OSAKA: Toyobo Film Solutions Ltd has developed a sealant that will be used in the fuel cells of the Toyota Mirai.
The latest Mirai, which began selling last month, will use Toyobo's Teonex, a high-durability and heat-resistant polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) film, for which the company has virtually the entire global market share.
The product is increasingly being adopted for vehicle parts. The new sealant is made by coating a unique adhesive to Teonex, along with precision processing. The product can provide various functions, such as the protection of power generation surfaces of fuel cells, insulation and shape retention for gas intake and exhaust components, in addition to joining components to make fuel cells.
Toyota has evaluated the new sealant for realizing high durability in demanding environments, a key factor contributing to the long-term integrity of the fuel cells, and decided to use the sealant for the new Mirai model.
Thanks to the newly developed adhesive and other factors, the new sealant makes it possible to join components at higher speeds, resulting in a drastically shorter per-cell production time.
