Engineering Resins
Biodegradable Polyesters: Packaging Goes Green
The U.S. is catching up with Europe and Asia in exploring the potential of biodegradable polyesters in flexible and rigid packaging. Because of their cost, these resins often find use in blends with other degradable materials.
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Why Long-Glass Molders Are Compounding In-Line
Compounding raw fiberglass directly into thermoplastic molded parts is growing rapidly in Europe, and now it鈥檚 coming here. D-LFT, as it鈥檚 called, promises to make large parts cheaper and stronger鈥攂ut with new technological risks and higher up-front investment costs.
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SBCs Are Back With More Capacity & New Grades
Two years ago, a supply crisis struck the SBC market. Some customers were forced to switch to other materials. Today, SBC producers hope to lure back processors with a surge of new resin capacity, new domestic suppliers, and new grades and applications.
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Metallocene VLDPE Is a Tough New Contender for Flexible Packaging
A new metallocene catalyzed, very-low-density polyethlyene (mVLDPE) from ExxonMobil Chemical Co., Houston, reportedly offers the excellent toughness associated with mLLDPE plus lower heat-seal temperatures and other advantages over conventional Ziegler-Natta VLDPEs or ULDPEs for flexible packaging.
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Blow Molding Gets Green Light in Detroit
Technical blow molding is changing the contours of automotive interior trim, load-bearing floors, seat-back systems, and under-hood ducting. Favorable economics, process refinements, and the emergence of tailored materials and equipment are taking the brakes off blow molding's earlier limits, and pointing a way to cost cutting.
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Fuel Cells Jolt Plastics Innovation
Optimists view fuel-cell vehicles and power appliances as a coming bonanza for plastics processors. They see potential demand for billions of pounds of thermosets and engineering thermoplastics in plates, membranes, manifolds, pumps, plumbing, and more. But molding challenges and cost hurdles mean success won’t come easily.
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Materials (K 2001 Preview)
New materials at K 2001 are weighted heavily toward the engineering variety, especially nylons, acetals, and TP polyesters. A large handful of polypropylenes round out the major news.
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Demand Surge Tightens PEEK Supply
The pace at which polyketone materials are replacing metals shows no sign of abating. Indeed, PEEK's potential in fuel cells, plus accelerated applications development in existing markets, suggest that supply tightness could persist through 2003, when more new PEEK capacity is expected to bring relief.
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Polymers as Additives
A pinch of one resin can teach another one new tricks. Take a look at the promising results with four novel property enhancers for thermoplastics and thermosets.
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Plastics That Conduct Heat
Helping electronics, lighting, and car engines keep cool are some new roles for hermoplastics that are formulated to replace metal or ceramic.
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