Foam
K
ANEKA Corporation is a Japanese chemical company which develops, manufactures and sells various chemical products. Kaneka’s business interests are concentrated on seven fields, which are chemicals, functional plastics, foodstuffs products, life science products, electronic products, synthetic fibers and expandable plastics and products.
www.kaneka.com
In the expandable plastics and products field, Kaneka deals in particle foamed polystyrene (Kanepearl™), polyethylene (Eperan™) and polypropylene (Eperan™ PP) and extruded polystyrene foam boards (Kanelite Foam™). In the area of particle polyolefin foams products, Kaneka is one of the major suppliers worldwide with manufacturing locations in Japan, Belgium, Malaysia and China. These products are applied in the production of automotive parts, containers for food, insulation materials etc. As a novel product in Kaneka‘s range of particle foam products and based on their proprietary expansion technology, the company is introducing expanded PHBH (poly 3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3hydroxyhexanoate).
Bio-Based Biodegradable PHA Foam
PHBH is an entirely bio-based biodegradable polymer, which originates from edible plant oil (corn-, soybean- or palm oil) or non-edible plant oil. Like other biopolymers from the family of the polyhydroxyalkanoates PHBH is produced by microorganisms in the fermentation process, where it is accumulated in the microorganism’s body for nutrition. It is then collected through a cleaning and granulation process. The main features of PHBH are its excellent biodegradability, combined with a high degree of hydrolysis and heat stability. PHBH can be biodegraded in aerobic (ISO14851), anaerobic (ISO14853, 15985) and compost (ISO14855) conditions. The hydrolysis stability of PHBH is superior to most of the biodegradable polyesters available on the market today. Regarding the heat stability, the Vicat softening point (ASTM D1525, 10N) is about 110°C. Consequently the material can withstand the heat generated by boiling water. Kaneka‘s facility for PHBH resin production, located in Japan, is estimated to be operational in the autumn of 2010, having a capacity of 1000 t/a. Currently PHBH is mainly applied by film, sheet, bottle and injection-molding industries, to which it is supplied as granulates. In the near future, Kaneka is planning to offer PHBH also in the form of expanded foam particles, with an expansion ratio of up to 35 times. Expanded PHBH foam particles have about the same secondary processability as their polyolefin counterparts. Complex shapes can be easily made using steam-chest-molding techniques and can be further treated by sawing, punching and bonding. The mechanical properties and dimensional stability of molded expanded PHBH foam particles are in line with those of expanded polyolefin molded foam particles. Therefore target applications are like for polyolefin foam particles, e.g. containers for a variety of consumer goods, parts for automotive, building insulation, soundproofing and horticultural engineering. Kaneka bio-based foam will ultimately contribute to create a society with a lower carbon footprint, as stated by a company spokesperson. MT
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bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/10] Vol. 5