Additives for Polymers
1868, 501 Avery Street, Parkersburg, WV26102-1868, USA; tel +I-304 424 5698
New additive allows lasermarking on PBTs A specially-developed additive for laser marking has enabled Huls to introduce a modified polybutylene terephthalate compound in its Vestodur range which can accept up to 250 000 items of laser-inscribed information per square cm of moulded product surface. When marked using an Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm), the additive achieves contrast values of over 3, producing sharp dark marking giving high information density on most light-coloured plastics, irrespective of pigmentation. The PBT material has for years been used for production of laser-marked keyboards, giving high contrast value even after frictional loading of several million cycles, and exposure to the effect of perspiration from the hands, and to cosmetics and cleaning agents. The technology can equally be applied to polyamides Trogamid and Vestamid and polyphenylene ether Vestoran. Contact: Hiils AG, D-45744 Marl, Germany; tel: +49-2365 492 939; fmc: +49-2365 494 I76
To make fuel systems safer, US firms are turning to fibrils Faced with the need to make automotive fuel systems electrically conductive, US manufacturers are turning to fibrils such as graphite, to add to the plastics compounds used, reports Functional Filler and Fiber Markets. A key supplier is Hyperion Catalysis International, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which manufacturers a range of patented products. The price, however, is quoted at $30-40 per pound - over twice that of carbon fibre - but conductivity is efficient, a small addition 4
January 1997
only is needed and properties of the matrix polymer compound are not impaired. The German Huls Group has also developed fibril-filled polyamide compounds in its Vestamid range, which is offered for applications such as conductive components of fuel systems.
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PATENTS EP694566 Flame-resistant modacrylic polymer Montefibre SpA Priority date: 29 July 1994 Fibres based on modacrylic copolymers (produced by catalytically copolymerising acrylonitrile, a halogenated comonomer and a comonomer with a hydrophilic group) have reduced flammability, high lustre, excellent mechanical strength and high dyeability, for artificial furs. JO8199086 Oxidated carbon black pigment Tokai Carbon KK Priority date: 19 January 1995 A carbon black treated by gas or liquid phase oxidation gives a paint with improved workability and good surface appearance. DE4422670 Electroluminescent conjugated polymers Hoechst AG Priority date: 30 June 1994 Conjugated polymers with ansa structural sections are new electroluminescent materials, containing aromatic groups combined in such a way that a ring atom in one is directly linked with a ring atom in another adjacent group and any other linkages are controlled. JO73 10287 Preparation of reinforced thermoplastic Teijin Ltd Priority date: 12 May 1994 A bundle of reinforcing fibres is preheated and coated with molten thermoplastic under tension, giving good heat-resistance and dimensional stability.
0 1997 Elsevier Science