ecoChip

ecoChip is a family of high-purity brass chips (Copper-Zinc alloy), specifically designed to be Lead-Free. Its functions in a friction material are:

• Thermal Management: It has excellent thermal conductivity to dissipate heat from the braking interface, protecting the resin and reducing fading.
• Structural Reinforcement: It provides mechanical integrity, toughness, and crack resistance to the friction composite.
• Regulatory Compliance: Its main feature is enabling formulations to comply with the strictest regulations that restrict the use of lead.

The fundamental advantage is the guarantee of being a "Lead-Free" product.

• Purity and Consistency: ecoChip is produced through a synthetic and controlled process, not from recycled material. This eliminates variability and guarantees a consistent chemical composition and the complete absence of lead, batch after batch.
• Assured Regulatory Compliance: Recycled brass chips often contain traces of lead, which is a risk for complying with regulations like RoHS. ecoChip completely eliminates this risk.
• Predictable Performance: The consistency in composition and morphology ensures stable tribological performance.

ecoChip serves as a more economical alternative to traditional lead-free brass wools. The cost saving is achieved thanks to a lower copper content and a more efficient synthetic manufacturing method. Despite slight morphological differences, a direct replacement is possible in most formulations, allowing for significant cost reduction.

Both are synthetic, lead-free products from RIMSA, but for different performance tiers:

• ecoChip (Brass, Cu-Zn): It is the ideal and cost-effective solution to replace conventional brass in formulations that need to be lead-free.
• ecoBronze (Bronze, Cu-Sn): It is the higher-performance alternative. Bronze offers superior stability at high temperatures, making it the preferred choice for more demanding applications (OE, premium) that must also be lead-free.

The transition is relatively straightforward. ecoChip is designed to be a "drop-in" substitute for conventional brass chips. It allows the formulator to remove lead from their recipe without needing to drastically readjust other components, as the physical properties are very similar.

Lead is a toxic heavy metal whose use is being phased out worldwide for health and environmental reasons. Using a guaranteed lead-free component like ecoChip ensures that the final product can be marketed globally without restrictions.