In this ‘Insight from Industry,’ Nick Gilbert from AZoM.com talks to Peter Ferraro, Director of Business Development at Empower Materials, about the benefits of QPAC® Poly(alkylene Carbonate) Copolymer Binders for Glass Sealing Paste Applications. Empower Materials is at the forefront of the development of cleaner, more environmentally friendly binders. Can you tell us more about the…

Empower Materials Inc. is the producer of QPAC®, the world's cleanest thermally decomposable organic binder. QPAC® cleanly decomposes into CO2 and water in many types of atmospheres and leaves virtually no residue. This property contributes to QPAC®'s widespread usage in many demanding applications. QPAC® poly(alkylene carbonate) copolymers are a unique family of innovative thermoplastics representing…

A great deal of effort has been afforded over the last 20 years improving photovoltaic (PV) efficiencies, reliability, and manufacturability. Much of this work has been focused on the front-side construction of PV, including metallization and contact formation with glasses. In general, the front-side contact pastes are silver pastes which are heterogeneous mixtures containing metallic…

Empower Materials Inc. is the producer of QPAC®, the world's cleanest thermally decomposable organic/sacrificial binders. QPAC® cleanly decomposes into CO2 and water in many types of atmospheres and leaves virtually no residue. This property contributes to QPAC®'s widespread usage in many demanding applications. QPAC® poly(alkylene carbonate) copolymers are a unique family of innovative thermoplastics representing a…

This paper reports the first ultra-low sintering temperature (450 °C) cofired multifunctional ceramic substrate based on a commercial lead zirconium titanate (PZ29)−glass composite, which is fabricated by tape casting, isostatic lamination, and sintering. This substrate was prepared from a novel tape casting slurry composition suitable for cofiring at low temperatures with commercial Ag electrodes at…

Analysis has been done using QPAC40® Polypropylene carbonate as a clean-burning binder for base metal electrodes in NKN and PZT Piezoelectrics. The experiment was conducted by the Center for Dielectric and Piezoelectrics, Material Research Institute at Pennsylvania State University. Experiment The QPAC40® allows a clean burnout at low temperature in N2 atmosphere. The QPAC40® allows the burnout to…

The Cold Sintering process has been developed by Penn State University at the Material Research Institute. It allows for combining different material classes for a wide variety of applications. The lower temperature sintering process allows for the fabrication of inorganic compounds that could otherwise not be combined at high densities. This process has opened up…

Many research organizations have investigated the use of QPAC® polyalkylene carbonate in 3D printer applications. The distinctive decomposition properties which include contaminant-free burnout and low temperature of QPAC® can be applied to this technology. There are many varieties of Additive Manufacturing (AM) Technology. Additive Manufacturing (AM) Technology The QPAC® has a different function based on the AM technology. In…

Empower Materials Inc. is the producer of QPAC®, the world's cleanest thermally decomposable organic/sacrificial binders. QPAC® cleanly decomposes into CO2 and water in many types of atmospheres and leaves virtually no residue. This property contributes to QPAC®'s widespread usage in many demanding applications. QPAC® poly(alkylene carbonate) copolymers are a unique family of innovative thermoplastics representing a…

Empower Materials Inc. is the producer of QPAC®, the world's cleanest thermally decomposable organic/sacrificial binders. QPAC® cleanly decomposes into CO2 and water in many types of atmospheres and leaves virtually no residue. This property contributes to QPAC®'s widespread usage in many demanding applications. QPAC® poly(alkylene carbonate) copolymers are a unique family of innovative thermoplastics representing a…

Empower Materials Inc. is the producer of QPAC®, the world's cleanest thermally decomposable organic/sacrificial binders. QPAC® cleanly decomposes into CO2 and water in many types of atmospheres and leaves virtually no residue. This property contributes to QPAC®'s widespread usage in many demanding applications. QPAC® poly(alkylene carbonate) copolymers are a unique family of innovative thermoplastics representing a…

Numerous organizations have investigated the use of QPAC®25 polyethylene carbonate (PEC) and QPAC®40 polypropylene carbonate (PPC) in solid lithium ion battery applications. Research has been ongoing for many years to find an alternative to liquid electrolyte batteries because of their inherent safety issues mainly due to the volatility and combustion of the liquid carbonate organic…

QPAC®25 Polyethylene Carbonate has been studied as a biomaterial for controlled drug delivery applications. The QPAC®25 PEC offers biodegradable properties that make it attractive for this application. Films prepared from PEC have been made with various drugs to study the characteristics and performance of PEC as a potential carrier for controlled drug delivery. Studies have…

Empower Materials was awarded the North American Technology Innovation of the Year Award in the carbon capture materials market by Frost and Sullivan. The Technology Award is a prestigious recognition of Empower Materials' accomplishments in renewable and sustainable materials. Empower Materials, based in New Castle, DE, has developed QPAC® Polyalkylene Carbonate plastics derived from carbon dioxide…

Empower Materials recently finished several production size polymer synthesis reactions to produce large quantities of QPAC®60 Polybutylyene Carbonate. These polymers add to the other green polymers commercially produced by Empower Materials, QPAC®25 Polyethylene Carbonate, QPAC®40 Polypropylene Carbonate, QPAC®100 Polypropylene/ Polycyclohexene Carbonate, and QPAC®130 Polycyclohexene Carbonate QPAC®60 has similar decomposition properties to QPAC®25 and QPAC®40. It…