additives feature | Mineral modifiers
I-Minerals is a new source for halloysite, a high aspect-
ratio mineral with a nanotu- bular structure
halloysite include flame retardancy, polymer nucleation and slow release of active ingredients.
Sustainable materials US Aragonite’s Oshenite is a renewably sourced oolitic aragonite, a type of calcium carbonate mined from the Bahama Banks in the Caribbean Sea, where it is precipitated from microscopic marine organisms that sequester carbon dioxide from the ocean. US Aragonite grinds, processes, and treats the mineral, which it supplies to compounders and masterbatch producers. US Aragonite recently introduced Oshenite-MHP, a
compound containing Oshenite mineral combined with Fusionite that provides antimicrobial and dispersive properties. Fusionite, developed by CMS Technology, is a copper sulphate antimicrobial in a positively charged electrostatic lattice carrier. Because Oshenite has a strong negative charge (zeta potential), the companies found that the carrier also acts as a dispersive agent for Oshenite that results in improved physical properties, such as strength and stiffness. US Aragonite began working with CMS Technology
US Aragonite extracts its Oshenite renewable oolitic aragonite from the
Bahama Banks in the Caribbean
about a year ago. “Both of our companies were trying to offer an effective and cost-effective way to bring microbial and odour control to plastics for products like thermoformed trays, trash liners, plastic cutlery and more,” says Marc Goldenberg, president at US Arago- nite. “Because of our high surface area, morphology and zeta potential, our mineral and the CMS technology work well together to deliver improved performance along with microbial control to a package or product.” US Aragonite’s researchers also discovered that
Fusionite-treated Oshenite adds about half the weight increase of traditionally mined, calcite-type calcium carbonate. Although the two types of calcium carbonate have similar specific gravities, Oshenite has a much higher surface area and a different crystal structure, which in combination with the high dispersion created by the dispersing agent results in a lower weight
material in the final polymer compound. “A key advantage of this phenomenon is that greater amounts of Oshenite can thus be used without affecting the sink/float separation process in recycling opera- tions,” notes Goldenberg. “Some consumer-product packages, for example, are limited in the amount of mineral filler that can be added because the plastic must not have too high a specific gravity that would prevent it from floating in the recycling process. A higher percentage of Oshenite can be added, which reduces cost (compared to standard calcium carbonate filler) and adds the benefit of using a ‘renewable material’.” Commercial quantities of the new product have been
available since May, and plastic products using the material are expected to show up on US store shelves soon.
Imerys Filtration and Functional Additives Europe launched ImerPlast, a compound containing mixed recycled PE, PP and a mineral-based compatibilising agent, in October 2013. “It is desirable to recycle a mixed polyolefin stream, which has a lower cost, but the mixed material must be modified,” explains Jean- Benoît Papillon, business director for Recycled Polymers at Imerys. In recycled HDPE used in pipe applications, for
example, more than 5% of PP in the HDPE makes the material unprocessable because of phase separation. Imerys’ patented solution combines mixed polyolefins with the compatibilising mineral to prevent phase separation. Imerys is providing a compound, rather than the mineral alone or in a masterbatch, because the bonding reaction can only be initiated once, and recyclers are not typically set up with the necessary equipment. “The mineral, processing conditions and equipment
type are all critical in obtaining the desired properties,” notes Papillon. ImerPlast compounds contain 10-40% mineral depending on the desired properties for an
26 COMPOUNDING WORLD | August 2014
www.compoundingworld.com
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