materials feature | Bioplastics
ments, says it is now using PLA in some mobile phone internal components. Koichi also says that Fujitsu Laboratories, a subsidiary of Fujitsu, last year devel- oped a bio-derived, water-based paint that can be used to paint the plastics chassis of servers, PCs, and other ICT equipment. The paint uses an emulsion of PLA, and is hardened with a reactive isocyanate. Clariant also references a study carried out at Unité Matériaux et Transformations (UMET, Lille University, France). It investigated the efficiency of Exolit AP, a fine-particle ammonium polyphosphate (APP), in PLA reinforced with different bio-based fillers that could act as a char former in an intumescent system. Lignin and starch both allowed the material to reach the UL94 V-0 classification, while the non-reinforced material only achieved a V-2 rating. In addition, both lignin and starch increase the LOI and showed a reduction of peak heat release rate (PHRR) in the cone calorimeter test. Another study highlighted by Clariant was conducted
by the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research & Testing in Germany. It focused on a two-component flame retardant system to achieve a UL94 V-0 rating and with a relatively high oxygen index (LOI) value in a compound based on poly 3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hy- droxyvalerate (PHBV). It says that, in comparison to the non-flame-retardant compound, both PHRR and total heat release were reduced. “FT-IR analysis demonstrat- ed that the combination of Exolit OP 1240 and iron trioxide contributes to formation of an additional residual
char that can act as a protection layer between the heat source and the combustible bio-based plastic,” it says.
More information Rich Weber, Asia Pacific commercial director at NatureWorks, will give a presentation on the latest developments in PLA at the Compounding World Asia 2015 conference, which takes place on 6-8 October in Singapore. Full details at:
http://bit.ly/CWAsia15. AMI’s Sustainable Polymers 2016 conference will take
place in Cologne, Germany on 1-2 March. Information on participating in this event as a speaker, delegate, sponsor or exhibitor can be found at:
http://bit.ly/SustPol.
Click on the links for more information: ❙
www.NatureWorksLLC.com ❙
www.nypro.com ❙
www.polyalloy.com.tw ❙
www.corbion.com ❙
www.naturtruck.eu ❙
www.aimplas.es ❙
www.IWNiRZ.pl ❙
www.CTAG.com ❙
www.natureplast.eu ❙
www.metabolix.com ❙
www.perstorp.com ❙
www.clariant.com ❙
http://umet.univ-lille1.fr (UMET) ❙
www.bam.de
Take care when compounding PLA resins
When using twin-screw extruders to produce compounds based on bioplastics like PLA, materials handling is important and potentially expensive, says Charlie Martin, president of Leistritz Corp. in the USA. “PLA absorbs moisture, which if present during melt processing causes degradation,” he notes. “PLA containers should be sealed prior to drying/ processing, and silos should be purged. Desiccant dryers reduce pellet moisture, or the extruder can sometimes be vented to process undried PLA.” Martin also notes that since PLA is both shear sensitive and draws high torque, a combination of screws with deeper flights with a lower average shear rate with increased torque is particularly beneficial.
40 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2015 Martin says Leistritz has carried out
numerous experiments for processing PLA. He cites direct extrusion of filled PLA sheet. Testing was performed on an ZSE-27 Maxx twin-screw extruder with a 1.66 OD/ID ratio and 40 L/D to compound NatureWorks’ Ingeo 2003D general
purpose extrusion grade with 15-25% CaC03
(from Specialty Minerals). No
additives/dispersive aids were used. Tests were performed at an output rate of 40 kg/h with a screw speed of 200 rpm. “Impact properties as measured by normalized Gardiner Impact MFE for the filled product were nearly 20 times better than neat PLA,” Martin says. “Analysis of the film/sheet samples indicated a well-dispersed product with accept- able surface quality and dimensional stability. Additional scale-up testing seems a worthwhile next step.” ❙
www.leistritz.com
Leistritz has conducted PLA compounding trials using a
ZSE-27 Maxx extruder
www.compoundingworld.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78