Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com) has expanded production facilities to manufacture ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (marketed under the brand HI-ZEX MILLION) in response to growing demand for automotive and industrial batteries. The additional facilities came online on August 7 and construction was finished in July. The expansion took place at Mitsui’s Iwakuni-Ohtake Works in Waki-cho, Kuga-gun, Yamaguchi-Prefecture.
This action boosts the company’s production capacity for HI-ZEX MILLION by about 15% to 8,500 metric tons per year (m.t./yr).
Through the company’s proprietary technology in catalysts and processes, HI-ZEX MILLION ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene achieves an average molecular weight of up to 6 million. Due to the material’s excellent chemical resistance, abrasion resistance, impact resistance and self-lubrication, it is used in diverse fields such as lithium-ion battery separators, industrial materials and medical devices.