A Korean company has developed the world’s first high-retardancy, non-toxic cables for electronic devices using nanotechnology and is introducing the innovation into Europe.
LS Cable claims the cables help to meet the growing demand for eco-friendly products, while still satisfying the needs of high specification items such as TVs, LCD monitors and notebooks, which often have the most complicated retardancy levels.
The process was developed over two years at Seoul National University and LS Cable is now applying the nanotechnology to cables for electronic devices and automotives, telecommunications, ships and other marine activities.
“We have used the latest technology to solve the age-old problem of creating a high-retardancy cable that’s also green,” said Min-Soo Kim, managing director of LS Cable UK.
“There is a huge global market for electronic products that could harness this new non-toxic cabling.”
Nano-material technology can be used to produce a harder wire wall. The process combines existing retardants to electronic materials while evenly spraying non-organic materials of nano-particle sizes – the length of one side is less than 1/10,000 of a metre. The application is also known as high-value next-generation material technology.
As well as meeting the high retardancy requirements, nanotechnology greatly improves the low strength of halogen-free and eco-friendly retardants, according to LS Cable.
It also reduces the amount of retardants used by more than 30pc, making the process considerably greener than many existing products, the company claims.
By Sorcha Corcoran
