Great Lakes Opens New Global Flame Retardant R&D Center

Major flame retardants supplier Great Lakes Solutions, a business of Philadelphia-based Chemtura Corp., has opened its new, global center of excellence for flame retardant research and development and applications development at the Nudenberg-Wheeler Technology Research Campus in Naugatuck, Conn.  These laboratories house the latest equipment for organic synthesis, flame retardant testing, physical property testing, chemical analysis, and process development. The custom-built facility was designed not only for efficiency, with close alignment of interaction between synthesis and applications scientists, but also for synergy between the Great Lakes Solutions chemists and engineers and those of Chemtura’s Petroleum Additives and Urethanes businesses, who are co-locates on the Naugatuck R&D campus.

            The applications areas include not only small-scale benchtop extrusion, injection molding and combustion testing equipment for the rapid formulation of new, exploratory flame retardants, but also large-scale extruders and molding equipment for formulation improvement and new applications of existing products. The testing areas services all of the necessary mechanical and burn performance tests for new and existing products, the “unsurpassed” analytical instrumentation provides required data regarding polymer structure, small molecule composition and interactions therof.