3M began as an abrasives manufacturer. For more than a century, they have refined original 3M technologies and complemented them with breakthrough inventions developed by other 3M businesses. Today, 3M abrasives rely on traditional strengths such as resin formulation, adhesives and coating, as well as the most modern technologies, from microreplicated ceramics, nonwoven materials and precision shaped grains. The result is a comprehensive range of abrasives that cut, grind, shape, finish, and polish with ease and precision.
To create products for the life sciences, 3M applies its unusual combination of strengths in material science, surface modification, microbiology, biology, and biochemistry. Among the results: remarkably durable dental restoratives, filtration media for pharmaceuticals, biocompatible surgical tapes and dressings, transdermal patches for drug delivery, tissue antiseptics, and sterilization sensors.
So strong they can hold a structural panel for the life of a building... so gentle they can be applied to the skin of a child to secure tubing. Because 3M adhesives have been engineered to fit customers' needs, they are used in such diverse products as airplanes and cell phones, automobiles and medical dressings. 3M excel in curable adhesives and epoxies. And, of course, pressure-sensitive tapes, which 3M invented more than 90 years ago.
3M started here, turning minerals into sandpaper. Over more than a century, they have forged inorganic ceramic materials into a surprising range of products. The rugged granules that protect your roof. The complex touch screen at your ATM. The aesthetic dental restorative and the coarsest abrasive. The brilliant bead that defines your lane on a rain-soaked highway and the ultra-strong fiber woven into a power line?these are all derived from 3M's long history in inorganic ceramics. The future will be enabled with these materials as they address key megatrends in consumer electronics, intelligent transportation and air/water quality.
By infiltrating dense arrangements of ceramic fibers or particles with aluminum alloy, 3M creates composite materials and articles that combine extraordinary strength and stiffness with light weight. 3M’s first commercial application for this technology is a high-strength overhead electrical conductor that can carry more than twice the power of conventional lines of the same size. Additional work continues on products and components for other uses, including structural and mechanical applications. The advantages of this material are magnified when the component is subjected to high acceleration loads that magnify the weight savings. In addition, 3M™ Nextel™ ceramic fibers can reinforce oxide ceramics and enable the production of high-temperature, thin walled, thermal shock and oxidation resistant Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC). This high performance material allows numerous applications in industrial furnaces, for the production of kiln furniture and in the field of burner technologies.
3M Oral Care Solutions Division uses the latest advances in chemistry, biology, ceramics, and digital imaging to help dentists and orthodontists improve the lives of patients all over the world. They combine this broad range of unique materials and systems/software expertise with many other 3M technology platforms to create solutions that truly promote life-long oral health. Our expertise in oral microbiology and fluoride chemistry help doctors combat tooth decay with toothpastes and protective coatings; and they help give patients back their ability to smile by applying knowledge of ceramic materials and processing to produce crowns, bridges and orthodontic appliances. Our in-depth understanding of resin technology and software and device engineering is focused to create breakthroughs in 3D printing for the oral care industry. 3M have been consistently recognized as one of the most innovative suppliers in the dental industry and our products are used to provide a continuum of care throughout a patient’s lifetime.
Advances in electronic components?from semiconductors and interconnects to data storage and displays?often begin with breakthroughs in the organic, inorganic, and metallic materials from which these components are fabricated. 3M contributes to improvements in manufacturing and performance by applying its strengths in many of the other building blocks of today’s electronic devices, including fluorochemicals, adhesives, abrasives, membranes, electrodes, and electrolytes.
From one to hundreds of layers, 3M engineered films are used to enhance and protect electronic displays, increase energy efficiency, provide graphics inside and outside of buildings, vehicles and traffic signage, as well as provide the basis of tapes for the office, industrial assembly, and health care. 3M films are fundamental to a wide variety of products in every business group. By understanding and manipulating the materials and process and the complex interactions between them, 3M creates a broad spectrum of film-based products.
3M fluoromaterials represent a class of high performance technologies and products that provide unequaled performance in many customer applications . They include an extensive line of protective coatings that provide stain protection and repellent properties to variety of substrates. Fluorinated materials are used as thermal management fluids, corrosion resistant coatings, and as surfactants for high-performance paints and coatings and electronic applications. Dyneon fluoropolymers, fluoroplastics and fluoroelastomers, have outstanding thermal and chemical resistance, making them ideal for many products that operate in extreme and hostile environments. They are used in wire coatings, seals, gaskets, nonstick coatings, fuel hose liners, and other critical, high-performance applications.
3M is transforming the way they think about structured materials with metamaterials - defined as engineered structures with geometries smaller than the wavelengths of interest which can exhibit properties not observed in the constituent materials. From one-dimensional metamaterials such as multi-layer optical films, to two and three-dimensional structures, metamaterials represent a new approach to controlling and manipulating these stimuli wavelengths.
3M scientists and researchers are exploring a new world at the nanometer level, where materials exhibit unique physical, chemical, and biological properties. These unusual properties are already being exploited in 3M hard coatings, dental restoratives, and brightness-enhancing optical films. Many 3M technology platforms, including adhesives, advanced composites, wound management, ceramics and electronic materials are being influenced by the emergence of nano-sized particles.
After sixty five years of exploring uses for nonwoven materials, 3M is still finding new ways to refine and apply them. In health care, medical tapes improve comfort for patients. In industrial settings, respirators help protect employee health. In homes, HVAC filters help remove particulates from the air. In workshops, abrasives improve product finish and performance. In automotive, insulators make cars quieter and more efficient. Thanks to 3M's expertise in advanced materials and sophisticated manufacturing technologies, new nonwoven materials are being developed for use in transportation, filtration, health care, industrial, and consumer products.
When 3M scientists begin work on a customer's problem, they draw on a remarkable array of high Performance Materials. This technology platform is a collection of unique materials developed and manufactured internally by 3M that provides differentiated performance to 3M products. It includes a combination of ceramics, fluoromaterials, nanomaterials, advanced silicone materials, specialty monomers and polymers, specialty additives (surfactants, curatives, cross-linkers, and catalysts) and coatings to create unique materials and composites. Our labs constantly add to this palette with new formulations and breakthrough modifications of existing materials; and 3M is unmatched in the application of these novel materials to the demands of real-world manufacturing.
Porous materials and membranes show up in thousands of 3M products, including respirators, filters, fuel cells, transdermal patches, and wound dressings. 3M manufactures membranes and other porous structures engineered to perform in a wide range of applications. In addition these materials can be chemically modified to enhance contaminant capture, improve selectivity, and optimize capacity. Today, 3M technology ensures that water, air and other fluids can be processed to achieve the required fluid quality in an efficient and cost effective manner.
Release materials include release liners, low surface energy coatings and low adhesion backsizes (LABs) used in many of our high-performance adhesives and dressings. These release materials offer added functionality such as quiet unwind, printability, and precision delivery, providing value to 3M products across the entire franchise.