The Surface Treatment business unit of BASF's Coatings division, operating under the Chemetall brand, celebrated the opening of its new global aluminum competence center in Giussano, Italy, on February 13. The state-of-the-art center will further strengthen Chemetall's position as a global solution provider for the surface treatment of aluminum substrates.
The new aluminum competence center bundles the expertise in the surface treatment of aluminum in one laboratory. With the centralization of research and development activities for aluminum, technologies are to be developed even faster and more efficiently, including further innovations in the field of anodizing and pretreatment of this special substrate.
"The aluminum competence center (...) is a strategically important step for the expansion of our technological leadership."
"The aluminum competence center (...) is a strategically important step in the expansion of our technological leadership. As a lightweight metal with high availability, aluminum plays an important role in architecture, aviation and automotive engineering. Aluminum is normally used in alloys, as pure aluminum has different mechanical properties compared to other materials such as steel. Depending on the specific alloy, not only the mechanical characteristics change, but also the chemical and corrosive properties of aluminum. (...) Our new technology center allows us to better understand the complexity of this material and will enable our team to establish new standards in the industry," says Arjan Termaten, Director and Head of Global Technology at Chemetall.
The company is a global supplier of surface treatment solutions with a comprehensive range of pretreatment solutions for the aluminum industry. These include the chrome-free OxsilanAL0510 thin-film technology and anodizing technologies such as the low-nickel, medium-temperature sealing Gardoseal 1999. More than 70 employees, including 15 technology experts, work at Chemetall in Italy. The new global aluminum competence center meets the strict quality requirements of QUALICOAT, GSB and QUALANOD for the aluminum finishing industry.
