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2020 annual and sustainable performance report

Innovative for designing the future

Stefânia Cassiano-Gaspar

Rilsan® polyamide 11 is finding new markets in the textile industry thanks to a web of expert partnerships

Our R&D team hopes to win over the textile industry to our Rilsan® line of specialty polyamides, derived from a unique process based on castor oil. It’s a wonderful example of incremental innovation spurred by technological and industrial partnerships.

Originally embraced by the undergarment industry when it was invented more than 70 years ago, Rilsan® polyamide 11 is looking to broaden its horizons. “We want to diversify within the traditional textile market and capitalize on the value added by our bio-based polyamide. In addition, we want to show that, thanks to its impressive attributes, this product has a role to play in many other areas of the garment industry, just as it does already in a wide range of markets, from athletics to automobiles, luxury goods and more,” says Stefânia Cassiano-Gaspar, research engineer at Cerdato. The market offers significant sales opportunities, and Arkema is making major industrial investments in Asia to step up its polyamide 11 production (see page 42). There’s a formidable technical challenge to be met in incorporating a host of different processes. “We’re identifying the right partners that we can learn from and with. Technically, it’s an extremely demanding market. You have to master every stage of the manufacturing process, from extrusion and texturizing to weaving and dyeing, to make sure we give the right advice to our developers and customers. For the extrusion phase, for example, we were able to work on a pilot unit at the European Center for Innovative Textiles (CETI) in Tourcoing, France. That kind of partnership is ideal for giving us a better understanding of the transformation process and getting the most out of our polyamide 11, both from a manufacturing perspective and in terms of the quality of the thread, such as its recyclability and carbon footprint. Customers today are especially focused on those concerns.”

This interview was also prepared with Christian Collette, Arkema’s R&D Vice President, who died suddenly of a heart attack on April 24. At the helm of the R&D division for fifteen years, he played a vital role in Arkema’s innovation and growth policy, thanks to his vision and understanding of the world. But his impressive human qualities made him an exceptional person as well. We pay tribute to his memory.

Start-up Connect, to foster responsible innovation

Start-up Connect is a new global program, launched in late 2020, which invites start-ups specializing in advanced materials to approach Arkema about the possibility of special research partnerships in which they can capitalize on the Group’s assistance and technological experience. By providing technical or financial support for these innovations, Start-up Connect serves as a strategic component of Arkema’s growth inside a responsible innovation ecosystem. These start-ups can profit from Arkema’s global reach, its exceptional knowledge of markets and applications, and its ability to develop a safe and competitive chemicals business. They also gain access to the scientific and technical resources at the Group’s 15 R&D centers in France, the United States and Asia. This ecosystem is designed to encourage the pooling of expertise while promoting innovation and regional economic development.

203 That’s the number of patents filed by Arkema in 2020.

Those patents allow us to protect our know-how and expand our presence in the major disciplines targeted by our five research platforms — all of which bear on major challenges facing today’s world: New Energies, Natural Resource Management, Electronics Solutions, Lightweight Materials and Design, and Home Efficiency and Insulation.