Manufacturing (monozukuri) today cannot be considered without environmental awareness.Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.engages in developing innovative environmental technologies used for manufacturing processes.To conserve the global environment, the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), usually contained in paints, is expected to be reduced.Application of water-based paint with no VOC content on information and communications technology (ICT) equipment has been technically challenging so far.This is because it requires a high drying temperature which plastics cannot stand, while the paint must achieve a high coating performance.Addressing this challenge, we have developed a coating emulsion in a core-shell structure to satisfy both low drying temperature and coating performance.As a result, we succeeded in reducing the VOC content by approximately 80.We have also developed a vapor collection method, a simple pretreatment method for Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), to improve the detection limit of phthalate esters to less than one percent, a tenfold improvement in sensitivity.Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a phthalate ester, is a potentially hazardous substance, the same as VOC, and is regulated in some industries in Japan, the U.S.and Europe.Furthermore, it is now being considered as a candidate for next-round regulation under the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive that regulates electrical and electronic equipment.Identification of DEHP in our products has been a big issue when conducting a acceptance inspection in manufacturing.For this reason, we have studied a new way to separate and condense phthalate esters because the sensitivity of FT-IR currently available does not comply with the requirements of the regulation and it is difficult to detect it coexisting with a matrix of products.The new method makes it possible to carry out more sensitive and simpler acceptance inspections.
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