Rogers Corporation Announces Partnership with XOnano Smartfoam
Chandler, Arizona – Rogers Corporation (NYSE:ROG) is pleased to announce a development partnership with XOnano Smartfoam, the provider of self-sensing foam materials and wireless measurement technologies, to create ”smart” foams. The Smartfoams combine XOnano’s patented piezoresponsive technology with the unique impact-absorption qualities of Rogers PORON® polyurethane foam materials.
With the ability to sense the magnitude, type, and location of impacts, Smartfoams can also mitigate the effects of those impacts. While traditional systems separate the sensing action from the mitigation action, these innovative Smartfoams offer the best of both worlds – highly accurate, self-powered sensing integrated with the best impact protection. The flexible, compressive sensing is unobtrusive and has been incorporated into existing applications without adversely affecting design or performance.
Jake Merrell, President of XOnano, states, “The long term consistency and compression set resistance of PORON polyurethane foam materials – including XRD® – are a great match for our impact sensing technology, and allows us to provide consistency in measurements.”
Sports impact has been the main focus of development efforts thus far, with the first commercialized Smartfoam product utilizing Rogers’ XRD Extreme Impact Protection polyurethane foam. Future efforts will target the footwear, automotive, and other industries in which an ability to sense and absorb impact is critical.
Nicole Perry, Rogers’ Market Segment Manager for XRD Impact and PORON Comfort commented, “We have been amazed at the accuracy and range of XOnano’s impact measurements. This has been an exciting development partnership, the combination of a performance foam with sensing capability has the potential to be a game changer in many applications.”
The XOnano/Rogers partnership stemmed from an initiative launched by one of Rogers’ Innovation Centers, whose overarching mission is to seek out and foster emerging technologies. With locations across the globe, the Centers identify and develop commercially-viable breakthrough innovations in advanced materials in an effort to address global challenges.
For more information on XOnano self-sensing foam, visit http://www.xonano.com. For more information on the Rogers family of elastomeric material solutions, visit http://rogerscorp.com.
