India Opens First Mobile Tempered Glass Factory

India Opens First Mobile Tempered Glass Factory

India launches its first tempered glass factory for mobile devices in Noida, advancing self-reliance in #electronicsmanufacturing and job creation.

India has taken a major stride toward electronics self-sufficiency with the inauguration of its first-ever #TemperedGlassManufacturing Facility for mobile devices. The factory, located in Noida, was officially opened on August 30, 2025, by Union Minister of Electronics and IT Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Established by Optiemus Electronics in partnership with Corning Incorporated, USA, the facility will manufacture tempered glass under the premium brand “Engineered by Corning”. These products will serve both Indian and global markets, marking a pivotal expansion of India’s domestic electronics production capabilities.

Pushing the Make in India Vision Forward

Building Domestic CapabilitiesTempered glass, a crucial accessory for smartphones, has so far been mostly imported. With this new facility, India aims to manufacture every part of a mobile device, including chips, tempered glass, and server components, as emphasized by Minister Vaishnaw.

This step supports the broader objective of Atmanirbhar Bharat—making India a global leader in electronics by reducing import dependence and increasing local value addition.

Economic and Industrial Impact

India’s electronics sector has grown sixfold in the last 11 years, reaching a production value of ₹11.5 lakh crore, with exports of over ₹3 lakh crore and 2.5 million jobs created. The new facility adds significantly to this momentum

Initial investment: ₹70 crore

Phase 1 capacity: 25 million units/year

Jobs created in Phase 1: 600

Phase 2 expansion: ₹800 crore

Future capacity: 200 million units/year

Expected new jobs: 4,500+

World-Class Manufacturing and Quality Standards

The Noida plant is equipped with cutting-edge infrastructure and offers a complete transformation of raw materials into high-quality tempered glass. Manufacturing stages include,

Scribing and chamfering

Polishing and dual-stage rinsing

Chemical tempering

Coating, printing, and lamination

Every unit undergoes stringent quality checks to ensure BIS certification and fog marking, providing Indian consumers with globally competitive products made domestically.

source : Adda247 Current Affairs

DuPont sells aramids business to materials firm Arclin for $1.8B

DuPont Inc. said it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its aramids business to Arclin Inc. (Alpharetta, Georgia), a portfolio company of an affiliate of private equity firm TJC LP (New York), for approximately $1.8 billion.

DuPont’s #aramids business includes the Kevlar and Nomex synthetic fiber brands. It has a workforce of 1,900 and five manufacturing sites. The aramids business generated net sales of $1.3 billion in 2024.

Arclin has received fully committed financing in connection with the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, DuPont said in a statement Aug. 29.

DuPont said it will receive pretax cash proceeds of approximately $1.2 billion at close, subject to customary transaction adjustments, a note receivable of $300 million, and a noncontrolling common equity interest in the future Arclin company currently valued at $325 million, which is expected to represent an approximate 17.5% stake at the time of close.

”The aramids transaction further enhances the strategic focus of our portfolio, while also increasing the growth and margin profile,” said Lori Koch, CEO of DuPont.

The aramids divestiture will not impact DuPont’s intended separation of its electronics business, to be called Qnity Electronics Inc., which remains on track for a Nov. 1, 2025, spinoff, DuPont said.

The aramids transaction offers significant growth potential to #Arclin, the company said. "The addition of #Kevlar and #Nomex to the Arclin portfolio presents a unique opportunity to transform our business with increased scale, broader global reach, and market-leading application development capabilities," said Bradley Bolduc, Arclin president and CEO.

Kevlar and Nomex are used in bulletproof vests and firefighting equipment, respectively, for their high-strength and thermal-resistance properties.

Arclin is a materials science company, supplying polymer technologies and manufacturing engineered products and specialized materials for the construction, agriculture, transportation infrastructure, weather and fire protection, pharmaceutical, nutrition, electronics, design and other industries.

Reports in July said that private equity firms #AdventInternational LP and Platinum Equity LLC were preparing bids for #DuPont’s aramids business.

source : Chemweek

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : The Origins of Chemical Notation

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Chemical equations are fundamental to chemistry, allowing scientists to represent chemical reactions in a structured, symbolic form. The development of chemical equations was not the work of a single person but rather a gradual evolution over centuries. However, some key figures played significant roles in shaping how we write and understand chemical reactions today.

The Origins of Chemical Notation

Before the concept of chemical equations, early alchemists used symbolic representations to describe reactions, but these were often ambiguous and lacked standardization.

Georg Ernst Stahl (1660–1734) and Phlogiston Theory

In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Georg Ernst Stahl proposed the phlogiston theory, suggesting that substances released a mysterious element called phlogiston when burned. While incorrect, this idea prompted early chemists to think systematically about chemical transformations.

Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794) – The Father of Modern Chemistry

The real breakthrough came with Antoine Lavoisier, who is often credited as the father of modern chemistry. In the late 18th century, Lavoisier debunked the phlogiston theory and introduced the law of conservation of mass, stating that matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction. This principle laid the groundwork for writing chemical equations.

Lavoisier was one of the first chemists to use a systematic approach to chemical notation. In his 1789 book Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Elementary Treatise on Chemistry), he introduced a method of representing chemical reactions using elements and compounds, though not in the modern form we use today.

Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779–1848) – Introducing Modern Symbols

Lavoisier’s work inspired other chemists to improve chemical notation. In the early 19th century, Jöns Jakob Berzelius developed the modern system of chemical symbols, using letters to represent elements (e.g., O for oxygen, H for hydrogen). This innovation made it easier to write reactions concisely and is still used today.

Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800–1884) and Chemical Equations

French chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas contributed to balancing chemical reactions, ensuring they followed the law of conservation of mass. His work, along with others, refined the way chemical equations were written.

Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932) and Reaction Kinetics

Later, Wilhelm Ostwald and other 19th-century scientists formalized the mathematical representation of chemical reactions, introducing reaction kinetics and equilibrium concepts that further advanced chemical equation notation.

The invention of chemical equations was a collective effort spanning centuries. While Antoine Lavoisier laid the foundation with the conservation of mass, Jöns Jakob Berzelius introduced the modern notation system, and other chemists refined the concept into what we use today.

source : Tiago Vasconcelos

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Polymer Degradation

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Polymer Degradation

Polymer degradation refers to the process by which polymer materials undergo structural changes, resulting in the loss of their properties and functionality. This degradation can be physical, chemical, or biological, and it impacts the mechanical, thermal, and optical properties of the polymer.

II. Types of Polymer Degradation

1. Thermal Degradation

Thermal degradation occurs when polymers are exposed to high temperatures, causing the breakdown of molecular bonds. This type of degradation is common during processing and manufacturing.

2. Photo-Degradation

Photo-degradation is induced by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight. UV light can break down the chemical bonds in polymers, leading to discoloration, brittleness, and loss of mechanical strength.

3. Oxidative Degradation

Oxidative degradation involves the reaction of polymers with oxygen. This process is accelerated by heat and light and results in the formation of free radicals, which further propagate degradation.

4. Hydrolytic Degradation

Hydrolytic degradation is caused by the reaction of polymers with water. This type of degradation is significant in polymers that are used in humid or aquatic environments.

5. Biodegradation

Biodegradation involves the breakdown of polymers by microorganisms. While this can be advantageous for biodegradable plastics, it poses a challenge for conventional plastics that are not designed to degrade in the environment.

III. Factors Influencing Polymer Degradation

Several factors influence the rate and extent of #polymerdegradation:

Temperature: Higher temperatures accelerate the degradation process.

Light Exposure: Prolonged exposure to UV light increases the rate of photo-degradation.

Oxygen: The presence of oxygen facilitates oxidative degradation.

Moisture: Water can promote hydrolytic degradation.

Mechanical Stress: Physical stresses can create micro-cracks, which act as initiation sites for degradation.

Chemical Environment: Exposure to chemicals, such as acids and bases, can catalyze degradation reactions.

source : Plastics Technology

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : The annoying saddle twist warpage of low MFI polyolefin grades

 Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

147. The annoying saddle twist warpage of low MFI polyolefin grades.

If you ever molded extrusion or blow-molding grades of PP or PE, you have certainly experienced a big warpage problem, stemming from the surprisingly higher than usual IN-FLOW shrinkage.

The graph on the right (similar to my previous post nr. 146) shows that moving to a lower Melt Index increases the chance of freezing more molecular orientation in the part, as a result of the longer relaxation time of low MFI grades.

The graph in the center, from the cited article of 2006, shows the trend of increasing parallel to flow shrinkage with increasing molecular weight of a simple unfilled PP homopolymer.

Note that the three grades are all more viscous than typical in Injection Molding, and they all show a strong anisotropic shrinkage (this is measured on a dog-bone classical tensile bar sample) with larger shrinkage in the flow direction, due to strong molecular orientation.

It is the exact contrary of classical higher flow PP grades where perpendicular shrinkage is higher than parallel !

Finally, as seen on the left drawing (by Covestro), a centrally gated part will warp in a “saddle twist” fashion when the In-FLOW shrinkage is larger than the CROSS-FLOW shrinkage (perimeter wants to be larger than the corresponding radius).

When dealing with these viscous “twisty-warpy” grades one could in theory add just a few % GF that create the opposite effect of lower IN-FLOW shrinkage. Magically, you could suddenly mold a perfectly flat disc, by adding just a pinch of GF to the mix !

A higher packing (qualifying probably as OVERPACKING of the part center) would also flatten these part by creating the opposite warp trend, something illustrated in classical MOLDFLOW® literature more than 40 years ago.

What is your own experience with low MFI grades ?

Please comment and share so that we all learn more about this issue.

source : Vito leo

Ground-breaking Ceremony of Air Conditioning Division - Vignesh Polymers India Private Limited at SIPCOT Industrial Park in tamilnadu (INDIA)

Vignesh Polymers, a pioneer in appliance and automotive component and module manufacturing, today marked a historic milestone with the Ground-breaking Ceremony of its #AirConditioning Division, unveiling its 10th Factory Unit at the SIPCOT Industrial Park, Sriperumbudur Taluk.

The new facility will feature a world-class manufacturing unit, reinforcing the company's commitment to innovation, excellence, and global quality standards. The project involves the establishment of a fully integrated air-conditioning manufacturing facility, designed to support end-to-end production under one roof. The plant will encompass sheet metal fabrication, heat exchanger and copper tubing lines, injection moulding and EPS packing operations as well as the in-house production of propeller and crossflow fans.

source: Business Standard

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Touchscreen Car controls

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Despite having worked on automotive HMI as a product designer, I prefer physical controls in cars over digital infotainment systems. Sometimes it feels like manufacturers are designing for iPad kids and tech enthusiasts instead of regular A-to-B drivers.

Touchscreen car controls are 2-4 times slower than physical buttons.

Touchscreens increase reaction times +30-57%. Legally drunk drivers: reaction time +12%. Car's touchscreen impairs more than a couple of beers.

Physical controls:

- One motion: turn knob left/right

- Works by feel without looking

- Instant response

- Same location every time

- Works with gloves

- Muscle memory kicks in

- Tactile feedback confirms action

Touchscreen controls:

- Multiple taps through menus

- Requires visual attention to locate

- Lag between tap and response

- Interface changes with software updates

- Fails with gloves/wet fingers

- Must relearn after updates

- No confirmation until you look at display (is haptic feedback is enough?)

VW: "We will never make this mistake anymore. It's a car, not a phone."

The best interface is the one you never have to think about. Especially when you're driving the highway at 100+ km/h.

source : Alex Galagan