bioplastics | Innovation
Right: The frame of Teknion’s
Contessa office chair is made
from Arkema’s bio-based
Rilsan PA, with Pebax Rnew
fibres used in the seat back and seat
upholstery
nucleator to increase the crystallinity of the moulded product. This has the additional benefit of having little effect on bio-based content. At the Orlando conference, Takemoto Oil & Fat’s Masatoshi Sakata described the company’s LAK 301 nucleating agent – which is available neat and as a 1% masterbatch – and its effect on various grades of Ingeo. He said it is possible to obtain a deflection temperature under 0.45 MPa load of 147°C in one of NatureWorks new HP (High Produc- tivity) grades, 3100HP. This compares with a typical value of 144°C (amorphous PLA has a DTUL of around 55°C). NatureWorks unveiled the HP range last
Below: Castor beans provide the oil used in production of several bio-based polyamides, including Evonik’s Vestamid Terra grades
October, claiming that the grades would enable formulations comparable in performance with engineering thermoplas- tics at a more attractive cost than any previous high-biobased content polymers. “These new Ingeo grades allow faster cycle times and production rates, a 15°C improvement in heat deforma- tion temperature, and a three-to-four fold increase in bulk crystallisation rate,” the company said in its announcement. High-flow Ingeo 3260HP (MFR 65 at 210°C, 2.16 kg) and the medium-flow Ingeo 3100HP (MFR 24) are said to provide broader moulding temperature windows, leading to more robust process parameters for injection mould- ing. The new grades are aimed at applications such as consumer durable and semi-durable products as well as food serviceware, such as cutlery and hot cup lids. Diodato says typical stiffness is around 60% higher than ABS, and the pricing is at a similar level or even lower, depending on the compound. He also says that price stability will be greater with bio-based materials than oil-based ones, allowing buyers to plan more securely. NatureWorks sells its resins neat, saying “the
formulator or compounder will need
to add nucleating agents, impact modifiers, reinforcing agents, etc as needed.” Diodato cites such com- pounders as PolyOne, RTP, Tecnaro, Toray and Unitika among those using PLA in compounds for durable applications. PolyOne, for instance, has devel- oped its reSound range of bio-based compounds, which combine engineer- ing thermoplastic resins with bio-
based polymers. It has also developed a range of additive concentrates that contribute to
stabilising biodegradable polymers by delaying molecular weight reduction or by increasing molecular weight, as well as slip and antiblock additive formulations to overcome the ‘sticky’ nature of some biopolymers. Tecnaro’s speciality is
bio-based and biodegradable compounds, many of
which contain natural fibre reinforcement as well as biopolymers. Its Arboform grades are compounds of lignin with natural fibres, while its Arboblend grades made from various types of biopolymers can be 100 % biodegradable or durable and use materials such as PLA, PHA, thermoplastic starch, natural resins and waxes, cellulose, bio-based polyethylene (from Braskem) and plant oil-based polyamides. As far as availability of PLA is concerned, Nature-
Works remains the largest supplier in the world by a long way. Its plant in Nebraska has a capacity of 150,000 tonnes/yr, and it has plans for a second plant, most likely to be located in South-East Asia. A final decision on this expansion is expected this year, meaning that major new capacity could be onstream around 2018. NatureWorks uses corn (maize) as its sugar feed-
stock now, but could well use sugar cane or cassava in Asia. “It’s very location-specific, what matters is the yield of the crop,” says Steve Davies, director of marketing and public affairs. “In the end, what we are looking for is the most cost-effective way of converting atmospheric carbon into a performance material.” In the long term, this could mean direct catalystic
conversion of greenhouse gases, eliminating the agricultural step completely. Last year, NatureWorks began collaborating with Calysta Energy, the developer of BioGTC biological gas-to-chemicals technology, to research and develop a practical, world-scale produc- tion process for fermenting methane into the PLA monomer, lactic acid. A second PLA player is Corbion Purac, although its
22 INJECTION WORLD | March 2014
www.injectionworld.com
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