thermal conductivity. Thus, they are key to enhance the life cycle of our graphite-based material solutions which is of great customer value. Coated materials are mostly used for manufacturing wavers utilized in the LED production of our customers and thus support SGL Group's path forward to foster megatrends like digitization. In future, also other graphite-based solutions could be enhanced by coatings.
