materials development | Compounding bioplastics
products, such as toys and office supplies. “In particular, Corbion Purac and FKuR will be working
to develop those applications where high temperature resistance is required, which, until now, could not work with many standard bioplastics,” they said. Historically, PLA´s greatest challenge has been withstanding higher temperatures, and the companies noted that “in ambient conditions during the summer, for example, unmodified PLAs can experience difficulty maintaining dimensional stability in higher temperatures.” An additional focus will be on the optimization of
mechanical properties to increase the range of applications, and to adapt the polymers to run on existing processing equipment. A part of the develop- ment project will be to reduce the cycle time of PLA, particularly during injection moulding. One of the first commercial applications resulting
Packaging company optimises its PLA upgrades
Floreon Transforming Packaging in the UK has developed its own PLA-based blends for the production of films, thermoformable sheet, and blow mouldings. The product, also called Floreon, is said to have enhanced toughness and durability, and also lower processing tempera- tures than unmodified PLA. The company originally wanted to use PLA in its own packaging but
found that the performance of standard PLA wasn’t quite high enough for their purposes. So it collaborated with experts at the University of Sheffield to develop Floreon. The team developed blends with a PLA content of around 90% that
could get close to the performance of PET while remaining completely biodegradable and suitable for food contact. “Floreon is a family of formulations with the initial grades having
patented blends of copolymers (polyesters) in their matrix,” says a representative. The company declines to provide more specific informa- tion at this stage of development. Production is undertaken through a dedicated toll manufacturer. Developments with both renewable and non-renewable copolymers (depending on the target application) are said to be in the pipeline. Andrew Gill, technical director at Floreon, says that the company is
working with leading experts in the field of polymer processing to quantify just how much energy can be saved by using Floreon instead of pure PLA.
He says initial figures have been very exciting: “In one case, we
lowered barrel temperatures from 210°C to 195 °C and also reduced the screw drive motor current to less than half the amount for PLA alone. The material performance is also fantastic, with independent testing putting the toughness of Floreon somewhere between PET and polypropylene.” The company is now looking to develop partnerships with existing PLA
users and companies who want to use PLA but require greater performance. ❙
www.floreon.com
30 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2014
from early development work is a heat resistant thermoformed food tray, produced from FKuR’s Bio-Flex F 6611 by Plastisud in Italy. Bio-Flex F 6611 is a blend containing a copolyester
as well as unspecified additives. FKuR says it produces parts with a pleasant touch and a pearlescent gloss. The material has a processing temperature of 150- 170°C. The company says that a distortion temperature under load (HDT B) of over 130 °C can be reached by appropriate processing, giving it “outstanding” heat resistance for a bioplastic.
Really green additives Algix is an algae technology company that has part- nered with the University of Georgia and Kimberly-Clark to commercialize the cultivation of aquatic biomass as a feedstock for bio-based plastics compounds. Raw material sourced from waste-water treatment facilities and aquaculture farms is used as a source of low-cost nutrients for high productivity aquatic biomass cultiva- tion. Technology comprising mobile algae harvesting platforms and down-stream dewatering, drying and jet milling operations then produces dry algae biomass in free-flowing granules that are then compounded with thermoplastics. The company selects algae with high levels of
protein. “We denature the proteins, which unravel into a linear structure, not dissimilar to casein,” says Ryan Hunt, chief technology officer of Algix. “We compound it with different polymers, together with compatibilizing agents and other bio-based additives. The algae is not so much a filler, it’s more of an extender.” Biodegrada- bility of PLA-based compounds is actually higher than 100% PLA. The company is already offering “Solaplast”
compounds based on biodegradable resins including
www.compoundingworld.com
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