Transparent plastics are certainly not new to packaging applications, and their use has continued to grow, as designers take advantage of clarity as yet another tool to differentiate their packaged goods. At the same time, use of clarified...

The Electrical/Electronics (E/E) end-use market is the world's 3rd largest plastics sector behind packaging and building/construction. Apart from mechanical properties, the electrical behavior of plastics is a vital factor when using these materials... (1 Member Reaction)

To perform satisfactorily, both rigid and flexible PVC call for an efficient additive package that includes heat stabilizers. Heat stabilizers, which are essential components of a PVC formulation protect the polymer during elevated processing... (4 Member Reactions)

Essentially all plastic materials undergo oxidation reactions which can occur at every stage of the life cycle of a polymer from manufacturing and storage of the material through its compounding/processing and end use. Exposure to oxidation reactions... (9 Member Reactions)

With the growing use of recycled polymers comes a growing need to control odors in these plastics. Odor in recyclate comes from many sources, including odors from the polymer, odors from degradation products of polymer additives, and odors specific... (8 Member Reactions)

Processing costs can bring a broad contribution to lower prices through many ways, by lowering machine run costs, labour costs, direct investments, energy and utility consumptions, finishing costs, assembly, surface treatment, decoration....

The earth's atmosphere absorbs much of the total energy from the sun. Solar energy that does reach the surface of the earth ranges in wavelength from 300 to 2500 nm (nanometers) and consists of ultraviolet, visible and infrared light or radiation.... (3 Member Reactions)

European Bioplastics and the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence EPNOE published a jointly commissioned study on bio-based plastics. The developments in the past five years in emerging bio-based plastics are spectacular from a technological... (5 Member Reactions)

It is more and more urgent to treat end-of-life plastics wastes exceeding hundred thousand tonnes a day. That is an economic and environmental requirement that must be solved to perpetuate the life and the economic activity of our Earth. Our attitude... (1 Member Reaction)

Polypropylene (PP) - with its low cost, light weight and ever-improving properties - is ready to go places. Technology advances in resins, processing equipment, and additives have all played a role in opening up new opportunities, and there is still... (2 Member Reactions)

Direct property losses by fires are roughly 0.2% of the gross domestic product and the total costs of fires are around 1% of the gross domestic product. Therefore, it is important to develop well-designed flame retardant materials to decrease both...

It is true that one should never judge a book by its cover! But this is not applicable in the case of consumer products. How a product is packaged, more often than not, determines its value and success in the market. Further, the importance of... (2 Member Reactions)

The success of hybrid polymers is based on special and often unusual characteristics combined with easy and cheap processing methods, leading to dramatic cost savings versus equivalent devices based on silicon technology. That is satisfying for many... (2 Member Reactions)

Condensation polymers like PET and PA degrade during melt processing, reducing molecular weight (measured by intrinsic viscosity or IV), which generally corresponds to lower mechanical properties. Recycled PET (rPET) applications such as fibers can... (1 Member Reaction)

EU and USA ban some phthalates as plasticizers, especially for PVCs, the highest outlet for these additives. Other phthalates are not involved and can be used. However it is necessary to find new solutions for immediate and future requirements.... (5 Member Reactions)

Polymer formulations usually include one or more compounds such as antioxidants, secondary antioxidants, antistatic additives, light stabilisers, lubricants, plasticisers, stabilisers, slip and antiblock agents. In addition, the polymer and hence the... (1 Member Reaction)

Graphene - a nanomaterial derived from graphite - has outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity, combined with other properties like strength and barrier, which make it an exciting new material in development for conductive applications.... (16 Member Reactions)

Petroleum drying up will lead to an energy crisis needing to find new sources for the plastics industry. Alternatives include the replacement of petroleum by coal, the use of minerals, the exploitation of biomass and CO₂, and... (1 Member Reaction)

Nanomaterials are finding increasing commercial use as flame retardants, particularly as part of non-halogenated flame retardant additive packages. The flame retardant properties of nanoclays, carbon nanotubes, POSS, and others are also a continued... (5 Member Reactions)

Wastes are an industrial feature inclining us to consider them as a mine needing new mining techniques and an adaptation of designing, processing, recycling and reuse. Several ways are conceivable for the recycling method on the one hand and for the... (1 Member Reaction)

Unlike thermoplastics, thermosetting resins cannot be melted or reshaped because on heating their thermal decomposition and degradation occurs. Though they are widely used in a variety of applications (such as adhesives, coatings and polymer...

As plastics replace wood, glass, and metal materials in the home, domestic fires have been found to burn much faster and hotter than they did a few decades ago. In December 2008, the European Commission revealed plans to recast the RoHS Directive,... (4 Member Reactions)

Heavy-metal based pigments used today include lead chromates, lead molybdates, and cadmiums that produce bright colors with excellent light- and weather-fastness. However, concerns about the negative impact of heavy metals on environmental and human...

Industrialization of bioplastics takes the conventional ways of industrial plastics, optimization of the properties by compounding with additives and blending with other (bio)plastics, processing using standard methods. Bioplastics, directly or...

Traditionally, formulators have worked hard to ensure that the polymers and additives used for packaging do not have any taste or odor that would interact with the package contents or negatively affect the consumer's perception. In some cases,... (1 Member Reaction)

The introduction of polymer based structures as packaging materials for foodstuffs has been increasing over the last decades. The main commercial appeal of these materials lies in their ability to offer a broad variety of tailor-made properties and... (1 Member Reaction)

Pigments are powdered materials that provide color by absorbing or reflecting different parts of the sun's visible light spectrum. They also have independent, distinctive IR reflective characteristics. Pigments that exhibit high IR-reflectivity for a... (3 Member Reactions)

Worldwide, fires kill or injure several tens of thousands of people, and result in huge property losses. To fight against fire risks, there is no choice but to use fire resistant solutions. To avoid main traps linked to health and corrosion, the... (11 Member Reactions)

Microbes grow if they have moisture, the right temperature, and a food source, such as exposed wood. Mold and mildew fungi can grow on WPC deck surfaces. In addition, decay fungi can consume wood that is not encapsulated by the plastic, causing wood...

To avoid competition with food crops, raw materials for bioplastics are chosen among agricultural, urban or industrial wastes and carbon dioxide. Processing methods can follow microbial, chemical or mechanical ways producing monomers or polymers. End...

Scratch and mar resistance of plastics is an important property in applications like appliances and automotive, where customers perceive long-term scratch and mar resistance as a sign of quality. The Scratch Consortium, based in the Polymer... (3 Member Reactions)

Utilization of optical fiber cables in metro as well as long-haul networks is increasing exponentially. Duct & Direct-Buried cables has always been the mainstay for all OSP applications. Rodent attacks have been a major cause for heavy...

End-of-life wastes, several hundred of thousand tonnes a day, must be considered as a plastics mine needing new views on collection, recycling and reprocessing. A careful selection of sources, a suitable method of treatment save fossil fuels, raw... (1 Member Reaction)

Cyclic butylene terephthalate (CBT) resins combine the advantages of thermosets and thermoplastics in a water-like viscosity material that after reacting becomes the engineering thermoplastic polybutylene terephthalate (PBT). CBT® 100 polymer has... (6 Member Reactions)

The terms "biodegradable" and "compostable" are defined in official EN, ASTM, and ISO testing standards, but they are not necessarily well understood by the public or even by the plastics industry as a whole. They are often used interchangeably,... (5 Member Reactions)

'Bioplastics' is an industry-accepted term, although its definition is not always clear. There is a Bioplastics Magazine, a "Green and Bio-Plastics" channel on Omnexus, and many bioplastics organizations, including the European Bioplastics... (5 Member Reactions)

Biopolymers derived from renewable biomass sources ensure the conservation of fossil resources, the utilisation of renewable vegetal resources with its geopolitics involvements, the consumption of CO₂ instead of its emission.... (6 Member Reactions)

Most common fillers and reinforcements have a micrometric size and must be used at levels in the order of 10% and more.From a strictly geometrical point of view, the size reduction of a particle, sphere or platelet with a constant shape factor, leads... (2 Member Reactions)

Polymers have often an hydrophobic and soft surface with a somewhat unappealing look and a low surface tension, which is harmful for adhesion of inks, paints and other coating, adhesive joining, decoration, scratch resistance. For many plastic parts... (1 Member Reaction)

Recycling means the reuse of the waste materials in a production process for the original purpose or for other purposes excluding energy recovery. Reprocessing can be done using mechanical or chemical methods to reuse the wasted material. Mechanical... (1 Member Reaction)

The manufacture of parts and goods needs polymers, additives, reinforcements consuming raw materials and energy, and producing pollution, carbon dioxide and other gases favouring the global warming and pollutants harmful for human, animal and vegetal...

Static charge generated on the non-conductive surfaces of polymers is a long identified issue. Plastic materials typically have a combination of high surface resistivity (1014 to 1016 Ohms at 20°C and 50% relative humidity) and low dielectric...

Adhesive bonding is one of the main methods used to join 1. a material and a coating such as inks and paints for the most common 2. parts processed in two steps, for example injected tail lights in two or three colours 3. several parts to produce...

Colorants and special effects are the largest group of a broad range of additives and masterbatches available to alter or tailor the appearance, functionality, performance, safety, cost effectiveness, and processing efficiency of resins that assist...

REACH, RoHS, WEEE, regulations concerning specific applications such as food contact, and voluntary bans decided by trade associations or by companies reduce the suitable fire retardancy formulations leading to HFFR solutions based on metal...

Rich Novomesky, Strategic Business Manager at Ampacet Corporation has broad commercial, technical and manufacturing experience in packaging and food processing. His perspective encompasses packaging functionality and aesthetics, as well as how to... (1 Member Reaction)

Electrical and electronic (EE) applications - including housings, wire and cable, and internals such as connectors – are the largest market for flame retardants in plastics globally. Flame retardant use in EE is growing strongly. The need for flame...

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based materials are widely used in medical device applications chiefly because of their physical properties, ease of fabrication, and compatibility with intravenous (IV) solutions and blood. PVC products commonly used in...

Natural fibres were the first fibres used for thermosetting resin reinforcement but slowly they fell into disuse for performance and environmental problems principally due to low mechanical properties, high moisture absorption, ageing sensitivity...

Chien and Kiang [1, 2] oxidized polypropylene (PP) at temperatures between 240 and 289° C. The products were separated by gas chromatography (GC) and online identification was by an interfaced GC peak identification system. The major products are...

Fillers for plastics are basically divided into inactive (or extender) fillers and active (or functional) fillers. Fillers are very widely used in the plastics industry, and their growth rates currently exceed those of the resins themselves. They are... (1 Member Reaction)

Don't forget that polymers are always tackled by their chemical or physical weak points. Consequently, the study of degradation depends on our capability to see and quantify: 1. the degradation that is an evolution of aspect, colour, mechanical or...

Up-to-date trends in polymer industry include the respect of environment, ecology requirements and economy of resources and energy. The manufacture, use and disposal of polymers build a complex context whose optimization needs much thought to develop...

The actual context is favourable to high purity banning recognized harmful elements and molecules, or simply suspected materials or impurities according to the ‘precautionary principle'. Polymers, additives and reinforcement materials cannot escape...

Most polymers are generally insulating. Electrostatic build-up and discharges are widespread, leading to numerous issues of very various seriousness, from minor to very serious and even dreadful ones: 1. Dust and other pollutant attraction with...

Slip additives reduce friction between films, and between film and equipment, thereby facilitating movement through converting and downstream packaging operations. Slip additive effectiveness is measured in terms of the static or kinetic Coefficient...

Broader use of plastics in building products and a growing desire to minimize painting of automotive parts is increasing the need for reliable predictions of light stability and weathering performance. Accelerated weathering lab instruments and...

Poly(vinylchloride) (PVC) is one of the lowest cost, highest volume commodity plastics used today due to its versatility, chemical and mechanical properties, ability to accept a wide variety of additives. Rigid PVC is appreciated for its stiffness...

Crystallinity of semi-crystalline polymers is responsible for many of the characteristics such as dimensional stability, clarity, toughness... For a defined part and process, the crystallinity is controlled by the polymer structure, the formulation,...

Additives, oxo-biodegradable, polyolefin, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, compostable, biodegradable, antioxidant, biodegradation study, packaging, shopping bags, refuse sacks, film, liners, shrink wrap, micro-organisms, bacteria, aerobic,... (4 Member Reactions)

Molecules can be banned for various reasons (See Figure 'Ban-Origins'): human risks, carcinogenic, mutagenic, reproductively-toxic effects; pollution of air, water, land; persistent, bio-accumulative substances; greenhouse effect. Ban can be total or...

Bacteria, fungi and algae can affect the aesthetic and physical properties of a plastic or a rubber by causing black spotting or discoloration, pink staining, odour and polymer degradation, fouling etc. Biocides used to fight these microorganisms...

VOCs or Volatile Organic Compounds form a broad heterogeneous category of chemical compounds, some of which pose a health hazard and can also lead to greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion and acidification of the globe atmosphere. Others pose...

Plastics, rubbers, TPE, composites are not monolithic materials but are made from the association of several entities, one or several polymers, fillers and chemicals. When the polymers are immiscible, one of them forms a continuous phase and the...

The economic requirements, the environmental regulations, the low processing costs of emergent nations, the more and more reduced design times worsen the competition and push converters to manufacture cheaper and faster. Multiple ways are... (1 Member Reaction)

Processing of a polymer is inherently more or less easy according to its nature, microstructure, morphology, molecular weight, ramifications etc. Moreover, for a given polymer, the processing is more difficult when the level of filler increases....

One of the most important technological advances in the field of plastics over the last half of the twentieth century has been the extensive replacement of metals with plastics. While plastics have been engineered to outperform steel and other...