Innovation | bioplastics
very good surface finish, and low moisture absorption. They have a 27% renewable content. In all cases, the renewable content comes from castor oil. According to Sebastien Petillon, global market manager for mobile electronics for Solvay Specialty Polymers, Kalix 2000 and 3000 series compounds “provide the exceptional physical attributes and processing capabilities that are required in demanding structural applications such as injection moulded chassis, housings, and covers.” The oldest thermoplastic biopolymer is almost
certainly cellulose acetate, which was first prepared from wood pulp in 1865 from wood pulp and was produced commercially from around the beginning of the 20th
Key performance data for Teknor Apex Terraloy engineering grade PLAs compared to a fire retarded PC/ABS blend benchmark
Grade
Flexural Modulus
[MPa] [kpsi] FR PC/ABS Terraloy®
2,658 (386)
2,413
HFFR PLA Sample #1 (350) Terraloy®
HFFR PLA Sample #3 (250) century. Patents for cellulose acetate (CA) were
first deposited by Solvay Acetow in 1911, while Eastman Chemical trademarked Tenite in 1932. Since then, most CA has been used for film and fibre but at K2013 Solvay Acetow launched its Ocalio product for injection moulding. Solvay says that, together with its bio-plasti- cizer, the bio-based content of Ocalio compounds at present stands around 50%. Solvay says Ocalio compounds can not only replace
applications made with PMMA and ABS, but also polycarbonates. It is targeted at consumer goods such as containers for cosmetics and personal care, food packaging, electronic devices, toys and mobile phones. “When compared with other bioplastics, Ocalio plasticised cellulose acetate displays an exceptional balance of properties providing better mechanical and heat resistance, enhanced transparency and outstand- ing processability,” says Louis Cozzari, Business Development Manager at Solvay Acetow. The supplier highlights good surface aesthetics such
as a high gloss, smooth and silky tactile qualities and an exceptional depth of colour, for both opaque and transparent grades. In a separate development, Solvay and Avantium are
more than two years into a partnership to jointly develop high-performance polyamides using Avantium’s YXY technology, which converts biomass into furanic building blocks such as FDCA (2,5-furandicarboxylic acid). FDCA would be used to react with an amine to produce the polyamide. Avantium says the primary focus of the partnership is on discovering the distin- guishing properties between FDCA-based polyamides and existing polyamides. It says it has already succeed- ed in making new FDCA-based polyamide compositions with new functionalities “that could potential introduce significant performance improvements to the market.” Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Chemical said earlier this
year it would increase capacity for its Durabio bio-based engineering plastic, polymerised from plant-derived
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isosorbide. The new material features very good optical properties, together with high resistance to heat and humidity. Durabio is claimed to almost eliminate distortion in light transmission and Mitsubishi is promoting it for use in touch panels on automobiles as an alternative to polycarbonate. “The disadvantage of polycarbonates is distortion in light transmission which makes it difficult for users to see the touch panel, so a material that could overcome this problem has been eagerly awaited,” the company says. Since autumn 2012, Mitsubishi has been producing
Durabio in Japan on a 5000 tonne/yr plant. The company has now annouced it will increase capacity to 16,000 tonnes/yr by its fiscal year 2015.
Click on the links for more information: ❙
www.natureworksllc.com ❙
www.arkema.com ❙
www.teknorapex.com ❙
www.takemoto.co.jp ❙
www.polyone.com ❙
www.tecnaro.de ❙
www.corbion.com ❙
www.plaweb.com (Hisun) ❙
www.supla-bioplastics.com ❙
www.biotec.de ❙
www.fkur.com ❙
www.futerro.com ❙
www.metabolix.com ❙
www.biomer.de ❙
www.basf.com ❙
www.novamont.com ❙
www.dsm.com ❙
www.evonik.com ❙
www.radicigroup.com ❙
www.solvayplastics.com ❙
www.ocalio.com ❙
www.m-kagaku.co.jp (Mitsubishi Chemical)
March 2014 | INJECTION WORLD 27 8,742
HFFR PLA Sample #2 (1,268) Terraloy®
1,723
Notched Izod Tensile HDT @ UL 94V [J/m]
[ft-lb/in] 320
(6.0) 48.1
(0.9) 85
(1.6) 91
(1.7)
Strength 1.82 MPa [MPa] [psi]
[°C] [°F]
62
(8,934) ---
70
(10,109) ---
90
(194) 75
(167) 85
(185) 75
(167) V-0 V-0 V-0 V-0
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