ElectriPlast: Another Step on the Road to Success

A New

Piece

in the

Puzzle...


Plastics News Report
September 6, 2011



Firm using conductive plastic in next-generation antenna

BELLINGHAM, WASH. (Sept. 6, 1:10 p.m. ET) -- A new Integral Technologies Inc. subsidiary disclosed that Think Wireless Inc. is using ElectriPlast conductive plastics in next-generation antenna components.


Think of Coconut Creek, Fla., is using the components in Sirius XM Radio Inc. satellite radio receivers, the subsidiary ElectiPlast Corp. reported Sept. 6. Paul Mackenzie, ElectriPlast director of global sales, said Think Wireless selected ElectriPlast as its sole supplier of conductive resins.


Months of testing and trials preceded the Think Wireless decision, said Argy Petros, founder and chief technology officer of the wireless-device specialist.


In August, Integral formed the Philadelphia-based subsidiary to commercialize, sell and market ElectriPlast conductive plastics and appointed Herbert Reedman Jr. as the unit’s president and CEO. On April 15, Integral had retained the former automotive retail executive as a consultant and named him as an Integral corporate director.


With more than 80 blends in its line, ElectriPlast advocates are pursuing dozens of potential users. EP-CF/66, a polyamide-and-nickel-plated carbon fiber composite, is a recent addition to the company’s product line.


Proceeding from prototype to commercialization, however, can prove arduous.


Among its prospects, Integral began working with LG Chem Ltd., a producer of lithium ion batteries, in June 2010 and thought it saw a bright light in an LG Chem exhibit at the April 12-14 world congress of SAE International in Detroit.


Integral distributed an April 24 technology update including a photograph and said: “Pictured above is a component from an LG Chem battery pack to be used in an upcoming European vehicle. The gray cover on the end is made with ElectriPlast.”


The exhibit included a cutaway mockup of liquid- and air-cooled battery modules that would be integrated into a battery pack for plug-in or battery electric vehicle, said Damian Gardley, director of sales for a LG Chem Power Inc. research-and-development site in Troy, Mich.


“We have tested parts using ElectriPlast along with other resins,” Gardley said. LG Chem Ltd. is a subsidiary of the Seoul-based conglomerate LG Corp.


Integral says a compounded ElectriPlast formulation of resin-based materials is conductively loaded, or doped, with a balanced concentration of micron conductive materials and then pelletized. Non-corrosive ElectriPlast can be molded into any shape associated with plastics and rubbers and, Integral says, is as electrically conductive as if it were metal.


ElectriPlast was designed into an unidentified device for a military application through a systems supplier that became an Integral licensee in May 2010.


Integral established a relationship with custom molder and extruder Jasper Rubber Products Inc. of Jasper, Ind., initially in 2006. The arrangement includes patent license and manufacturing agreements. The Jasper plant can produce more than 50,000 pounds of ElectriPlast pellets per month.


During 2006-2007, Integral signed patent license agreements with heating element and light-emitting-diode supplier Heatron Inc. of Leavenworth, Kansas; automotive components manufacturer ADAC Plastics Inc. of Grand Rapids, Mich.; protective-systems supplier Esprit Solutions Ltd. of Liverpool, England; and electromagnetic-field-protected molded components maker Knowles Electronics LLC of Itasca, Ill. As of June 30, Integral had not received revenues from any of the agreements.


Integral retained James Eagan of Potomac Falls, Va., as a corporate director and consultant Dec. 1. Eagan co-founded telecommunications satellite service provider Orbcomm LLC in 2001 and advises Orbcomm on its Asia Pacific licensees.


Publicly traded development-stage Integral Technologies is based in Bellingham, Wash.


Contact: Doug Bathauer 812-455-5767



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