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By the nature of the markets involved, the solutions proposed and the technologies used, Rhodia Silcea is intrinsically committed to sustainable development.

Rhodia Silcea uses its unique expertise and capabilities to draw upon a vast reservoir of technologies in fine inorganic chemistry to identify the functionalities for delivering the required user-benefits and end-to-end solutions to its customers.

 

ZEOSIL® and TIXOSIL®
Rhodia combines an exclusive know-how and proprietary technologies to develop tailor-made silicas for tire, nutraceutics, oral care and footwear applications.

Its full range of precipitated silicas Zeosil® et Tixosil® is specially designed to improve Dispersibility, Absorption, Abrasion or Transparency.

Rhodia developed and was the first to introduce on the market a Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS) and a dust-free Micropearl form of precipitated silica
 

is used in conjunction with a diesel particulate filter. It is a fuel-borne catalyst enabling a reduction of more than 99 % in the number of particulates emitted.
EOLYS™ gives therefore a new dimension to diesel engines: in addition to being reliable and fuel-efficient, they are now, thanks to EOLYS™, also cleaner.
The third EOLYS™ generation provides a maintenance-free system for a service life of 250 000km.

Today 3 million European vehicles are equipped with particulate filters using the EOLYS™ additive.
 

To adapt the automotive catalysts to the extreme temperatures and conditions experienced in the 'close-coupled' position, Rhodia developed the ACTALYS™ range of rare-earth based materials. These materials impart thermal stability and hence extend catalyst durability. The OPTALYS™ range is a new generation of such materials offering even greater thermal stability.
These products already enable vehicle manufacturers to meet forthcoming statutory automotive pollutant emission limits; for instance the materials already allow compliance with the Euro 5 standards to be introduced in 2009.
 

LUMINOSTARTM materials are designed for use in rare-earth phosphors. Offering the largest range on the market, these materials are used in long-life trichromatic bulbs and tubes.
By virtue of their long life, Rhodia’s phosphor precursors have a major beneficial impact on the environment: not only do they minimize raw material usage and waste volumes, they also enable significant energy savings (by a factor of 5 to 10) compared to incandescent lamps.
 
Rhodia Silcea, a key player in sustainable mobility

One of the major tasks facing the automotive industry today is the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. As a key supplier to this industry, Rhodia Silcea proposes a product range to respond to this global challenge.
Tire rolling resistance has a significant influence on vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Rhodia’s High Performance Silica was instrumental in the development of Energy-Efficient tires. This technology enables car emission reductions without losing tire performances. Substituting silica for carbon-black as tread filler leads to 25% less rolling resistance, which equates to emission savings of up to 5%.
Since the launch of its innovative silica for “Energy-Efficient tires” in the beginning of the 90’s, more than 1 billion tires have been produced using this Silica technology.

Thanks to its customers, Rhodia’s technology has contributed to saving 20 billion liters of fuel and to reducing CO2 emissions by 50 million tons.
 
Rhodia develops emissions control technologies for gasoline and diesel engines.

In view of ever tighter regulations throughout the world (e.g.: Euro V in Europe and Tier 2 Bin 5 in the USA), Rhodia is a key contributor to Clean Air in proposing technology solutions for particulate filters (diesel vehicles) and for catalytic converters (gasoline vehicles).
Today, more than 4 million European vehicles are equipped with a particulate filter, of which approximately 60% use DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) technology with Rhodia’s EOLYS™.  Worldwide, one gasoline vehicle out of three is equipped today with a catalytic converter that uses Rhodia’s ACTALYS™/OPTALYS™ materials.