bioplastics | Innovation
Right: This crankshaft
cover, produced by KACO in EcoPaXX
polyamide 410
by DSM, is being used on several Volkswagen Group car engines
between biotechnology company Galactic and petro- chemical group Total that operates a demonstration PLA plant in Belgium, where it is developing a process using proprietary technology. Sample quantities are under test with a select number of customers, says Johan De Taeye, business manager for PLA at Total. Strictly speaking, PLA should be abbreviated to PL
Right: This
touchscreen PC by Kuender uses a housing moulded in a special PLA
grade devel- oped by Supla
of Taiwan using Corbion
monomers 24
main role is as a producer of lactide momomers. The company is seeding the market by offering sample quantities of L-type homopolymer suitable for injection moulding, as well as D-type for use as a nucleating agent (the two polymers are made from two different isomers), and blends of the two that it says have heat performance similar to PP, PS and ABS. Hisun in China is currently using Corbion Purac’s L-lactide to produce stereochemically pure PLA, which is sold by both companies (it is made exclusively from L type monomer and is sometimes called PLLA). A second Asian company, Supla in Taiwan, will also use the lactide in a 10,000 tonne/yr plant making high-heat PLA for automotive and electronic parts. This is due to come onstream later this year. At the K2013 show last October, Corbion Purac’s stand featured numerous PLA applications, including the world’s fi rst touch screen computer with a housing made from PLA, developed by Supla and consumer electronics company Kuender; an interior part for printers developed by Os-Tech; and an air fi lter box and interior trim parts from Röchling Automotive made in high heat Plantura PLA compounds. Corbion Purac says Plantura materials show improved hydrolysis and thermal resistance up to 140°C with fi bre reinforce- ment. Good results were also obtained for scratch and UV resistance, the company says. Corbion Purac also cites compounders Biotec and FKuR as offering products based on its PLA. It says Biotec has launched the Bioplast 2200 range of compounds designed for durable applications, while FKuR has launched a range of high heat compounds for the packaging industry.
Futerro is a joint venture INJECTION WORLD | March 2014
because although PLA comes from lactic acid, the monomer is a lactide so we should really be talking about polylactides. It would then be easier to remember that PLA is actually a polyester – as are quite a lot of other bioplastics. Examples include polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from companies as Metabolix and Biomer; polybutylene adipate-co-terephatalate (PBAT) from BASF, Novamont and others; polytrimethyl terephthalate(PTT) from DuPont; an dpolybutylene terephthalate (PBT) derived from bio-based butane diol . Both Lanxess and Toray have produced sample quantities of bio-based PBT, with Lanxess saying recently commercial quantities could be available in 2015. Metabolix offers a number of biobased resins based on PHA for food and non-food applications. Mirel P1003/F1005 and Mirel P1004/F1006 are both injection moulding grades, which the company says have “natural degradability and strong performance for a range of markets.”
“Our customers have found applications for injection moulded biopolymers in both traditional and specialty markets,” says a spokesman. “Traditional markets include: plates, cups, and plastic utensils, where Mirel’s tolerance of freezing to boiling temperatures is a must; medical devices; cosmetics; and more. Additionally, our customers have sought out a biobased polymer for the unique biodegradation advantages they provide, for example, in agricultural applications such as vine clips and fl ower bulb packaging that can be planted in the garden.”
Polyhydroxybutyrate, PHB, is the most abundant member of the PHA family. Biomer has already developed a number of formulations for technical applications, but notes that their fogging behaviour and volatile emissions has prevented their use in the car interior. One of the goals of the EU-sponsored ECOplast project, which involved car suppliers, research insti- tutes, compounders and raw material suppliers – including Biomer – was to identify the components that lead to fogging and to fi nd suitable replacements. The result is Biomer P304, a non-fogging
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