Reportable Segments and Geographic Information (Reportable Segments) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012		Mar. 31, 2011
Net Sales
Net sales	$ 466,179,000		$ 331,345,000
Operating profit (loss)
Operating profit (Loss)	34,436,000		37,760,000
Interest expense	(12,212,000)		(1,422,000)
Interest income	152,000		220,000
Foreign exchange gain (loss)	(5,021,000)		475,000
Other expense, net	(291,000)		(5,000)
Non operating income (expense), total	(17,372,000)		(732,000)
Income from continuing operations before income tax expense	17,064,000		37,028,000
Expenditures for property, plant & equipment
Expenditures for property, plant and equipment	10,818,000		3,328,000
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization	22,149,000	[1]	13,309,000	[1]
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Property	2,900,000
Magnetic Technologies [Member]
Net Sales
Net sales			0	[2]
Operating profit (loss)
Operating profit (Loss)	13,903,000	[2],[3]	0	[2],[3]
Expenditures for property, plant & equipment
Expenditures for property, plant and equipment	3,496,000	[3]	0	[3]
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization	10,212,000	[1],[3]	0	[1],[3]
Charges related to inventory purchase accounting	15,700,000
Magnetic Technologies [Member] | VAC [Member]
Net Sales
Net sales	190,491,000	[3]
Advanced Materials [Member]
Net Sales
Net sales	132,973,000		180,080,000
Operating profit (loss)
Operating profit (Loss)	11,111,000		32,117,000
Expenditures for property, plant & equipment
Expenditures for property, plant and equipment	5,137,000		1,019,000
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization	4,224,000	[1]	5,072,000	[1]
Specialty Chemicals [Member]
Net Sales
Net sales	105,913,000		120,583,000
Operating profit (loss)
Operating profit (Loss)	13,521,000	[4]	13,734,000	[4]
Expenditures for property, plant & equipment
Expenditures for property, plant and equipment	964,000		1,402,000
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization	5,096,000	[1]	5,630,000	[1]
Battery Technologies [Member]
Net Sales
Net sales	37,032,000		30,976,000
Operating profit (loss)
Operating profit (Loss)	5,655,000		2,122,000
Expenditures for property, plant & equipment
Expenditures for property, plant and equipment	1,221,000		907,000
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization	2,502,000	[1]	2,485,000	[1]
Corporate [Member]
Operating profit (loss)
Operating profit (Loss)	(9,754,000)		(10,213,000)
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization	115,000	[1]	122,000	[1]
Intersegment items [Member]
Net Sales
Net sales	$ (230,000)		$ (294,000)

[1] Excludes amortization of deferred financing fees.

[2] Includes inventory step-up charges of $15.7 million resulting from purchase accounting for the VAC acquisition

[3] VAC was acquired on August 2, 2011. Because we acquired VAC in the third quarter of 2011, the table above does not include comparable results for the first quarter of 2011.

[4] The three months ended March 31, 2012 includes a $2.9 million property sale gain.