Wednesday 30 July 2014

Customised Bioplastics

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Chelo Escrig of AIMPLAS ran through a range of bioplastics developments underway at AIMPLAS. A new extrudable polyvinyl alcohol had been developed and this allowed production of a 3-layer oxygen and moisture barrier film comprising polyvinyl alcohol sandwiched between layers of PLA (“C-Calpe” and “Bio4map”).  It could also be co- injection moulded with polyethylene. PVOH was unique among polymers in that it was not polymerised in that form.  Vinyl acetate was polymerised to PVAc and then hydrolysed back to PVOH.
PLApack was a highly plasticised version of PLA film which had low modulus and hence suitable for a wider range of packaging films.
Hydrus was a PLA tubing suitable for micro-irrigation with an operating temperature range up to 103oC.
Biopolyim A was a soft PLA containing newly developed plascticisers based on lactic acid oligomers.
Innorex was PLA produced without metal catalysts using ring-opening polymerisation of a lactide in a reactive extrusion process.  The lactide was fed into an extruder with laser, microwave and ultrasound being shown as the initiators of the polymerisation.
BioBottle was injection moulded from PLA with supercritical CO2 injected into the first of two extruders.  The resulting volatiles were vented from the second extruder which delivered odour-free PLA to the mould.


David Bertomeu of FKUR reviewed their range of compounds for use in food packaging.  They buy PLA, PHA, PBAT, PBS and Cellulose Acetate and compound them in different ways to make Bioflex®, Biograde®, and Fibrolon®  for use in agricultural mulch films and flower-pots. For the catering industry they make a complete range of compostable plastic cups, plates, cutlery and disposal bags to that the entire table setting and any food waste can be gathered for delivery to the composter.  They also buy biobased PE and make Terralene™ blends to get a range of properties which allow substitution of the full range of polyethylenes from LDPE to HDPE.

Saturday 12 July 2014

Bio-based Polyamides

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Pep Catalan, Sales Manager – Speciality Polyamides for Arkema (France) said they intended to continue to lead the field in production of high performance polyamides based on castor oil chemistry.  Their Rilsan® process, established in the 1950’s as a way of avoiding the Dupont nylon patents, did not compete with food, avoided deforestation and used a crop which could be grown in semi-arid areas.  It was now a high-performance, high temperature resistance bio-plastic for engineering applications.


Compared with the petro-polyamides, on a cradle to factory gate basis, it reduced global warming potential by up to 52%, saving 4.7 tonnes CO2 emissions for every tonne of polymer produced.

A new elastomeric version, a PA/polyether block copolymer called “Pebax”, is now available.  Here the PA is bio-based but the polyether isn’t.  “Pebax Rnew” is however based on 95% renewable carbon and has high energy absorbtion and recovery.  This springy polymer is being developed for running shoes and ski-boots.

“Rilsan Clear” is a cycloaliphatic PA, now also bio-based. It has glass-like transparency.



Wednesday 2 July 2014

A New Engineering Bio-Composite

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Frank Steinbrecher of Mitsubishi Chemicals (Germany) introduced Durabio®, a renewable durable polycarbonate-like bio-polymer based on isosorbide made from sorbitol which in turn came from glucose made from starch.  

The technology had been developed by Roquette.  In 2010 the Durabio® capacity was 300 tpa and last year it was 5000 tpa.  The injection moulding grade has high hardness and the end-products are positioned between PMMA and PC for transparency. Compared with PC, Durabio® also performs better on weathering but is slightly worse for tensile strength.  It is being used to make high-gloss coatings for mobile phones by injection moulding and as glass-replacements in roadside sound barriers by extrusion.  Automotive parts are also made by extrusion and have proved to have the necessary optical, chemical and safety characteristics for interior trim.  It is less flammable than either PMMA or PC.  Asked if it was weldable to ABS like PC is, Mr Steinbecher thought it was, in principle, but Mitsubishi would be happy to test this.
Mitsubishi’s GS Pla was their biodegradable polymer originally made from petrochemicals and now available from bio-succinic acid.  Despite its name it is a polybutyl succinate and not a PLA.