Building on the legacy of the former Scheufelen paper mill near Stuttgart — known  for its paper solutions like flame-retardant paper developed for NASA’s Apollo missions — NonWoven365 (Germany) is now offering high-performance carbon, metal and ceramic fiber-based papers and nonwovens, leveraging its expertise to drive renewable energy forward.

The company’s wet-laid nonwovens and papers can be applied across the electrica, electronics and automotive industries as reinforcement for ceramic matrix composites (CMC); in thermal insulation for battery safety applications; as electrode materials in redox-flow batteries and water electrolysis; gas-diffusion layers in hydrogen fuel cells; and for EMI shielding.

NonWoven365 says that papermaking technology enables the creation of highly uniform and scalable web-like flat structures. The company’s know-how is said to make it almost independent of the type of fiber or materials used, enhancing its possibilities.

NonWoven365’s material technology is provided in different fiber types, weights and thicknesses, and is available under its carbon365, mullite365 and silica365 product line:

• Carbon365 nonwovens are engineered using virgin carbon fiber and a binder system. This is the company’s high-grade core line and exhibits high homogeneity, along with optimal structural, surface chemistry, porosity and permeability properties. This makes it well suited to composite and electrochemistry applications — flow battery electrodes, fuel cell GDL backing substrate and PEM electrolyzer electrodes, for example.
• Hybrid materials comprised of carbon or other conductive materials such as metal or metallized fibers have been proven to be an optimal solution for shielding, thermal conductivity and resistive heating applications.
• Mullite365 papers are made from 3M (St. Paul, Minn, U.S.) Nextel fibers. It has been developed particularly for CMC reinforcement, with a more controlled uptake of the ceramic matrix and an open, porous structure. These nonwovens are temperature-resistant up to 1200°C, and so can also be considered for thermal management, high-temperature composites, and burner and turbine technology.
• Silica365 incorporates textile-grade silica fibers and targets high thermal applications, designed for heat and fire protection, insulation, filtration and sealing and applications. Temperature resistance from 900-1150°C is possible depending on the fiber grade used.