MATERIALS ROUNDUP NATPET Teams with Milliken to Create High-Clarity Polypropylenes for Thin-walled Packaging Increasing demand towards very high clarity packaging products with a realistic price tag has led National Petrochemical Industrial Co. (NATPET) to upgrade its range of polypropylene random copolymers. The Saudi Arabian company has introduced two new grades in its Teldene range, both containing Milliken’s Millad NX 8000 clarifying agent. They are aimed principally at markets for thin-walled injection moulded food and non-food containers, especially in Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, and Asia. As living standards improve in emerging markets, end-users are putting increasing emphasis on aesthetics when buying products such as food storage containers. The new grades cater for this demand. The additional advantage of this grade, by virtue of the inclusion of Millad NX 8000, is that it enables converters to achieve the added benefit of considerable energy and cost savings by processing the grade at lower temperatures and cycle times compared to similar products in the market. The two new grades, Teldene R25MLT and R40MLT, have melt flow rates of 25 and 40 g per 10 minutes respectively. Mechanical properties are very similar, but Teldene R40MLT, with higher flow, is better suited for complex products and high-speed machines. Both are reactor grades, produced using LyondellBasell’s Spheripol technology, which has an exceptional advantage of producing morphologically uniform resins. Neaz Ahmed, Assistant Manager, Product Application at NATPET, said that being reactor grades, they enjoy an
important lead over “controlled rheology (peroxide vis-broken)” grades having intrinsically organoleptic-neutral (odourless) character — an essential requirement for food-contact applications. NATPET reports that it has already established successful applications in transparent housewares, and anticipates imminent use in thin-walled containers for food and non-food articles, CD and DVD cases, packaging for cosmetic articles, and other consumer applications. “Prospects are very bright,” said Neaz Ahmed. “End users as well as converters in our target markets are very appreciative of the improved aesthetics, cost and time savings, and wider processing window achievable with the new grades.” Parts moulded with these grades reportedly have excellent optical properties; at a thickness of 1 mm, the Haze value is just six %, compared with 15-20 per cent in grades containing conventional clarifiers when processed at low temperatures. This is attributed to the highly improved solubility of Millad NX 8000 in PP. Injection moulders can therefore make significant energy savings and reduce cycle times, while still producing packaging with excellent optical characteristics. Ahmed said: “Processors using the new grades can reduce ecological carbon dioxide generation by five to eight %.” NATPET says the addition of such high value-added products to its portfolio is providing access to more diverse applications. The company is already said to be considering extending its range of Teldene PP random copolymer grades, clarified with Millad NX 8000, with higher flow properties, which would likely extend its market prospects even further.
TPU “Remembers” Original State When Heated to 40˚C A new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) developed by Bayer MaterialScience together with the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Berlin, Germany, shows that certain types of plastics have a “memory” which affects their behaviour. Parts made of the TPU can reportedly be temporarily reshaped and fixed in this shape. When heated to a certain temperature known as the switching temperature, they “remember” their original shape and return to it virtually unchanged. In the case of the new product Desmopan DP 2795A SMP, the switching temperature is approximately 40°C. The abbreviation SMP stands for the English designation for such plastics: Shape Memory Plastics. “Given this special property, there are virtually no limits to the potential applications for the plastic,” said Jürgen
Hättig, Head of Business Development for TPU at Bayer MaterialScience. “We can imagine applications in areas ranging from mechanical engineering and the automotive, textile, sports and leisure industries to toy manufacturing and aerospace engineering.” Possible applications include the easy repair of damaged bodywork parts using a hair dryer, remote temperature sensors, artificial muscles, hinges, self-loosening screws, packaging and shrink tubing. The two partners recently submitted a patent application for a possible application in the area of functional film tunnels and self-erecting structures. Film tunnels in a field act like greenhouses and accelerate the growth of lettuces and vegetables so that these can be harvested sooner than is possible if allowed to grow naturally. While it is easy to lay flat films on a field, erecting a
Clear Benefits for Household Packaging Manufacturer Milliken’s additives have also recently brought benefits to leading manufacturer of household and garden items, EMSA is highly-regarded for the design appeal, innovative features and high quality of its product ranges. The company is also using Millad NX 8000 clarified PP for many of its polypropylene kitchen storage applications because of the clarifying agent’s optics and organoleptics. Millad NX 8000 clarified PP allows EMSA’s large and small volume, thinand thick-walled transparent parts to meet higher quality ratings by significantly reducing the potential for yellowing of the plastic. It also supports important features such as good hinge behaviour, high gloss, and good stiffness. Products are microwaveable, and dishwasher-proof. EMSA’s kitchenware products are Bisphenol-A free and meet childcare norms for food contact. Millad NX 8000’s broad processing window enables EMSA to manufacture containers at 40°C lower than previously possible. The agent’s solubility in PP is reportedly much higher than that of conventional clarifiers, allowing lower temperature processing without any negative impact on transparency. As a result, EMSA is reporting 15% faster cycle times in combination with significantly less energy consumption. With Millad NX 8000, EMSA is also experiencing the benefits of a more stable production process, leading to improvements in manufacturing reliability and consistency. permanent tunnel with films can be a timeconsuming and costly operation. This is ne application which has been suggested for the product. Profiles made of the new TPU plastic that have temporarily been brought into a flat shape are fastened to the transparent film. After the film has been laid on the bed, all that's left to do is to heat the profiles to the switching temperature. They “remember” their bent, permanent shape and pop up to form a half-tunnel, lifting the films with them. The mini-greenhouses are then ready for use. The new material could also prove useful in product and brand protection applications. The BAM has used the TPU
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Products from the EMSA range currently taking advantage of the transparency and sustainability benefits of Millad NX 8000 include kitchen storage containers and tableware for food, baking and baby products. It is also used in see-through tea makers and vacuum jugs for beverages, and EMSA’s innovative new watering solution for houseplants. Frank Madena, R&D Surface Technologies & Materials, Head of Quality Management at EMSA, commented: “EMSA’s dedicated team works hard every day to develop products that make life at home and onthe-go simpler and more beautiful; all underlined by a commitment to sustainability. The brilliant level of transparency and processing benefits that Millad NX 8000 brings to many of our houseware items are important elements in helping us to maintain these goals.” Milliken Tel: +32 9 265 1136 Email: veerle.dewolf@milliken.com Web: www.milliken.com NATPET Tel: +966 2 604 8657 Email: shusaini@natpetpp.com Web: www.natpetpp.com
product to develop labels with engraved and colored quick response (QR) codes. The codes can only be read if the labels are in their permanent shape. Bayer MaterialScience Tel: +49 214 30 25363 Email: frank.rothbarth@bayer.com Web: www.bayer.com