Poly - Plasticizers - Sartomer Company, Inc

Plastics Technology, 2007-02-02, Processing and Characterization of Bioplastics
Biopolymers are generally defined as polymers that are found in nature, derived from nature, or utilized as medical implants. Polymeric biomaterials which are utilized as medical implants are typicall...

Kunststoffe international, Diverse Shapes and Applications
Styrenics can be polymerized using different technologies and it can be modified with a range of copolymers. The resulting plastics offer a wide range of properties allowing to customize them for different applications. ‧Because of this range of properties they are suitable for many industries. Strong demand is for example driven by the automotive industry, healthcare and the packaging industry. Styrenic polymers are amongst the economically most important plastics. They combine benign processin...

Kunststoffe international, Drivers of Electromobility
...irements of electromobility, materials supplier DSM, Heerlen, The Netherlands, has developed several engineering plastics targeted specifically at HV systems of hybrid and fully electric vehicles (Fig. 2). These include aliphatic polyamide (PA) 6, 46, 66, 666 and 410, aromatic PA 4T (polyphthalamide, PPA), PPS, PBT, PET and thermoplastic copolyether ester (TCP) grades. Among all these polymers, PA6, PA66, PA 4T, PBT and PPS are very well suited to the needs of the electric powertrain. Quite ofte...

Kunststoffe international, Replacing Metal in the Gearbox
...p a plastic part for a metal part. Especially one that is subject to constant mechanical stress. Engineering specialist GK Concept GmbH spent around one-and-a-half years doing preliminary and development work on creating a shifter fork made of polyphthalamide (PPA) with a 30 % carbon fiber content. The fork is now ready for mass production, is 35 % lighter than its metal counterpart, meets all specifications and has already passed endurance tests on test rigs. The German Dresden-based developmen...

Kunststoffe international, Semi-Crystalline, and yet Thermoformable
Ultra high performance polymers such as polyaryletherketones (PAEK) are typically not thermoformable for thick gauge applications because of their semi-crystalline nature. Specially developed PEKK grades now allow processing in this method. These can be used to produce large semi-crystalline PAEK parts with large wall thickness exhibiting extreme mechanical, chemical and flame retardant properties. Polyaryletherketones (PAEK) are used in technically challenging industry sectors, e. g. aerospace...

Kunststoffe international, Sustainable Growth
...ecyclates. Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) is the largest-volume engineering thermoplastic resin, offering an excellent balance of heat, chemical, and impact resistance with superior processing versatility. ABS resins are produced by the polymerization of styrene, butadiene and acrylonitrile. Typically, the proportion of styrene is between 50 and 60 %, while 20 to 30 % is acrylonitrile. In blends with poly‧amide or polycarbonate, ABS resins are frequently used in order to combine high end ...

Kunststoffe international, Turning Old into New
Due to their good feed characteristics and self-cleaning properties, twin-screw extruders enable even contaminated post-consumer polystyrene to be depolymerized continuously and efficiently. This opens up a promising recycling route in terms of industrial implementation via renewed polymer synthesis to produce plastic granules with a quality approaching that of virgin material. Polystyrene is used to produce a wide variety of food packaging and also for thermal insulation in construction. Especi...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Automobile Construction: A Substitute for Sheet Metal
Thermoforming A Substitute for Sheet Metal Automobile Construction. Now it is possible to process glass fibre reinforced poly-amide 6 (PA 6) using thermoforming procedures. The first relevant applications are large covers for marine engines. Crucial characteristics are the material’s out-standing dimensional stability under heat, as well as the low tooling cost. The company Reiss Kunststofftechnik GmbH in Tettnang/Germany manufactures various protective covers for marine engines for the fir...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Automotive Applications: Thermosets Get Going
...ber of parts can be produced more cheaply than with metals. Demand for thermosets in the automotive industry is increasing, since these materials complement the property profile of the thermoplastics in key technical areas. Leaving out adhesives and polyurethanes, the thermosets employed can be divided roughly into two areas: fibre-reinforced resins, such as SMC, which is used primarily for bodywork applications such as hoods, fenders and tailgates [1], and thermoset moulding compounds, which ar...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Biologically Degradable Plastics
...ors or machine manufacturers presented products on this theme. The biological degradability that characterises these materials does not necessarily have to be based on the fact that the material is composed of renewable raw materials. Also synthetic polymers based on fossil materials can be designed so that they are biologically degradable. With respect to the range of the materials made of renewable raw materials, one can differentiate between biopolymers and compounds that consist of a filler ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Broad Spectrum
...ffei Kunststofftechnik's Duroplast Forum in Munich/Germany at the end of May unusually appealing. In addition to the machine demonstrations there was a symposium with altogether 20 lectures presenting a cross section of today's thermosetting polymer technology. In 1998 Krauss-Maffei took over Fahr Bucher Service GmbH, Gottmadingen/Germany, with all world-wide rights to all Fahr Bucher patents and development work. "We now offer the by far most extensive product programme in this ve...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Custom-tailored Engineering Materials: Polyphenylene Ether (PPE)
Trend Report: Engineering Plastics> Polyphenylene Ether (PPE) Custom-tailored Engineering Materials. Modifications with various engineering resins and reinforcements as well as additives permit polyphenylene ether to be employed as an engineering material for any required application. Even elastic products can be produced in this way and have recently become available for use as wire and cable insulation. Edward N. Peters Mukund Parthasarathy The amorphous thermoplastic poly-2,6-dimethylphenyl...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Detecting Contaminants: Product Safety in the PET Loop
...nces to be detected at high sensitivity. A specially developed online method provides detailed information of the kind specifically needed in the manufacture of recycled PET for critical applications in the food sector. Andreas Mäurer Frank Welle Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been enjoying sustained market growth in the packaging industry for years [1]. In 2002, for example, consumption of PET amounted to 2.1 million t of PET, or 51% of the total plastics consumption of the European blo...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Electronic Components and Displays: Intrinsically Conductive Polymers
Special: Electronics Intrinsically Conductive Polymers Electronic Components and Displays. The importance of intrinsically conductive, that is, self-conducting, polymers is growing in many areas of the electronics industry: these materials are already finding use in through hole plating of printed circuit boards and as the counter electrode in polymer-based capacitors. Polymer electronics and polymeric light-emitting diodes (PLED) are being predicted as growth areas for the future. Stephan K...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Expanded Boundaries
Expanded Boundaries Newly Developed PPS Grades for Injection Moulding and Extrusion Benny Mermans, Kallo-Beveren/Belgium The advanced polymer polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) has now succeeded in overcoming critical technological hurdles. New injection moulding alloys and extrusion grades are extending the traditional applications of this previously highly specialized material, and opening up new applications. Polyphenylene sulphide, properly called poly(thio-1,4-phenylene), has a relatively...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, High Growth Rates: Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS)
Special: World Market Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS) High Growth Rates. Polyphenylene sulphide has only been firmly established on the market for 15 years. Because of its special property profile, innovative new applications are being constantly found, not just in the classic field of metal substitution. Opportunities are also opening up in new market segments such as aircraft construction and power supply systems. This additional potential is bringing strong growth to the PPS market. Poly(thio-...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, High-performance Polymers: Metal Substitution and Miniaturisation
Trade Fair Report Metal Substitution and Miniaturisation High-performance Polymers. Fuel cells, short-term implants, miniaturised electronic components and even baking moulds – high-performance plastics are to be found almost everywhere. Designers always choose members of this small group of specialty polymers for parts that require high thermal stability or special properties such as chemical resistance, high light transmission or biocompatibility. Visitors to K2004 were able to discover numer...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Impact Modification Of Thermosets
Impact Modification Of Thermosets Addition Of Hygrothermally Decomposed Crosslinked Polyurethane Jürgen Gremmels and József Karger-Kocsis, Kaiserslautern/Germany The impact modification of brittle thermosets with liquid rubber is relatively expensive. An inexpensive alternative is to use hygrothermally decomposed polyurethane as the modifier. The process was tested with the aid of two epoxy resin grades and compared with the conventional method. Thermosets are highly crosslinked, ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Injection Moulding and Crosslinking
Injection Moulding and Crosslinking Economical Processing of Polyester BMC and Thermosets Dietrich Hunold and Hans Wobbe, Munich/Germany Thermoset plastic moulding compounds are still associated with outdated processing techniques. Huge innovations in thermoplastic materials, particularly their heat resistance, have even led to predictions of the early demise of thermosets for large-scale plastic applications. However, thermoset processing has caught up. It is now a highly economical, state-of-t...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Innovations in Flame Retardants
...vironmental protection. According to a recent life cycle assessment (LCA) replacement of electronic equipment housings without flame retardants by equipment with decabromdiphenyl ether would substantially reduce the release of the particularly toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and dibenzodioxins and furans [1]. As to recycling, a new study showed that recycling plastics containing brominated flame retardants meet all the requirements of the German Chemicals Banning Ordinance. It was f...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Morphology and Mechanical Properties: Blends of Polyamide 66 and Syndiotactic Polystyrene
Blends Blends of Polyamide 66 and Syndiotactic Polystyrene Morphology and Mechanical Properties. Blends of polyamide 66 and syndiotactic polystyrene only display enhanced mechanical properties if good compatibility exists between the two materials and an optimum morphology can be achieved. Different compositions of these blends were investigated in a study employing a compatibility enhancer. Materials of this type are attractive for the production of automotive components that are exposed to hi...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Mould Management in Injection Moulding Operations
...Customer requirements extend from product development to refinement and assembly. The increased complexity of the products thus also requires improved planning and monitoring of the manufacturing process to maintain quality and delivery times. Also Poly-Plastics GmbH, Treuchtlingen/Germany, must take these requirements into account. The injection moulding operation is run according to the Kan-Ban-System and is very flexible due to its limited size. With at present 15 injection moulding machines ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Nanostructured Coating Materials: High Quality Plastic Surfaces
Nanotechnology High Quality Plastic Surfaces Nanostructured Coating Materials. Hybrid polymers, or nanocomposites that are produced via the sol-gel process from organo (alkoxy) silanes, main group or transition metal alkoxides and other components have become important products of chemical nanotechnology. Surface treatment of engineering thermoplastics represents one specific field of application. Gerhard Schottner Klaus Rose Sabine Amberg-Schwab Chemical nanotechnology represents one of the k...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Natural Thermosets
Natural Thermosets Biologically Degradable Plastics made of Gelatine and Natural Fibres Dietrich Braun, Darmstadt/Germany, and Axel Braun, Kassel/Germany For the first time natural thermosetting polymers can be made from gelatine-linseed oil blends. As composite materials with natural fibres they can compete in their mechanical characteristics with conventional thermosetting polymers and are problem-free biologically degradable. Biologically degradable plastics [1, 2] are of increasing i...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Planning Future Scenarios: Automotive Applications in the Distant Future
Planning Future Scenarios: Automotive Applications in the Distant Future It’s a long journey from polymer granules to automotive parts. It’s an even longer one for those whose job it is to envisage where plastics will be used in the cars of the future and which market trends providers of raw materials should follow. This is precisely the task of Bayer Polymers’ Creative Center, which has just launched its latest development for the cars of the future, called smart surface technology. Martin ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Plant Tuning: Increase in Capacity of Existing Polyester Plants
Auxiliaries Increase in Capacity of Existing Polyester Plants Holger Kremer Plant Tuning. Investment costs can be clearly diminished by installing larger pumps into existing pipelines rather than by piping extension. A precondition for this approach is that relevant installation dimensions have to coincide. In recent years, the worldwide trend toward capacity increases in existent pipelines can be observed in the polymer industry. Although the plants and their components were originally ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polymer Electronics: From Polymer Transistor to Printed Electronics
Special: Electronics From Polymer Transistor to Printed Electronics Polymer Electronics. Printed electronics based on new kinds of organic conducting and semi-conducting plastics will in future enable electronics to be put on to virtually any product. It will be done not through the substitution of today's widely used standard electronics based on silicon semi-conductors, but through the generation of electronic intelligence on products that at the moment have no electronics whatsoever. ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS)
Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS) Gunther Reitzel and Peter Radden, Frankfurt am Main/Germany PPS has been on the commercial market for approximately forty years. At the beginning, this engineering plastic was only used for a few high-temperature applications. Only approximately 10 to 15 years ago, PPS has become more successful on the market. Today, the material has become essential for many areas of application. Due to a growing market potential and its many areas of application, the product ha...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS)
Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS) Benny Mermans, Kallo-Beveren/Belgium With the majority of its applications in the fields of automotive and electrical/electronics, polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) has since become established as a popular high-performance material. Although the market for PPS declined last year by around 15% in global terms due to the weakness of the economy, it nevertheless managed to stabilise in Europe. In view of the ever-advancing miniaturisation, the mounting demands being mad...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Producing for Medical Engineering
..., or to get into mass production or specialities. Applications in the human body are specialities, with production volumes numbering 10,000 to 100,000. This is going to be a very busy area in the future. For example, much greater use will be made of poly-lactide. Numbers for some products can be as high as five million parts per year. These are still niche areas, but growth will occur. Is it worthwhile for processors to install expensive facilities? E.B.: They may be expensive, but they are a...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Requirements and Markets: Polymeric Flame Retardants
Additives Polymeric Flame Retardants Requirements and Markets. Reactive and polymeric brominated flame retardants offer many advantages over conventional systems, as they themselves are polymers or become part of the polymer. They do not bleed, provide highly effective fire retardancy, are heat-resistant and easy to process. They are gaining increasing market shares in polyurethane foams and engineering plastics. Rudi Borms Pierre Georlette The market for brominated flame retardants has suffer...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Safe Braking
... inline recycling of the smaller sprue spiders, Bosch looked for an innovative solution with direct gating. It was seen that, even with the high level of filling employed in RytonBR111, PPS is no longer the “problematical” high-performance polymer that it was long considered to be. On the contrary – since 1998 the accumulator pistons have been produced by SGT of Weidenberg/Germany, and Wilden of Pfreimd/Germany in eight-cavity hot-runner moulds with direct gating in considerably shorter cycle ti...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Sports Equipment: Plastics at all Events
...re Plastics at all Events Sports Equipment. Of course, the ball is still round – but is it still made of leather? No, and it has not been for a long time. Basically, all sports equipment nowadays is made of high-tech materials – plastics. And polymers sometimes almost have to perform miracles if they are to help the athletes to victory. Putting together an ingenious combination of suitable plastic types is the well-guarded secret of all sports equipment manufacturers. Kristin Mädefessel-Herr...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Tailor-made Properties: Modification of Polyamides
Engineering Plastics Modification of Polyamides Tailor-made Properties. With new long-chain dicarboxylic acids, it is possible to specifically influence the process temperatures, process cycles and mechanical and chemical properties of polyamides. They can also exert an effect on the appearance of these engineering plastics. Thorsten Roloff Ulrich Nagorny Ulrike Erkens The properties of engineering plastics can be customised through the selective synthesis of polymer building blocks. In this...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Thermosetting Moulding Materials
...n European markets, innovative products primarily in the automobile industry and a clear increase in Asian markets account for a positive world market trend. This report informs about phenolic (PF), urea (UF), melamine (MF), melamine phenolic (MP), polyester (UP) and epoxy (EP) moulding materials. User Markets The world market for thermosetting moulding materials continued to grow in the last three years. Table 1 and Fig. 2 show this using the example of phenolic resin moulding materials. At ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Trends in Automotive Headlamps
... to the vehicle model. To meet these trends, the paraboloid headlamps previously used almost exclusively have been supplemented by two types with optimised light efficiency (optical properties, losses) and space requirement: projection (ellipsoid, polyellipsoid) and free-form headlamps. Along with new developments in halogen lamps, gas discharge lamps are now also available, which provide a higher spectral energy distribution in the visible range. One of their advantages is that the entire headl...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Trends in Injection Moulding: Specialists Increasingly in Demand
...y is continually being extended through the advent of new materials and processing methods. As was illustrated in the first example of multi-component injection moulding, processing in future will not be restricted to two or three components. Poly-component applications are equally conceivable since it is not the processing methods or injection moulding technology that is setting the limits but rather the complex mould technology. Research and development, medical technology, the information and...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Trends in Plastics Research
...ent manufacturers’ products are becoming qualitatively ever more exchangeable and because of the high capacities of production plants on a world-wide scale. The consequence of the consolidation on the supplier side, in particular with the polyolefins but also with the large volume engineering thermoplastics, is that the objective is to supply the market with qualitatively high value and economical plastics and no longer the development of new materials. The materials can be offered at competitiv...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-30, Retrofit on a Milling Machine: 19 Years’ Service and Better than New
...rders for milling work on PE-UHMW workpieces several meters long, the plant management had to decide whether to carry out a general overhaul of the machine, which was nearly 20 years old, or purchase a new unit. Reinhold Kuchenmeister Since 1986, Poly Hi Solidur Deutschland GmbH, Vreden/Germany, has been using the NC Triax 2 T CMS milling machine (manufacturer: C.M.S. S.p.A., Zogno/Italy) to machine engineering plastics. After many years’ intensive service, machine failure was imminent. Josef W...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-01-31, Implants: Plastics with Programmed Memory
...t to intrinsic material properties, functionalities are always obtained by a combination of material properties and processing technologies. Therefore, a plastic only has shape-memory functionality if it is suitably processed and programmed. The polymer is first produced in its permanent shape by conventional processing methods. This is followed by a programming step in which the polymer is provided with shape-memory, e.g. by heating, deformation and cooling. The permanent shape is now pre-progr...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-05-23, Transparent Nanocomposites and Hybrid Materials: Invisible Helpers
...ince their small dimensions mean they are not visible to the human eye, yet they still bring completely new functions with them. Stefan Kaskel. Inorganic fillers have traditionally played a decisive role in adjusting the mechanical properties of polymers, such as for improving their abrasion behaviour, for instance. It is not, however, possible to use conventional inorganic particles several micrometres in diameter to functionalise transparent plastics, since they scatter the light and thus ...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-06-27, Light Sources: OLED – Light of the Future
... OLEDs, are undergoing a similar development. For a long time, organic materials were only thought of as insulators. This perception changed only in 1948, when D. D. Eley reported on the existence of electrically conductive organic molecules and polymers [1]. In the intervening decades, the electrical characteristics of numerous organics compounds have been investigated (Fig. 1). As with inorganic semiconductors, organic materials are classified as p- or n-conductors (Fig. 2). Electrically condu...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-27, Actuator Materials: Liquid Crystalline Elastomers for Microengineering
Special Liquid Crystalline Elastomers for Microengineering Actuator Materials. Liquid crystalline polymers are not just high-performance materials for applications requiring resistance to particular stresses. Special functional liquid crystalline elastomers (FULCE) produce movements that make it possible to develop new technical actuators based on the principle of the human muscle. The technology, mode of operation and use of these effectors are described using the example of a hybrid microgrip...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-02-13, Sealing Systems for the Cardiac Septum
... implant. This approach is new because all available implants so far have been produced from non-resorbable materials. Wide Spectrum of Requirements In addition to processing properties and degradation behaviour, the mechanical properties of the polymer are very important. In the present case, the implant has to withstand considerable mechanical stresses. The demands placed on the material arise from the fact that the implant must be guided through a catheter some 3–5mm in diameter. Since this...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-05-14, Off the Reel
...t Very soon, printed electronics will open up new markets and applications in the most varied ways. In the past, the implementation of first products frequently seemed hardly more than future dream. However, during the past three years, the company PolyIC in Fürth, Germany – a joint venture between Leonhard Kurz GmbH & Co. KG and Siemens AG – has made significant and continuous progress along the road to first products. Recently, a decisive milestone was reached: for the first time, PolyIC pres...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-05-14, The Terahertz View
...e aid of terahertz waves, not only the composition but also the material thickness can be determined using a noncontact and nondestructive technique. The potential of this measurement technology, which also provides information on the homogeneity of polymer-additive systems and fibre-reinforced plastics, is presented in this article. Steffen Wietzke Frank Rutz Martin Koch Between the frequency ranges used for electrical and optical applications, there is a gap that only now is beginning to s...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-08-14, A Route to Cost-effective Photovoltaic Technology
A Route to Cost-effective Photovoltaic Technology Polymer Solar Cells The most recent branch of photovoltaics research involves polymer solar cells based on organic conjugated functional polymers. With semiconductor layer thicknesses around one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair, these polymer solar cells represent the thinnest of all thin-layer technologies. With their comparatively low investment and production costs, they are highly attractive. Steffi Sensfuss et al. Photovoltai...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-08-14, Extremely Flat and Flexible
Extremely Flat and Flexible Electronic Elements Transparent polymer films in combination with transparent highly conductive polymers pave the way to flexible electronic elements. The conductive structures can be printed onto the polymer films directly. This affords a means of producing, e.g., lighting elements that are extremely flat and flexible, or labels of packaging. Stephan Kirchmeyer Detlef Gaiser It is not immediately apparent that transparent metal oxides (TCOs) play a large role...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, Films in 3-D
...ounterrotation principle employed for the drive motors ensures very quiet running of the "focus" (form, cut and stack; Fig. 2) automatic thermoforming machine. The new technology should ensure the efficient production of bowls and lids from poly-propylene and APET. Due to the optimization of all movement sequences and the use of modern servodrive and control technology the installation attains the desired output rates. A second machine is presented on the exhibition stand of its associat...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Polyaryletherketones (PAEK)
Polyaryletherketones (PAEK) Increasing Demand (Trade-fair-pre-report K 2007) Worldwide demand for PAEK continues to increase at an annual rate of approx. 15%. In addition to Victrex, the world’s largest producer of PAEK, two new suppliers, Degussa and Solvay, have appeared on the scene to develop additional applications. Wolfgang Reimer and Horst Sandner Back in 1981, British ICI launched two linear aromatic semi-crystalline thermoplastics, polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polyetherketone (...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Polycarbonate (PC) and Polycarbonate Blends
Polycarbonate (PC) and Polycarbonate Blends Continuing Growth (Trade-fair-pre-report K 2007) Thanks to robust growth, global polycarbonate production capacities were well utilized in 2006. PC consumption increased by above average rates especially in the Far East. In China alone it will rise by about 18% per annum in the next few years. PC blends and PC film are steadily taking on ever more significance, especially in the IT and automotive sectors. Klaus Horn, Hans-Joachim Laue, Uli Franz, Uw...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-04-14, Using Plastic to Counteract Urinary Urgency
Using Plastic to Counteract Urinary Urgency Polymer-Active Agent System An interdisciplinary project is working on a low side-effect therapeutic solution to the problem of an overactive urinary bladder. The objective is to develop a drug release system comprising a degradable plastic. Nina Laar, Joachim Grosse, Ina Michaelis, Matthias von Walter, Walter Michaeli, Erich Wintermantel Millions of people daily suffer a massive impairment of their quality of life due to the symptoms of overacti...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-06-16, A Company of Vision
...te high-quality secondary raw materials. Gerhard Gotzmann Precisely on the day of the anniversary, an Erema 1716 T-HP type recycling plant (photo this page) had been scheduled for delivery to the company's long-standing Indian customer, Jindal Poly Films Ltd., New Delhi. The plant represents Erema's continual progress in technology. 13 years ago, a machine of this basic type could process a rough 700kg of polypropylene per hour, whereas a machine the same size is fitted for more than d...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-06-16, From Vision to Technical Reality
...ory stage. Although the first products are approaching market readiness, there is still significant development work to be done before some of the many visionary ideas can be implemented. Timo Meyer-Friedrichsen Organic electronics, also known as polymer electronics, is a relatively young, highly innovative area that offers a huge market potential for all industries along the production chain. The foundations of polymer electronics were laid in the 1970s by pioneers such as Heeger, MacDiarmid...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-06-16, On the Way to Printed Electronics
... timing of sports events. Printed electronics can expand RFID's areas of application into price-sensitive mass markets, such as consumer goods packaging, electronic brand protection, simple identification, electronic ticketing and many others. PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG of Fürth, Germany, has set as its goal an Electronic Product Code (EPC), an RFID label capable of replacing the optical barcodes on goods in supermarkets. PolyIC has become a member of EPCglobal – a global organization dedicated to...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-08-14, Bio – Sense or Nonsense
...F’s estimates, the current consumption of bioplastics worldwide is max. 80,000 t. Other estimates come up with a figure of 200,000 t. Even with this higher figure for consumption, the amount of corn needed – in the form of starch and PLA (polylactic acid) – for bioplastics amounts to less than 0.1% of the amount of corn grown worldwide – which is about 700 million t. Biodegradable versus Bio-based As a result of the growing interest in renewable resources and the omnipresent term “bio”, ...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-09-23, Intelligent Energy Saving with Little Helpers
...ials are required and developed for a wide variety of applications. In many cases, these layers have to meet demands such as flexibility, transparency and ease of processing. These requirements can generally be excellently fulfilled by using organic polymer films. If it is necessary to integrate inorganic particles into these thin polymer layers, this can be accomplished through the use of nanoparticles. As a result of developments in the synthesis of nanoscale materials, a diverse range of nano...

Kunststoffe international, 2009-04-16, CMOS Technology Gaining Ground
...es the potential for using OFETs in flexible, large-area electronic applications, such as radio labels (RFID tags), smart cards, displays and sensors. If materials are used for OFETs that are soluble in organic solvents, such as is the case with the polymers considered here, OFETs and integrated organic circuits could be produced quickly and in high volumes using modern roll-to-roll processes like printing [1]. Since the performance of organic electronics is significantly inferior to the possibi...

Kunststoffe international, 2009-04-16, Energy from the Environment
...itive advantage. Potential initial applications for organic solar cells could be power supplies for small mobile devices and energy-autarkic microsystems. Organic Solar Cells Organic solar cell and plastic solar cell are synonyms for a novel type of polymer-based solar cell. Instead of using an inorganic semiconductor or a semiconductor compound, such as silicon or cadmium telluride, organic solar cells use semiconductors based on carbon compounds (organic semiconductors) for the light-absorbing...

Kunststoffe international, 2009-10-14, For the Third Industrial Revolution
...ork, they still cannot be regarded as good. Changes in the material – especially on the surface – and also anisotropy are still the order of the day. The range of materials processed has increased and now includes high-performance materials too (polyetherether ketone processed on systems from EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems, Krailling, Germany; polyphenylene sulfone processed on systems from Stratasys, Inc., Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA). Compared with traditional construction materials, howeve...

Kunststoffe international, 2009-10-14, Shape Memory Effect in Polymer Compounds
...e as a reinforcing material in composites [1, 2], to achieve electrical conductivity [3, 4] and antibacterial treatment of materials [5, 6]. The present article describes the use of nanoparticles for triggering the switching effect in shape memory polymers, which can be used both for technical applications and in the medical sector. Shape memory materials can change their shape when exposed to a suitable stimulus [7 to 9]. A schematic diagram showing the principle of shape memory functionality c...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-03-17, Lighter than Steel
Hybrid technology combines the strengths of plastic and metals such as steel and aluminum. The metals contribute a high elastic modulus, high strength and ductile behavior. The main plastics used are polyamide 6 grades (PA 6) because they are dynamically very strong and have good impact resistance at high and low temperatures. A hybrid component is produced in one operation. First of all, as a rule, several thin-walled, deep-drawn metal profiles are placed overlapping in the injection mold and t...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-04-20, Invisible Helpers
...eas where conventional (inorganic) electronics have had limited or no access. Thanks to printed electronics, new developments are emerging, for example in applications such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags [2], displays and solar cells. PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG, a joint venture between Siemens AG and Leonhard Kurz Stiftung & Co. KG, headquartered in Fürth, Germany, is an industry leader in the development of printed electronics. The principle of printed electronics involves usin...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-09-24, Two Centuries of Polyolefins
There is just cause for discussion on the hour of birth of the polyolefins. While it is clear in retrospect today that the “polymethylene” produced for the first time in Germany in 1897 by the decomposition of diazomethane [1] already had a polymer character, its structure – and also the possibilities offered by the new substance – were unclear to the discoverers. It was not until 1920 when Staudinger formulated his famous hypothesis on the existence of macromolecules [1] that the nature of innu...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-04-25, Flame Retardants: Restricted Boom
...his reason, the plastics processing and flame retardants industries have been conducting extensive research on phosphorus-based, nitrogen-based and inorganic (sometimes synergistically acting) flame retardant systems – as well as on brominated polymeric flame retardants. Many new developments have recently reached market readiness and been introduced at conferences and trade fairs, such as K2010 in Düsseldorf, Germany. In short, a lot has been done and there is much to report. Latest Development...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-05-12, Modification of Polylactide for Technical Applications
In addition to the already established packaging sector, there is also growing interest in biopolymers for technical applications. Drivers for the plastics industry to replace oil-based with bio-based polymers, particularly in compounds for technical durables, are limiting the dependence on petrochemical raw materials and reduction of the carbon footprint. Against this background, this research work is particularly focused on optimizing the injection molding process for polylactides (PLA), and o...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-06-20, Interaction with the User
The idea of printing electronic circuits as easily as printing a newspaper is increasingly fascinating both research teams and the manufacturing industry. Now that plastic-based organic semiconductors and organic conductors, known as “functional polymers”, are industrially available, novel devices, production processes and therefore also innovative new applications are feasible. It is thus possible to combine electronics with almost any industrial product, since printed electronics are produced ...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-10-17, Bioplastics
... a year now, they have been transforming bioethanol (fuel) from sugar cane into bioethylene on an industrial scale, thereby turning it into a platform for numerous recyclable plastics. The infrastructure for recycling PET or polyolefins, such as PE, has become established to a meaningful degree in many countries of the world. Whether biogenic or fossil versions are recycled is technologically irrelevant, since they are 100 % compatible. Ecology and, more recently, resource politics regard recycl...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-04-20, Coloring Cellulose Fiber-Reinforced Polypropylene
...bout sustainability and depletion of resources [1, 2]. Compression molding of natural fibercontaining materials has been a well-accepted process in the automobile industry for some years. Compression molded thermoplastic parts based on natural fiber/polypropylene fiber nonwovens in particular e.g. as the backing component for door trim panels. Generally, however, the surface quality of compression molded parts is not satisfactory for direct use in appearance applications in the automobile. For t...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-06-25, Technology and Nature Combined?
As an ecofriendly alternative to fossil raw materials and also for marketing reasons, companies are increasingly using renewable resources to produce plastics and composites based on them. Polymers made from biogenic raw materials have now become established on the market and are available in quite large quantities. In 2011, the quantity of biopolymers produced worldwide totaled 1.4 million tonnes [1]. Similarly, the use of wood and natural fibers in the industrial sector is also growing. In 201...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-10-15, Conductive, Transparent, Flexible
Flexible, optically transparent films are required for applications such as displays, ultra-thin heating elements, and operating controls in automobiles. They must have a coating that possesses the maximum-possible electrical conductivity. Nowadays, polyester-based plastic films coated with indium tin oxide (ITO) are often used, but these are technically difficult and expensive to structure prior to use [1]. The limited conductivity and relative fragility of ITO renders it less suitable for appl...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-10-15, Replacing Metal and Paint
In an exclusive interview for Kunststoffe Magazine, Holger Kronimus, general manager engineered materials and vice president Europe at PolyOne, and Christoph Palm, general manager color & additives Europe at PolyOne, spoke respectively about metal replacement and paint replacement. Kunststoffe: Mr. Kronimus, metal is a tried-and-trusted material. Why should a manufacturer consider replacing it with a polymer solution? Kronimus: Metal replacement is closely aligned with some of the mega-trend...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-11-26, Demands and Innovations
...z/Switzerland, has built a new plant in Hürth-Knapsack due to the great success of the Exolit OP range with metal phosphinates as an alternative to brominated flame retardants in engineering plastics, such as glassfiber-reinforced polyamides (PA) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT); this plant is scheduled to go into production this fall and will double the existing Exolit OP capacities. Parallel to that, Clariant has developed a new family of flame retardants for thermoset plastics application...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-01-28, An Operating Panel with Touch-Sensitive Keys in One Shot
...le shot thanks to two different film types – a decorative film and a transparent conductive touch film – and a process that combines IMD (in-mold decoration) with IML (in-mold labeling). The touch-sensitive films marketed by the manufacturer PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG, Fürth, Germany, under the tradename PolyTC, are produced as single labels (IML). The decorative film (IMD) comes from an endless film, which is provided with individual images by a special printing process and is fed intermittently ...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-02-22, Absorbable Spinal Implants
...e are complications at the place where the bone is removed resulting in an increase in the overall time taken for the operation. There are alternative inserts made from various materials such as titanium, carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) or polyether ether ketones (PEEK). After three to six months these are ossified and remain in the body as permanent implants. The stiffnesses of the materials previously used for these inserts are far below those of vertebrae so that strain induced bone l...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-02-22, Is the Future of Plastics “Green”?
At the start of the 20th century, all plastics were biobased. Naturally occurring biopolymers, which are generally infusible and un-moldable, have to be chemically modified and treated in order to be processed. The first plastic, galalite, was produced from the milk protein casein by crosslinking with formaldehyde. The name is derived from the Greek words gala (milk) and lithos (stone). Prominent examples of biobased polymers include modified celluloses such as nitrocellulose (celluloid and park...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-05-16, Rapid Aging Prevented
...not often referred to as such) is that of halogen-free flame retardants based on inorganic compounds (e.g., aluminum hydroxide, boehmite and magnesium hydroxide), as well as those containing organic moieties (such as melamine cyanurate and melamine (poly)phosphate). The negative side of the fillers manifests itself, however, in the influence which they exert on the (photo)oxidative stability of a polymer formulation. Negative Influence On Stability Most polymers, like all organic materials, are ...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-03-21, Novel Material Concepts: Sustainability and Design
...l, Bond-Laminates, SeaTcon AG and SedisTec UG, both in Wendlingen, Germany, as well as Maier Formenbau GmbH, Bissingen. The high-performance composite Tepex dynalite 102-RG600(2)/47 %-1.0 mm has a thermoplastic matrix based on polyamide 6 reinforced with 47 vol. % continuous glass fibers in the form of two fabric layers. To produce the seat shell, the composite laminate sheet is heated, positioned in an injection mold, formed and then overmolded directly with short glass fiber-filled polyamide 6...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-10-10, Polycarbonate (PC)
Compared with the previous year, global sales of polycarbonate in 2013 remained practically unchanged at 3.62 million t. At the end of 2013, sales picked up and also increased during the first two quarters of this year, so that the outlook is good for 2014. In the medium term, a worldwide growth of 5 to 6 % is expected for the PC market. Capacities are being expanded mainly in China. The strengths of PC are excellent optical properties such as glasslike transparency and a high refractive index, ...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-09-18, Infrared Cameras Become Intelligent
... tolerance compensation system.The infrared image processing system offers the possibility to define an infinite number of evaluation points and functions for temperature measurements. The linear analysis areas can be arbitrarily curved (poly-lines) to meet the requirements of complex radiation and/or welding zone geometries.This fulfils the essential requirement of allowing the sometimes complex structures of the infrared emitters to be fully monitored in the welding system. If, however, their ...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-10-17, Bioplastics
...ves do not compete with each other. Therefore, the umbrella term "bioplastics" appears highly artificial and easily causes confusion. Yet both properties are extremely meaningful. Bio-Based PlasticsIn reference to production capacity and the market, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is probably the leading representative of defined polymers with a bio-based share of 30 %. The nova-Institute has been publishing expert data on the development of worldwide production capacities regarding bioplastics...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-10-17, Fluoropolymers
The importance of fluoropolymers will continue to increase in the coming years. With an average global growth rate of around 4.5 %, fluorothermoplastics in particular will be the driving force in new applications. Megatrends are leading to an increase in the demand for fluoropolymers. At the end of their life cycle, the plastics can now be chemically recycled on a large scale using the Up-Cycling process. The most important source of raw materials for all fluoropolymers is fluorspar (CaF₂). The ...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-10-17, Reactive Systems and Fiber-Reinforced Composites
Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers continue to grow at double-digit rates. Polyurethane is the multitalented newcomer among these materials. Economic mass production makes innovative pultrusion methods very impressive. Interest in technologies with a low environmental impact is growing all around the world, ensuring that fiber-reinforced polymers continue to enjoy global growth [1, 2]. The wind-energy market has grown annually by more than 15 % in recent years, albeit mainly outside Europe [3]. Fu...

Kunststoffe international, 2017-05-22, Decor and Function on One Film
...anufacturing parameters on the electrical resistance of the printed circuit structure,correlation between layout design and electric signal strengths for capacitive buttons,creation of translucent switch surfaces based on electrically conducting polymers (e. g. poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, PEDOT),prevention of surface marking on the visible side due to circuit tracks, andcontacting of the electronics.With series production in mind, great attention was also placed on stable processes right f...

Kunststoffe international, 2017-10-13, Polyetheretherketones (PEEK)
Many companies constantly need to make crucial decisions on materials. Are the outcomes they are looking to achieve being met by traditional metals, or should they investigate new high-performance materials? PEEK polymers are increasingly recognized as a dynamic driver for efficient applications. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), one of more than 300 members of the high-performance polyaryletherketone (PAEK) family, is located at the top of the polymer pyramid. Only a handful of these PAEK polymers ...

Kunststoffe international, 2019-09-17, Co-Extrusion with Thermal Control
New polymer composites for the production of multi-layer small tubes are being developed to give products specific functions. With suitable co-extrusion dies and a thermal barrier option, even complex layer composites with melt temperature differences of more than 50 °C can be processed reliably and in high quality. The demands on 3 to 50 mm small tubes are becoming increasingly complex. In addition to temperature and chemical resistance or electrical conductivity, new developments are concentra...

Kunststoffe international, 2019-12-18, Electromobility and a Concept Vehicle
...s in conventional cars with combustion engines. For this reason, automakers protect the battery packs with special underbody shields and other safety devices such as e. g. side skirts. At the K, Sabic from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, presented the polyester-based material Xenoy HTX for such skirts. The material originates from the company’s Xenoy series, and is available as unreinforced and glass fiber-reinforced version. In order to demonstrate the material’s performance, the company showed the 3D-pr...

Kunststoffe international, 2020-02-12, Automotive Components Made of Packaging
...n high demand, including the automotive industry. Previously, component suppliers had reservations about using recyclates in safety-related areas, because mechanical properties varied too widely. Now, materials producer JSP has developed an expanded polypropylene with 25 % recyclate content precisely for these application areas. But to ensure high quality, close cooperation with the recycling company is essential. Driven by EU regulations and own sustainability programs, European automakers are ...

Kunststoffe international, 2020-04-08, Custom Implants from the 3D Printer
...ant that plastics often offer a more convincing alternative to metals. This paradigm change is now also emerging in medical field: innovative specialty materials and new technical possibilities in additive manufacturing are taking high-performance polymers to new heights. Polymers have a long tradition in implants: ultra-crosslinked polyethylene is routinely used in artificial knees and hips as a tribological partner with metal or ceramics. The high-performance polymer PEEK (polyether ether keto...

Kunststoffe international, 2020-04-08, New Possibilities for Use in the Human Body
...tice, the APF (Arburg Plastic Freeforming) process now permits even challenging medtech applications that are not feasible by any other process. Thus, implant plates of the resorbable, FDA-approved original material Resomer LR 706 – a composite of poly(L-lactide-co-D,L-lactide) and β-TCP (manufacturer: Evonik Nutrition & Care GmbH, Essen, Germany) – can be manufactured, which can be used directly in the body on bone fractures (Title figure). The polymer composite imitates human bone and contains...

Kunststoffe international, 2020-05-05, Can One Material Be Enough?
... the involved materials. However, many currently popular packaging structures are not designed for recycling. Packaging for consumer goods such as detergents, coffee and meat generally consists of several types of material such as linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), LDPE (low density PE ), HDPE (high density PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly‧amide (PA), ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) and aluminium. These materials are combined in multiple layers to pro...

eMagazine "Journal of Plastics Technology", 2008-11-03, Dispersion of carbon nanotubes inpoly(ether ether ketone) and its effects on rheological and electrical properties
A range of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) reinforced high temperature semi-crystalline poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK) were prepared by melt compounding process. The composites with high degree of nanotube dispersion show nearly five orders of magnitude increase in storage modulus and an abrupt increase of ten orders magnitude in electrical conductivity by adding only 2 wt% of nanotubes. Additionally, both the melt strength and the elongational visc...

eMagazine "Journal of Plastics Technology", 2016-09-01, Investigations on microthermoforming poly-carbonate films and their integration in the injection molding process
...ostructured parts. These are characterized by thin-walled microstructures that have a planar distribution and are connected with three-dimensional, functional elements. Investigations into this new processing technology show that forming 50 μm thin polycarbonate (PC) films in microstructures can be feasibly reproduced and that their attainable draw ratios correlate with the processing temperature and pressure. The highest draw ratios were achieved at film temperatures around the glass transition...

eMagazine "Journal of Plastics Technology", 2019-09-01, The effect of nanoparticle content and size on the morphology and crystallization behavior of poly(lactic acid)/silica nanocomposites
Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/silica nanocomposites with different filler loading and two different primary particle size of the filler were prepared by using a twin-screw extruder followed by injection molding. Morphological investigations showed, depending on the filler size and filler content, good dispersion with average agglomerate sizes of 38-60 nm. The spherulite growth and crystallization behavior of the nanocomposites discovers that smaller particles and a low filler loading leads to the fast...