Polycarbonates – the future has a name: Makrolon®.

This name is inseparably associated with the Polycarbonates Business Unit (BU PCS) and stands for quality and success. The BU PCS contributes a quarter of Bayer MaterialScience's total sales, and ranks second on the world market in the production of polycarbonates. Makrolon® BU PCS is the best-known brand within Bayer MaterialScience. Other products in the portfolio of the BU PCS include the high-heat resistant Apec® and various Makrolon®-based blends such as Bayblend® and Makroblend®. The outstanding properties of the blends make it possible to adapt them individually to the requirements of the particular application. The BU PCS also markets PCS sheets made of Makrolon® and the PCS Films Makrofol® and Bayfol® . Makrolon® can reflect on a history of success that goes back more than fifty years, and that is likely to continue in the future.

Bright ideas

Products of Makrolon® and product variants based on it, are used, among others in the automotive and electrical/electronics industries. New fields of application are constantly being discovered as a result of the material’s versatility in processing. For example, Makrolon® is being incorporated in car roof structures instead of glass because it is lighter, more break-resistant and offers far greater design scope. Probably the best-known products made of Makrolon® are CDs and DVDs. It would be almost impossible to imagine life without these silver discs – or without Makrolon® for that matter.

Versatile Makrolon®

Because of their versatility, the range of applications for Makrofol® and Bayfol® films is also very diverse. Many driver's licenses and ID cards of all kinds are already made from Bayer MaterialScience's film systems. This year's season tickets for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen soccer club are also made of Makrofol®. They are extremely hard-wearing and noted for their high-contrast laser printing, which makes them virtually forgery-proof. In addition, a microchip can be integrated, which should not only cut down the waiting times at the stadium gates but also allow cashless payment.
Makrolon® was also to be found in Athens, appearing with the very best in the world Olympic Games of 2004. The sweeping transparent 25,000 sq. m. roof structure of the Olympic stadium is made of Makrolon®. And that means three world records for Makrolon®. Firstly, it is the biggest stadium roof in the world, secondly the largest transparent roof ever built, and thirdly the biggest roof ever to have been slid into place after the stadium was built. Makrolon® – a multi-talented product of our time and of the future.