Material Expertise & Development

Those who are experts in the polymer material world know how complex they can be and how they can be transformed to protect and innovate.

Have you heard of the pyramid of polymers? The following are the categories with high-performance polymers at the top, which is where our Meldin^® and Rulon^® materials are classified.

Commodity polymers
Engineering polymers
High-performance polymers

Some of the materials we use are PTFE, PEEK, PEI, PAI, PI, PAEK, PET, PA, and FPs. The material formulation used is dependent on the application, the specification requirements, and the functionality needed from the desired component.

From its use over 60 years ago to today's polymer materials, Omniseal Solutions™ offers a wide range of options that include hundreds of different grades. With our experience, we also understand that the performance of a solution is very often reliant on the characteristics of the base material used. The quest for newer and more performant materials, therefore, continues. The history of the company with R&D and polymer technologies, in addition to the continuing collaborations with universities and research centers translate to a future that is full of opportunities for our business and the customers we support.

Material Expertise & History

The Material Expertise of Omniseal Solutions™ focuses on high-performance polymer materials. At the beginning of the 1950s, the business started to build fluoropolymer expertise. Under the name of Furon, the company was one of the first to develop a large offer of compounds for sealing and bearings applications. By the 1980s, the teams were developing thermoplastic and thermoset compounds, focusing strongly on polyimide materials.

Another example of how the company is innovating comes from a partnership with Greentown Labs in Boston, MA. The partnership with Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in the United States, was spearheaded by NOVA, Saint-Gobain’s external venturing group focused on creating partnerships with start-ups worldwide. Greentown Labs' strategic corporate partners, like Saint-Gobain, help to strengthen its startup community by providing industry expertise, professional services, and equipment to early-stage companies. As part of the agreement, Omniseal Solutions™ provided samples of Omniseal^®, Rulon^®, Meldin^® HT thermoplastic, and Meldin^® polyimide components and materials to Greentown Labs’ expansion site, the Global Center for Cleantech Innovation, in Somerville, MA, in order to share their sealing technology and support startup growth for future energy and sustainable solutions.

Local Research & Development

The research and development teams of Omniseal Solutions™ draw upon the vast resources of the Saint-Gobain Group when needed. In addition to the local R&D teams on the manufacturing sites, the business strategically placed large R&D centers on each continent. Every day the teams work to enhance the properties of the material formulations. Everything starts with the material!

Take for example the local team in Kontich, Belgium. Once 150 square meters, the Kontich laboratory space increased to 390 square meters when the team moved the R&D facilities to a new building located within the manufacturing complex at the end of 2017. Although the lab has more than doubled in space, the company plans for further expansion. For example, they added a FabLab and learning center to enhance customer focus in 2019. The team divided the current lab space into the following areas:

Office space for the R&D team
A dedicated room for analytical testing with DSC, FTIR, confocal microscope, and optical microscope
Test rig hall
Climate-controlled and noise-isolated room for specialized tribological, application, and surface roughness testing
A dedicated space for sample preparation and small test set-ups
A specific CNC machine for prototyping