PVC | PLASTICISERS
Right: Sibur claims its plant at Perm in Russia, opened last year, is Europe’s largest DOTP production site
company claims. Low-temperature properties, such as frost resistance, of DOTP are better than DOP/DEHP and slightly better than DINP, the company says. In May 2020, Sibur’s DOTP was certified under
European Pharmacopoeia standards for the medical and pharmacological industries, which allows use in medical compounds in Europe. “Given the COVID-19 pandemic and enormous rise in demand for disposable protective medical items and equipment, many processors have switched from technical compounds to medical ones,” according to Avetisov. He cites the example of a Serbian company using Sibur’s PVC and DOTP to produce medical compounds for surgical masks used by hospital staff treating coronavirus patients. The mask comes with a replaceable filter so it can be used up to five times. In May, the masks were being shipped to the UK, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Romania, the company says. Another Eastern European company set up a production line to make medical compounds using Sibur’s DOTP and that compound is now being supplied to ventilator mask manufacturers in Western Europe. Sibur commissioned its facility at Perm in Russia
Below: Renewability is rising up the agenda in a range of consumer- facing PVC applications, such as synthetic leathers
to produce its DOTP plasticiser in May 2019. The company says the facility is the largest single production site for DOTP in Europe and will supply to the Russian market (replacing imported product) as well as Europe and other regions. In addition to new uses in medical applications, DOTP is used in floor and roof coatings, wallpaper, cable compounds, and automotive coatings.
Off-the-shelf options Teknor Apex recently launched a range of “off-the- shelf” medical-grade compounds made without DEHP or other orthophthalate plasticisers. The Apex and Flexalloy PVC introductions are intended to help speed time to market and provide multiple
options for replacing conventional phthalate plasticisers. “We supply these new products with a full complement of physical property, biocompatibility, and regulatory test data, and we support rapid prototyping by offering quick turnaround times for samples. In addition, identical grades of each compound are available worldwide,” says Derek Laffey, Medical Industry Manager for the Vinyl Division at Teknor Apex. The new Apex PVC and Flexalloy PVC elastomer compounds are supplied in a range of hardnesses, with grades for extrusion (used, for example, in tubing and in cable jacketing on medical devices) and for injection moulding (typically used in luers, canulae, caps, connectors, valves, ear protection, endotracheal airway cuffs, mouthpieces, oxygen masks, safety goggles, resuscitation bags, and bulbs). Standard grades have a high-clarity medical-blue tint but the company says it can custom formulate options to meet a variety of colour, opacity and self-frosting needs as specified by the device manufacturer. The compounds can be ETO, gamma, and E-beam-sterilised and are said to exhibit good colour hold. Teknor Apex, which produces several plasticiser types as well as formulated compounds, is offering the new grades with TOTM, ATBC, or in proprietary blends with DOTP. TOTM displays the least extractability from the PVC matrix and greatest resistance to crazing or stress cracking when in contact with polycarbonate or ABS, says the company. ATBC, derived from citric acid, is said to offer excellent toxicology and processing behav- iour very similar to that of DEHP and is considered to be a good choice where PC or ABS contact is not a concern. The company says DOTP is a cost-effective
44 COMPOUNDING WORLD | August 2020
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
IMAGE: SIBUR
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