Additives for polyolefins | materials feature
polyolefins increasingly depend on additives to deliver the levels of performance required in more demanding applications.Dr Sally HumphreysandAndy Beevers report on recent developments presented at Ami’s polyolefin Additives conference
new ways to promote the performance of polyolefins
polyolefins currently account for almost 60% of global polymer demand by volume and their share is expected to grow of over the coming years. According noru Tsalic, senior Vp at Applied Market Information (AMI), the total demand for polyethylene and polypropylene is forecast to grow by an average of 5.6% per year between 2010 and 2015, compared to 5.3% for total thermoplas- tics demand. Tsalic presented the figures in his opening paper at
Ami’s Polyolefin Additives 2011 conference which took place in october in cologne, germany. He also predicted that demand for polyolefin additives should grow faster than the demand for polyolefins for a number of factors including technology innovations and application developments. polyolefins are certainly being used in more demanding applications. For example, pp is now being applied in a wider range of under-the-bonnet compo- nents, including air intake manifolds which are typically moulded using high-performance polyamides. And pE is being used in increasingly tough greenhouse film applications where is not only exposed to the effects of the weather over extended periods of time, but it also
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needs to withstand the impact of aggressive pesticides. These are just two of many examples where additives are making a real contribution to the growth of polyolefin applications. Johannes wolfschwenger of Borealis Polyolefine
discussed the wide range of additives that are added to polyolefins at various stages of their production and processing. These include antioxidants for processing and long-term stabilisation, uV stabilisers, antistats, slip agents, nucleating agents, flame retardants, impact modifiers, lubricants, foaming agents, mould releases, coupling agents, fillers and reinforcements. wolfschwenger also highlighted the importance of
understanding how additives interact with each other to give either a synergistic or an antagonistic effect. An example of the latter would be the combination of hindered amine light stabiliser (HAlS) with sulphur antioxidants. Some additives have dual effects, for example nucleating agents can improve thermal stability, perhaps because of the increase in crystallinity. Fillers are particularly important as their chemical nature, particle morphology and surface treatment can all affect material performance and additive interaction.
January 2012 | compounding world 15
LyondellBasell’s Softell PP compound provides a high-quality unpainted finish for the Opel Astra instrument panel
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