Wanhua: Materials for additive manufacturing of shoes

At K 2019 Wanhua Chemical has launched a material platform for the additive manufacturing of shoes which integrates highly flexible printing materials, including Wanfab TPU filaments, powders, and waterborne coatings as well as Adwel waterborne adhesives. Based on Wanhua’s materials, the Chinese company Peak Sports has launched 3D-printed sneakers, marketed as The Next. These sneakers provide consumers with comfortable and personalised experience. One of the breakthroughs of the shoes is that they leverage 100 % recyclable 3D printing materials to design a unique circular lifecycle sneaker, which is eco-friendly, says Wanhua.

Wanhua Chemical and Peak Sports together launched a new 3D-printed shoe. (Source: Wanhua)

“The 3D Printed Shoe-Material Solution launched by Wanhua Chemical is a ground-breaking technological innovation of 3D printing materials introduced into the market.” Weiqi Hua, Executive Vice-President, Chief Technology Officer of Wanhua Chemical stated, “With the mission of ‘Advancing Chemistry, Transforming Lives’, Wanhua Chemical will leverage its core competitiveness of innovation to lead the development of 3D printing materials and provide unique ideas and approaches to the whole industry to satisfy evolving consumer needs.”

Kui Cai, Design Director of Peak Sports USA Design Centre stated, “We kept improving the synergy of different 3D printing materials on the sneakers, enhancing the all-round customization experience, and raising the higher standards for environmental performance. After all these efforts, ‘The Next’ finally came into being. Together with Wanhua Chemical, we breached the bottlenecks of the existing 3D printing material solutions and will bring to global consumers a sneaker that is stylish, comfortable, customizable and recyclable.”

“The Next” is based on Wanhua’s Wanfab and Adwel materials. (Source: Wanhua)

Wanhua said that it is looking forward to joining hands with more partners in the supply chain to unleash the potential of cooperative technological innovation and provide more total solutions, such as 3D Printing Shoe-Material Solution.

Established in 1989, the Chinese company Peak Sports mainly designs, develops, manufactures, distributes, sells, and markets its own sportswear products, including sneakers, clothing and accessories. In May, 2017, the company launched the first 3D-printed sneakers in China; it also released the world’s first 3D-printed sneakers for basketball. In December 2018, Peak Sports premiered Peak-Sports Taichi, a self-adaption technology for midsole.

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