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Mould release leaves no residue Axel Plastics Research Laboratories says its latest internal mould release for polyester bulk and sheet moulding compound (BMC/SMC) leaves no surface residue. MoldWiz® INT-4082 is designed for use in place of zinc stearate internal mould
release agents, which are traditionally used in BMC/SMC mouldings. According to Axel, INT-4082 performs at least as well as zinc stearate but will not leave a residue after moulding, which is often the case with zinc stearate. Supplied as a powder, the release agent is loaded at lower levels than zinc stearate. Axel says it expects the product to be of particular use to automotive applicaMoldWiz INT-1292VP is designed specifically tions requiring for low-VOC gel-coats. a non-fogging
internal mould release that will not interfere with secondary processing. The company has also recently introduced an internal mould release designed specifically for use with low volatile organic compound (VOC) gel-coats. MoldWiz INT-1292VP is claimed to overcome the processing problems normally associated with low-VOC products. “Low VOC gelcoats can pose a number of processing difficulties,” says Nancy Teufel, Axel's technical support manager. “These low styrene resins typically don't flow, or wet the surface as nicely as regular gel-coats. Less styrene can also mean
Ciba launches colour match software
Agents give permanent static dissipation
Ciba Specialty Chemicals has introduced a new colour matching system for plastics, inks and paints. The software package combines the Ciba® COLIBRI™ QuickMatch 1.1 recipe formulation system, Ciba Colibri QC 1.0 quality control software and Ciba Colibri Library Services. According to Ciba, the system provides easy, efficient recipe formulation of opaque, translucent and transparent colours. It is tailored for a number of applications including plastics, coatings, inks and spun fibres. Integrated colour catalogues and libraries are said to ensure a fast start-up and the
Pelestat additives from Tomen America are now available for applications requiring permanent static dissipation throughout the lifetime of a polymer matrix. Pelestat works by forming a conductive polymer matrix within the host thermoplastic. Unlike chemical anti-static agents that migrate or bloom to the surface of a part, Pelestat cannot wear or wash off, says the company. The agents are supplied in various thermoplastic systems including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC)/ABS alloy, polystyrene (PS), polyoxymethylene (POM), polyamide (PA), polybutylene terephthalate
software has an integrated expert system. QuickMatch 1.1 can be used to support a large number of spectrophotometers and is available in seven languages. Users can edit the parameters of the expert system and preselect pigments as required. The QC 1.0 quality control system provides classical full shade, white reduction and transparency measurements with the option of quality testing. Library Services enables users to extend the built-in libraries and/or to build new ones for their own systems. Contact: Ciba Specialty Chemicals website: www.cibasc.com/colibri
Plastics Additives & Compounding November/December 2003
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that these resins are slower to gel. Semi-permanent releases can generally tolerate the increased chemical exposure of longer gel times, but these release systems are customarily quite slick, further aggravating the poor wetting properties of the low VOC gel-coat. This is where a product like INT1292VP can be a real asset. Incorporation of this mould release in a low VOC gel-coat can significantly improve the ability of the gel-coat to wet out on moulds.” Contact: Axel Plastics Research Laboratory Tel: +1 718 672 8300 E-mail:
[email protected] Website: www.axelplast.com
(PBT) and polyolefins. In addition, agents can be tailored to suit specific resin grades. Static dissipation is said to be achieved at no expense to the polymer’s mechanical properties. It even has no effect on brightly coloured resin, says the company. The agents are non-corroding with minimal off-gassing. According to Tomen, they have the lowest chloride content of any commercially available anti-static agent. Contact: Tomen America Inc Tel: +1 212 397 5483 E-mail:
[email protected] Website: www.pelestat.com