
Lilli Manolis Sherman Contributing Editor
Materials News at K 2013
There was no shortage of interesting materials developments at K 2013, in particular high-performance engineering thermoplastics and thermoplastic composites鈥攎uch of them geared to automotive/transportation.
Read MorePlastic Caps & Closures in Beverages Now in the Lead
How are plastics faring in caps and closures?
Read MoreAPPLICATIONS: Ultra-High-Flow TPV Enables Thinner Instrument Panels
TPV with an exceptional high melt flow rate simplified the deployment of soft, injection moldable instrument panel skins across global platforms for the 2014 Nissan Sentra.
Read MorePlastics Color Expands
Plastics Color is expanding its headquarters plant by 40% which will boost capacity for color concentrates, compounds, and functional masterbatches before year's end.
Read MoreUltra-High-Flow TPV Enables Thinner Instrument Panels
Asahi Kasei's ultra-high-flow TPV simplified the deployment of soft, injection moldable instrument panel skins across global platforms for the 2014 Nissan Sentra.
Read MoreTESTING/MEASURING: Laser Design Distributes Tomelleri Portable CMMs
Laser Design is now the master North American distributor for the Space Arm coordinating measuring machines from Italy's Tomelleri Engineering.
Read MoreADDITIVES: A.Schulman Acquires Prime Colorants
To grow its custom color capabilities, A.Schulman, Akron, Ohio, has made yet another acquisition, of color and additive concentrates maker Prime Colorants, Franklin, Tenn.
Read MoreADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: Slew of New Developments in Materials, Equipment
Three companies unveiled new developments in additive manufacturing and prototyping as 2013 came to a close, a testament to this technology's vibrant growth.
Read MoreAPPLICATIONS: High-Heat PLA in World's First Bioplastic Touchscreen Computer
The high-heat-resistant PLA compound used for the housing of the first bioplastic touchscreen computer is based on lactides from Corbion Purac.
Read MoreNylon 12 Gains New Fully-Integrated Producer
Could the global shortage of nylon 12 that lasted through much of 2012, following the fire and explosion of the Marl, Germany cyclododecatriene (CDT) facility of Evonik Industries in March of that year, possibly be the world’s last of that scale? Invista is aiming to become the first new fully-integrated producer of nylon 12--used primarily for fuel and brake-line connectors and other automotive components such as tubing and hoses--in over 30 years. The company’s family of C12 high-performance intermediates played a critical part in assisting the market during the 2012 industry shortage.
Read MoreCommodity Resin Prices Up, Engineering Resins Steady
Strong year-end demand, somewhat tighter supplies of polyolefins, and a spike in feedstock prices with the possibility of more to come for PS, PVC and PP, have already brought higher prices to commodity resins, and continuing upward pressure will likely generate further hikes. Meanwhile, despite strong demand in the automotive market, prices of the four largest-volume engineering resins have been flat or slightly lower.
Read MoreTop 5 material technology developments of 2013
Throughout 2013, we saw myriad launches of a diverse range of new materials, with a cluster of introductions coming at K 2013. For this reason, selecting the 鈥渢op five materials鈥 was nearly an impossible task, so we decided to expand the list a bit by categorizing the new material developments by applications that are seeing increasing activity.
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