- Email: [email protected]
Cytec accelerates development of light stabilizers range
MATERIALS Continued from Page 1...
BayerMaterial Science and Hyperion [see ADPO, March 2009], is also developing a new specific masterbatch Graphistrength C E1-20 in a fluorinated elastomer matrix. According to Arkema, this will result in materials that combine remarkable ESD and mechanical properties for low CNT concentrations. Arkema has also revamped its www.graphistrength.com website dedicated to its CNT product range. The website provides comprehensive information on its commercial CNT powder and masterbatch range, current R&D projects and partnerships in this area. It has also opted for a fully transparent communication policy by posting on line all available validated information on matters of hygiene, health and the environment. Contact: Arkema Inc, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Tel: +1 215 419 7000 Web: www.arkema-inc.com Or contact: Arkema, Colombes Cedex, France. Tel: +33 1 4900 8080, Web: www.arkema.com
MATERIALS Applied NanoWorks unveils boron-based flame retardant
I
norganic materials development company Applied NanoWorks (ANW), based in Malta, NY, USA, has
launched FlexB™, a boron-based, non-halogenated flame retardant additive for nylon, epoxies and water-based coatings. Material testing is reported to have achieved UL-94 V-0 ratings with FlexB loading levels as low as 3%.
According to ANW business development manager Josh Kunkel, FlexB is targeted at high-performance materials where traditional, high flame retardant load levels negatively affect weight, strength and other physical attributes. Moreover, with increasingly stringent government regulation and consumer demand for more environmentally friendly materials, the plastics and coatings industries are seeking non-halogenated low-load fire retardants. In many applications, halogenated flame retardant additives are just not an option anymore, Kunkel notes. ‘FlexB addresses the industry need for non-halogenated flame resistance while keeping polymer performance at optimized levels’, he says.
2
Additives for Polymers
Engineering plastics, commonly used in automotive and electrical applications, must often meet UL-94 V-0 flammability ratings. Many current flame retardant additives require loading levels as high as 20–30% to meet this standard, impacting the processability, rheology and mechanical properties of the material. The ability of the FlexB additive to achieve UL-94 V-0 ratings at load levels as low as 3% provides flexibility in material performance and selection, the company says. Kyle Litz, chief technology officer at ANW, reports that FlexB™ has shown flame retardancy up to ten times greater than traditional flame retardant additives. ‘This increase is due to the ability of FlexB to bind into the backbone of the polymer, providing four levels of protection: off-gassing, water production, charring and thermal shielding. This is a significant advancement over current flame retardant additives that are simply mixed in with the polymer’, Litz says. The FlexB additive was developed using ANW’s patentpending MCP Technology™ process, which ‘creates new inorganic molecules for custom applications in organic material systems’. The flexibility and organic compatibility of the designed molecules are enabled through ligand attachment sites and nanoparticle growth capabilities, the company explains. According to Litz, the MCP (molecular control platform) technology has the potential to work with 57 different inorganic elements to create thousands of new molecules, designed to deliver specific functionalities to organic material systems. ‘With it we have the tool to solve many material system application problems that before were extremely cumbersome or unattainable’, he says. Alongside non-halogenated flame retardants, applications currently in development include various tailored catalysts, an advanced bonding agent and an adhesion promoter for composites. Contact: Applied NanoWorks Inc, 10 Hermes Rd, Malta, NY 12020, USA. Tel: +1 518 899 9600, Fax: +1 518 899 9605, Web: www. appliednanoworks.com
Cytec accelerates development of light stabilizers range
T
he Polymer Additives Group of New Jersey-based Cytec Industries Inc has announced that it is
accelerating the expansion of its Cyasorb Cynergy
April 2009
MATERIALS
Solutions™ range of light stabilizer products. Products for the automotive, construction, coatings and agricultural film markets will now be available starting in 2009, the company says.
The Cyasorb Cynergy Solutions range was launched last year [ADPO, July 2008]. According to John Wang, VP, Cytec Additive Technologies, the company has developed the range using its ‘innovative technologies, stabilization expertise and in-depth knowledge of applications’. The products have been designed to be cost effective while providing excellent performance, he says. ‘They will shorten new product development time for our customers, reducing both development and formulation costs. In the current economic environment, these are especially important benefits for the market’, concludes Wang. ‘Many companies have undergone painful staff reductions and are now also faced with rigorous cost reduction programmes. We are offering our expertise to help customers identify the most cost-effective solutions to their stabilization challenges’, adds Domenico Romanino, global sales and marketing director, Cytec Polymer Additives. In addition, the company’s stateof-the-art Stabilization Laboratories, in Stamford, CT, USA, are available to validate the performance of the recommendations. Cytec says that it continues to support and accelerate the new product development efforts of its customers.
stable in melt processing, has consistent flow properties and maintains a positive environmental profile. PURAC and AkzoNobel believe that their strategic partnership broadens the applications for PLA in the growing biopolymer market. Both companies anticipate a very strong development in the usage of PLA as material properties are further enhanced and the availability of PLA is increased. The new PURAC– AkzoNobel technology is exclusively available to PURAC lactide partners. Contact: AkzoNobel Polymer Chemicals LLC, Chicago, IL, USA. Tel: +1 312 544 7000, Web: www.akzonobel.com/polymer Or contact: PURAC biochem, Arkelsedijk 46, PO Box 21, 4200 AA Gorinchem, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 183 695 695, Fax: +31 183 695 600, Web: www.purac.com
New Colour Index for BASF orange pigment
B
ASF has developed a new brilliant orange pigment that has been listed in the internationally
recognized Colour Index (CI) as Pigment Orange 82. BASF will market the inorganic orange pigment under the trade name Sicopal® Orange K 2430 for plastics applications and Sicopal Orange L 2430 for coatings applications.
Contact: Cytec Industries Inc, West Paterson, NJ, USA. Tel: +1 973 357 3100, Web: www.cytec.com
PURAC and AkzoNobel develop additives for PLA
N
etherlands-based lactic acid specialist PURAC has collaborated with AkzoNobel on the develop-
ment of additives for the production of polylactic acid (PLA). The organic peroxide additives play an important role in controlling the polymerization by which PLA can be processed conveniently in standard, commercial polymer processing equipment.
Under the new process, AkzoNobel’s organic peroxides selectively switch off polymerization catalysts, improving the quality and stability of the PLA polymer, the partners explain. The resulting PLA is more
April 2009
With its colour strength and its colouristic properties, Sicopal Orange ‘expands the colour space of inorganic pigments’, BASF says. The pigment has high hiding power, is resistant to chemicals and weathering, and is stable to heat, the company reports. According to BASF, this ‘excellent technical profile’ makes Sicopal Orange suitable for a wide range of applications in the coatings and plastics industries. Uses range from alkaline silicate/silicone plaster finishes to colour matching systems, and from powder and coil coating formulations to plastics such as polyolefins for film packaging and polyamide for fibre and injection moulding applications. The Colour Index is published by the British Society of Dyers and Colorists and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colourists and is regarded as the standard work in the field of pigment and dye chemistry. The condition for inclusion of a colorant in the Colour Index is that it is registered with a new
Additives for Polymers
3
BayerMaterial Science and Hyperion [see ADPO, March 2009], is also developing a new specific masterbatch Graphistrength C E1-20 in a fluorinated elastomer matrix. According to Arkema, this will result in materials that combine remarkable ESD and mechanical properties for low CNT concentrations. Arkema has also revamped its www.graphistrength.com website dedicated to its CNT product range. The website provides comprehensive information on its commercial CNT powder and masterbatch range, current R&D projects and partnerships in this area. It has also opted for a fully transparent communication policy by posting on line all available validated information on matters of hygiene, health and the environment. Contact: Arkema Inc, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Tel: +1 215 419 7000 Web: www.arkema-inc.com Or contact: Arkema, Colombes Cedex, France. Tel: +33 1 4900 8080, Web: www.arkema.com
MATERIALS Applied NanoWorks unveils boron-based flame retardant
I
norganic materials development company Applied NanoWorks (ANW), based in Malta, NY, USA, has
launched FlexB™, a boron-based, non-halogenated flame retardant additive for nylon, epoxies and water-based coatings. Material testing is reported to have achieved UL-94 V-0 ratings with FlexB loading levels as low as 3%.
According to ANW business development manager Josh Kunkel, FlexB is targeted at high-performance materials where traditional, high flame retardant load levels negatively affect weight, strength and other physical attributes. Moreover, with increasingly stringent government regulation and consumer demand for more environmentally friendly materials, the plastics and coatings industries are seeking non-halogenated low-load fire retardants. In many applications, halogenated flame retardant additives are just not an option anymore, Kunkel notes. ‘FlexB addresses the industry need for non-halogenated flame resistance while keeping polymer performance at optimized levels’, he says.
2
Additives for Polymers
Engineering plastics, commonly used in automotive and electrical applications, must often meet UL-94 V-0 flammability ratings. Many current flame retardant additives require loading levels as high as 20–30% to meet this standard, impacting the processability, rheology and mechanical properties of the material. The ability of the FlexB additive to achieve UL-94 V-0 ratings at load levels as low as 3% provides flexibility in material performance and selection, the company says. Kyle Litz, chief technology officer at ANW, reports that FlexB™ has shown flame retardancy up to ten times greater than traditional flame retardant additives. ‘This increase is due to the ability of FlexB to bind into the backbone of the polymer, providing four levels of protection: off-gassing, water production, charring and thermal shielding. This is a significant advancement over current flame retardant additives that are simply mixed in with the polymer’, Litz says. The FlexB additive was developed using ANW’s patentpending MCP Technology™ process, which ‘creates new inorganic molecules for custom applications in organic material systems’. The flexibility and organic compatibility of the designed molecules are enabled through ligand attachment sites and nanoparticle growth capabilities, the company explains. According to Litz, the MCP (molecular control platform) technology has the potential to work with 57 different inorganic elements to create thousands of new molecules, designed to deliver specific functionalities to organic material systems. ‘With it we have the tool to solve many material system application problems that before were extremely cumbersome or unattainable’, he says. Alongside non-halogenated flame retardants, applications currently in development include various tailored catalysts, an advanced bonding agent and an adhesion promoter for composites. Contact: Applied NanoWorks Inc, 10 Hermes Rd, Malta, NY 12020, USA. Tel: +1 518 899 9600, Fax: +1 518 899 9605, Web: www. appliednanoworks.com
Cytec accelerates development of light stabilizers range
T
he Polymer Additives Group of New Jersey-based Cytec Industries Inc has announced that it is
accelerating the expansion of its Cyasorb Cynergy
April 2009
MATERIALS
Solutions™ range of light stabilizer products. Products for the automotive, construction, coatings and agricultural film markets will now be available starting in 2009, the company says.
The Cyasorb Cynergy Solutions range was launched last year [ADPO, July 2008]. According to John Wang, VP, Cytec Additive Technologies, the company has developed the range using its ‘innovative technologies, stabilization expertise and in-depth knowledge of applications’. The products have been designed to be cost effective while providing excellent performance, he says. ‘They will shorten new product development time for our customers, reducing both development and formulation costs. In the current economic environment, these are especially important benefits for the market’, concludes Wang. ‘Many companies have undergone painful staff reductions and are now also faced with rigorous cost reduction programmes. We are offering our expertise to help customers identify the most cost-effective solutions to their stabilization challenges’, adds Domenico Romanino, global sales and marketing director, Cytec Polymer Additives. In addition, the company’s stateof-the-art Stabilization Laboratories, in Stamford, CT, USA, are available to validate the performance of the recommendations. Cytec says that it continues to support and accelerate the new product development efforts of its customers.
stable in melt processing, has consistent flow properties and maintains a positive environmental profile. PURAC and AkzoNobel believe that their strategic partnership broadens the applications for PLA in the growing biopolymer market. Both companies anticipate a very strong development in the usage of PLA as material properties are further enhanced and the availability of PLA is increased. The new PURAC– AkzoNobel technology is exclusively available to PURAC lactide partners. Contact: AkzoNobel Polymer Chemicals LLC, Chicago, IL, USA. Tel: +1 312 544 7000, Web: www.akzonobel.com/polymer Or contact: PURAC biochem, Arkelsedijk 46, PO Box 21, 4200 AA Gorinchem, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 183 695 695, Fax: +31 183 695 600, Web: www.purac.com
New Colour Index for BASF orange pigment
B
ASF has developed a new brilliant orange pigment that has been listed in the internationally
recognized Colour Index (CI) as Pigment Orange 82. BASF will market the inorganic orange pigment under the trade name Sicopal® Orange K 2430 for plastics applications and Sicopal Orange L 2430 for coatings applications.
Contact: Cytec Industries Inc, West Paterson, NJ, USA. Tel: +1 973 357 3100, Web: www.cytec.com
PURAC and AkzoNobel develop additives for PLA
N
etherlands-based lactic acid specialist PURAC has collaborated with AkzoNobel on the develop-
ment of additives for the production of polylactic acid (PLA). The organic peroxide additives play an important role in controlling the polymerization by which PLA can be processed conveniently in standard, commercial polymer processing equipment.
Under the new process, AkzoNobel’s organic peroxides selectively switch off polymerization catalysts, improving the quality and stability of the PLA polymer, the partners explain. The resulting PLA is more
April 2009
With its colour strength and its colouristic properties, Sicopal Orange ‘expands the colour space of inorganic pigments’, BASF says. The pigment has high hiding power, is resistant to chemicals and weathering, and is stable to heat, the company reports. According to BASF, this ‘excellent technical profile’ makes Sicopal Orange suitable for a wide range of applications in the coatings and plastics industries. Uses range from alkaline silicate/silicone plaster finishes to colour matching systems, and from powder and coil coating formulations to plastics such as polyolefins for film packaging and polyamide for fibre and injection moulding applications. The Colour Index is published by the British Society of Dyers and Colorists and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colourists and is regarded as the standard work in the field of pigment and dye chemistry. The condition for inclusion of a colorant in the Colour Index is that it is registered with a new
Additives for Polymers
3