German chemicals and plastics company Domo Chemicals (Leuna; www.domochemicals.com) has taken a stake in Group Michiels Advanced Materials (Group MAM, Zele / Belgium; www.groupmam.com) as part of a partnership on speciality film coating. The size of the stake and financial details were not revealed.

The companies said that the primary reason behind the move was to facilitate the development and commercialisation of innovative film products. “Our main focus is the high-end window film market. The application of the high-end film coating on glazing applications fits perfectly into the new EU Energy Performance and Building Directive to introduce new materials, which significantly reduce energy consumption and CO₂ emissions at European level,” commented Luc Michiels, Group MAM’s CEO.

Alex Segers, CEO of Domo Chemicals, added that Group MAM’s solutions also offered tremendous opportunities in the automotive market, which is one of Domo’s key market segments. He explained, “The advanced lightweight film glazing solution significantly improves thermal management of a car and, as such, increases the driving range (autonomy) of electric vehicles. By reducing the need of heat or cooling under differing weather conditions, the battery autonomy increases in a spectacular way.”

Apart from its core know-how in window film technologies, Group MAM also has process and product expertise in barrier films, solar energy, speciality packaging, and building and construction products. The company, which is a specialist in sputter coating, recently invested in a new eco-friendly coating facility that allows for a multitude of coating layers, including metals, oxides and nitrides. This, it said, leads to a series of high-end film products with excellent optical filter properties.