Sustainable materials for the industry

Related Vendor

NSK: Rolling bearing cages made from bioplastic

NSK: Rolling bearing cages and spacer elements made from bioplastic

After NSK introduced the world's first bioplastic cage for rolling bearings in 2021, the first product range with cages and a spacer element for ball screw drives made from renewable resources is now available.

NSK's bioplastic cage performs the same as conventional plastic cages made of polyamide 66, but with 91% lower CO2 emissions over its lifecycle.
(Image:NSK)

The cages will be available for the 60 and 62 series deep groove ball bearings, which are used, among other places, in fan motors for air conditioning systems. The cage material selected by NSK withstands operating temperatures of up to 120 °C, as confirmed by durability tests. Noise development and friction also play a major role in fan drives: NSK tests confirm that the bearings with bio-plastic cages have equivalent noise and friction behavior to conventional polyamide 66 cages. They also have similar strength, heat resistance, grease resistance, and weld strength as Polyamide 66. The stiffness, fatigue strength, creep resistance, and impact resistance are also comparable.

Gallery

The ECO plain bearing program relies on regranulated materials and, like all Igus tribopolymers, is lubrication and maintenance-free.(Image: Igus)

The new Photoneece: A polyimide coating without NMP.(Image: OBUCHIYOSHIYUKI)

"Ideally, you want a battery that weighs as little as possible and has a lot of storage capacity," says Prof. Birgit Esser.(Image: Elvira Eberhardt)

Gallery with 5 images

The cages in fan motors for air conditioning systems have been selected by NSK, among other things, because this market will also grow in Europe and manufacturers are striving to improve their sustainability balance through supplier components with the smallest possible CO₂ footprint. Rolling bearings are a key component in the fan motors of air conditioning systems. Many manufacturers here use the NSK deep groove ball bearings of the 60 and 62 series.

Spacer for sustainable production machines.

The new S1 spacers made from bioplastics reduce the CO2 footprint of these components by around 90 percent over their entire life cycle.
(Image:NSK)

After many manufacturers of injection molding machines and servo presses have converted their machines from hydraulic drives to electric drive systems with servo motors and ball screws in recent years to offer their customers energy savings, efficiency gains and a reduction in CO₂ emissions, the demand for ball screws will continue to increase. Sustainable solutions are the focus.

With the development of the S1 spacer element made of bioplastic for ball screw drives with a diameter of 50 to 200 mm, NSK is advancing this development. For this purpose, the bio-based high-performance polyamide Ecopaxx from DSM was selected and validated. The spacer elements are arranged between the individual balls of the screw drive and prevent the balls from coming into contact with each other.

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.

Plastics