September 26, 2007 Hitachi Maxell Announces Development of Plastic Plating Technology Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (scCO2) —Realizes a reduced environmental burden by eliminating the use of hexavalent chromium and enables high-adhesion plating— TOKYO, September 27, 2007 --- Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., (Yoshito Tsunoda, President and Chief Executive Officer, TSE/OJE: 6810) today announced that it has developed a new technology for the plating of plastic that utilizes the distinctive characteristics of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). By eliminating the need to use hexavalent chromium, the new plating technology realizes a reduced environmental burden. In addition, it enables high levels of adhesion even with highly heat resistant engineering plastics. Currently, the market for plated plastic materials is expanding. These materials offer both light weight and the feel of metal, and they are increasingly being used as substitutes for metal parts. In the conventional plating process, pre-treatment includes etching using chromates, such as hexavalent chromium. Because they have a high environmental burden, there has been demand for a plating technology that does not use substances such as hexavalent chromium. In addition, the conventional technology for plating plastics is limited to resins with low heat resistance, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which is used in general machinery. It is difficult to use the conventional plating technology on engineering plastics with superior heat resistance and mechanical properties, which are used in such industrial applications as machine parts and electronic components. The revolutionary new plastic plating technology developed by Hitachi Maxell uses scCO2, which has both the solubility of a liquid and the permeability of a gas. This scCO2-based plastic plating production process was developed in cooperation with Professor Teruo Hori of the University of Fukui, Professor Masahiro Ohshima of Kyoto University, and Associate Professor Masato Sone of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Specifically, scCO2 has a high ability to penetrate materials, so when the scCO2 dissolves the palladium (Pd) complex, the Pd, which is the plating catalyst, penetrates the near-surface of the plastic. Therefore, etching with substances such as hexavelent chromium is not necessary in pre-treatment, and the environmental burden is reduced. Furthermore, scCO2 can be used for electroless plating*1, enabling the nickel plating reaction to occur inside the plastic material. In this way, even without the plastic surface-roughening that had been required when using previous methods, the new technology makes it possible to obtain high adhesion between the plastic and the plating. As a result, it is possible to use plating on engineering plastics with superior heat resistance and mechanical properties, such as polyamides (PA) and other polyphthalamides (PPA) as well as polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). It is also possible to form plating that is more than 20 microns thick, which is technically difficult with conventional vacuum deposition. Moreover, the new technology can be used with injection molding, and Hitachi Maxell is moving forward toward commercialization under the auspices of a basic technology support program coordinated by the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, Japan. In the future, Hitachi Maxell will use scCO2 plastic plating technology to implement environmentally friendly hexavalent-chromium-free plating and the plating of engineering plastics with superior heat resistance and strength. In this way, the company will enhance the added value of its optical components, which are a business area selected for priority strengthening measures, and bolster its functional materials operations by developing new business operations in parts formed through plating. The company plans to exhibit the new scCO2 plating technology at the Maxell booth at the CEATEC JAPAN 2007 exhibition held from October 2 at Makuhari Messe. *1 Electroless plating is a method of plating in which oxidation of a reducing agent in the plating solution is used to deposit a metal nickel membrane on a workpiece that is immersed in the solution. ・Key Features 1. Development of technology for plating plastic without the use of hexavalent chromium   The company has developed plating pre-treatment technology that draws on a characteristic of scCO2—a high level of penetration of materials. As a result of this characteristic, the scCO2 dissolves the palladium (Pd) complex, and the Pd, which is the plating catalyst, penetrates to the near-surface of the plastic. As a result, unlike the conventional plastic plating production process, with this new technology there is no need to use such substances as hexavalent chromium for etching of the plastic surface. In this way, hexavalent-chromium-free plastic plating has been realized.   2. High adhesion achieved with polyamides (PA) and other engineering plastics   Due to the development of technology for electroless plating in an scCO2 environment, the plating solution can deposit the Pd at the near-surface level of the plastic material. As a result, it is possible to achieve a high-adhesive-strength plating layer with engineering plastics, such as with PA and other PPA and with PPS, which have high heat resistance and superior mechanical properties. With PA and other PPA, tests have confirmed high tensile strength*2 of more than 10N/cm.   *2 Results from measurement of test material electroplated with nickel following scCO2-based electroless plating. Hitachi Maxell study.     3. Enables achievement of high heat dissipation with PPS lamp reflectors, etc.   With this technology, it is possible to achieve plating thicknesses of more than 20 microns with PPS, which is difficult to achieve with vacuum deposition. As a result, it is possible to achieve heat dissipation using the plating layer in applications such as lamp reflectors. (PPS was developed in conjunction with DAINIPPON INK AND CHEMICALS, INCORPORATED.) <Example of application for PPS lamp reflector> About Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. (TSE/OSE: 6810) is a leading global manufacturer of information storage media products, including magnetic tapes, optical discs, and battery products such as lithium ion rechargeable batteries, micro batteries and alkaline dry batteries. Since its foundation in 1960, Hitachi Maxell has led the electronics industry at home and abroad in the fields of storage media and batteries and the brand “Maxell” is globally recognized. In addition, Hitachi Maxell is also focused on devices and materials, such as optical components and functional materials based on Maxell’s core technologies. For more information on Hitachi Maxell, please visit the company's Web site at www.maxell.com/.