June 2003
In addition, Atofina has announced the forthcoming launch of a new grade in its Durastrength® 400 series of acrylate-based speciality impact modifiers for engineering polymers. The new product is intended for use in injection-moulded polyethylene terephthalate for automotive parts such as roof racks. Contact: Atofina, 4-8, cours Michelet, La Défense 10, 92091 Paris La Défense Cedex France; tel: +33-1-4900-8080; fax: +33-1-4900-8396; e-mail:
[email protected]; URL: www.atofina.com
Bayer develops DMPP flame retardant for PU foams Bayer’s latest flame retardant offering is a phosphorus-based halogen-free material that provides protection at half the loading of comparable products. It is targeted at rigid polyurethane and polyisocyanourate foams, for applications such as building insulation. It can also be used with other thermosets. Levagard DMPP’s active ingredient is dimethylpropyl phosphonate, which has a relatively high phosphorus content of 20.3%. This accounts for its greater efficiency compared to similar flame retardants, says Bayer. In tests carried out by the company, the amount of Levagard DMPP required to impart B2 flame retardancy in PU foam was less than half that for other phosphorus-based flame retardants, such as TEP (triethyl phosphate) or TCPP (tris-(chloroisopropyl) phosphate). Bayer acknowledges that the new product will cost at least twice as much as TCPP, but says that its greater efficiency and improved performance will offset this. As Levagard DMPP is halogen-free it does not require toxicity labelling. Contact: Bayer AG, Werk Leverkusen, D-51368 Leverkusen, Germany; tel: +49-21-335123788; fax: +49-21-3351-23323
BASF’s new blue minimizes warp in injection-moulded parts Phthalocyanine pigments typically have excellent colour fastness but adversely affect the dimensional stability of injection-moulded parts made of polyolefins. To overcome this problem BASF has developed a ‘low warping’ (LW) phthalocyanine pigment, Heliogen® Blue K
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Additives for Polymers
7104 LW. Unlike its predecessors, the new blue demonstrates the minimal warping normally associated with inorganic blue pigments. According to BASF, injection-moulded parts such as bottle crates and bottle caps coloured with Heliogen Blue K 7104 LW retain their shape perfectly. The new pigment also offers high colour strength and easy dispersion. A further advantage is its stability during processing: it is claimed to be insensitive to changes in injection moulding conditions and to shear. BASF says that Heliogen Blue K 7104 LW has received all the essential food and drugs approvals, and can thus be used in all applications that come into contact with foodstuffs. In related news, BASF revealed at the recent Antec 2003 meeting in Nashville that it has developed a prototype product called NanoColorants, which is said to combine the advantageous properties of dyes and pigments. NanoColorants are dyestuffs that are treated to what BASF terms a ‘mini-emulsion polymerization process’; this imparts a narrow, monomodal particle size distribution while retaining the characteristic excellent colour properties of the dye. According to a report from PRW.com, the most suitable dyes for treatment via this process are solvent and disperse dyes with blue, yellow, red and orange shade, and high monomer solubility. Most of the NanoColorants prepared are reported to have exhibited a high migration fastness – an important criterion for classification as a pigment – in various media, including plastics, paints, inks and cosmetics. Contact: BASF AG, D-67065 Ludwigshafen, Germany; tel: +49-621-60-0; fax: +49-621-6042525; e-mail:
[email protected]; URL: www.basf.com/pigment
Crompton presents two vinyl additives Crompton Corp of Middlebury, CT, has introduced two new vinyl additives for use in the manufacture of PVC pipes and window profiles. Mark® 2910 Self-Lubricating Pipe Stabilizer is a liquid stabilizer/lubricant that eliminates the need to use paraffin wax as a lubricant in PVC pipe
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