Bayer Offers Reinforced Polycarbonates for New Generation of Laptops

Bayer MaterialScience has developed a material solution based on a reinforced polycarbonate, which enables the manufacture of thinner and lighter housings for notebooks while maintaining their sturdiness and safety.

Light enough to be taken anywhere, razor-thin and stylish, powerful and long-lasting: this is what defines a new generation of laptops – the “ultra- notebooks.” They address the needs of today’s technology-savvy people on the move. To help producers meet these demands even better, Bayer MaterialScience is launching a new material solution for the housings: reinforced polycarbonates that offer lightness, durability, and total design freedom, and allow fast and efficient mass production. Such housings for laptops will also be shown at the K 2013 fair in Düsseldorf, Germany from Oct. 16-23.

“We are committed to providing solutions to the next trend of mobile computing,” said Steffan Huber, responsible for industrial marketing of information technology and appliances at Bayer MaterialScience’s Polycarbonates business unit. “These requirements call for a more sophisticated hardware made from higher performance materials.” The company’s solution based on reinforced polycarbonates can make the casings lighter and thinner while maintaining sturdiness and safety.

”The new reinforced polycarbonate solution from Bayer can address the needs of end consumers for lighter, thinner, more stylish, safe and sturdy mobile devices,” said Dr. Ning Hao, material engineer at the IT company Lenovo. “At the same time it enables manufacturers to save energy and time in the production process of the parts. One full set of housing can be produced in less than one minute.”

While traditional notebooks can weigh up to 2.6 kg and have a 3.5 cm profile thickness, the new ultrathin laptop generation offers weights as low as 1.5 kg and only a 2.1 cm profile thickness. Bayer’ specially formulated reinforced polycarbonates can trim weight further to save up to 100 g, which is 1.4 kg in total weight. And they reduce profile thickness by 45%, meaning 1.4 cm or even less.

The new material also comes in a broad range of color choices and allows the laptop housings to achieve complex geometric structures (3D) and innovative surface textures (2D), or it can be given a coating for a soft touch surface feeling.