High-performance Lexan FXD resin

When Fonckel, a start-up company based in the Netherlands, needed expert assistance to turn the stunning design of its Fonckel One lamp – an interactive light emitting diode (LED) luminaire – into a commercial product, Sabic’s Innovative Plastics business was there to deliver its world-class customer support.

With its robust portfolio of advanced thermoplastics for lighting applications, its Colour Innovation Centre offering more than 18,000 colour and diffusion effect options, and its application development expertise, Sabic assisted Fonckel with tapping the proven performance and versatility of Lexan FXD polycarbonate (PC) resin for use on the lamp’s diffuser cover.

On display at the Strategies in Light Show, this unique luminaire, the name which means 'sparkle' in Dutch, demonstrates Sabic’s ability to precisely meet the specialised needs of its customers by helping them translate their design vision into the right material application.

Through Sabic’s distribution partner in the Benelux, UltraPolymers, Fonckel approached Sabic to find a high-quality material offering white colours for the diffuser cover that also met the strict requirements for custom effects, suitability for laser welding and exceptional optical and mechanical performance. The key goals were to achieve desired light transmission combined with homogeneous diffusion properties to mask more than thirty LED bulbs used in the luminaire, and to allow an organically shaped design.

'Fonckel One’s innovative lighting concept requires materials that meet very specific optical, mechanical, aesthetic and safety requirements,' says Philip Ross, design director, Fonckel.

'After a long search, Sabic’s impressive expertise and choice of materials brought us the solution for our most critical optical material.'

'Sabic is always ready to serve our customers, whether they are young companies or well-established enterprises, with a total solutions offering that includes colour, design and development services and technical expertise,' says Eric Hogenboom, general manager, performance business in Europe, Innovative Plastics.

'It’s very exciting and rewarding for our teams to be involved at the outset of a project to co-develop successful lighting products like the Fonckel One. Our overriding goal, no matter the company’s size, is to help customers succeed in this competitive and rapidly evolving market space wherever we can.'

Fonckel develops intuitively controlled lamps on the basis of patented interaction technology called lumotion[R]. The Fonckel One, an interactive designer lamp developed and produced exclusively in the Netherlands, is easily and intuitively controlled and offers maximum flexibility in the user’s relationship with light.

The direction, intensity and breadth of the bundle of rays are regulated by simple movements on the touch-sensitive frame, similar to those used on tablets and smartphones, enabling the user to adjust them as needed. Fonckel One will be available for sale in Europe in October.

Sabic’s Colour Innovation Centre played a major role in the development of the Fonckel One diffuser cover. The facility in Bergen op Zoom, whose staff comprises more than 30 years of expertise in colour and effects technology, also offers more than 18,000 different colour and effect choices. Sabic Colour Innovation Centres around the world provide rapid response.