additives feature | PVC plasticizers
for wire and cable applications in early 2013. The wire and cable compounds are compliant with EU RoHS and REACH regulations. Compared to Teknor Apex’s standard PVC grades, the compounds have lower volatile organic compounds and improved smoke performance. Compound formulations that reduce acid gas content down to 12-13% from the typical 24-25% with standard PVC are also available. During a fi re, acid gas is an irritant to humans and is a corrosive agent that can damage electronic equipment. “Our tests of BioVinyl compounds indicate that
customers can make substantial progress in dealing with ‘green’ concerns without sacrifi cing performance,” says Patel. Although it is a challenge to overcome claims made by some against PVC and an even greater challenge getting consumers to view PVC as “green”, Teknor Apex has taken this challenge head on. “Our focus has been to replace ingredients that are consid- ered harmful or hazardous with acceptable alternatives that do not sacrifi ce performance and make the case for PVC based on science,” says Patel. The desire for more biocontent in products is being
driven in the US by the building and construction market and the automotive industry, adds Stephen O’Rourke, technical director of polymer additives at HallStar. HallStar offers the PlastHall series of monomeric and polymeric ester based non-phthalate alternatives, including synthetic-based options and the PR-A610 monomeric bio-based grade, for PVC. HallStar also offers the HallGreen R-series renewable (bio-based) plasticizers and HallGreen B-series (petro-based and biodegradable). These were originally designed as plasticizers for bio-based polymers such as PLA, PHA, and PHB, but
Teknor Apex has compiled this cumulative energy demand data (in MJ/kg) for its BioVinyl compounds and a range of other polymers using data from various sources including Plastics Europe
some grades can also be used in PVC and rubbers, such as styrene-butadiene rubber or acrylonitrile rubber. The HallGreen series includes both monomeric
esters and polymeric esters. Polymeric esters offer improved properties, such as resistance to higher temperatures and to extraction and migration. High- molecular weight polymeric esters are virtually permanent in the polymer and are used in applications for which low volatility is important, says O’Rourke. At the 2013 AMI PVC formulation conference,
O’Rourke and Hallstar’s Dr. Eckehard Hoffmann presented data showing that bio-based plasticizers have performance comparable to or better than phthalate- based plasticizers. Although switching from a standard polymer to a bio-based polymer might lead to a sacrifi ce in properties in some cases, bio-based plasticizers give formulators a good way of adding biocontent without sacrifi cing properties, notes O’Rourke. Research from some antimicrobial providers has
shown that bio-based plasticizers can be more susceptible to antimicrobial growth than petroleum- based plasticizers. HallStar research, however, has shown that its bio-based ester plasticizer (PlastHall PR-A610) is no more susceptible to mould growth than two common petroleum-based ester plasticizers (DINP and DOTP), reports O’Rourke. Using ASTM G21-09 (a test to determine resistance of polymers to fungi), HallStar compared PRA-610 to DINP and DOTP in a standard PVC formulation. All three plasticizers showed heavy fungal growth after 7 days. HallStar researchers then tested the three plasticizers with addition of zinc omadine and BBIT antimicrobials to the formulations using ASTM E 2180 (a method for
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COMPOUNDING WORLD | August 2013
www.compoundingworld.com
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