TECHNOLOGY | CONDUCTIVE PLASTICS
Right: The latest E-TEC conductive grades from Colloids are pitched at demanding anti-static applications, including flexible
industrial hoses
to 10-4
ohm-sq range are in development.
Loading levels of the Mackinac nanomaterial are under 1%. Phillips says the company is targeting automotive, tubing/hose, and packaging applica- tions. It is currently talking to a number of commer- cial partners to finalise material physical/mechani- cal/processing characteristics.
A C
Back to black Carbon black suppliers still, of course, hold the lion’s share of the market for conductive additives and by quite some distance. They are continuing to develop products. At Cabot, Sebastian Heitkamp, Marketing Manager, Specialty Compounds EMEA, says a new addition to the company’s range of conductive compounds has been devel- oped for injection moulding of static dissipative thick section packaging. “The new Cabelec XS6565A compound is specifically tailored for the growing need in this space of conductive plastics,” he says. Heitkamp’s colleague Santiague Pierre, Global Applications Lead Conductive Applications at Cabot, says that the company is also currently testing a new PA6-based conductive concen-
Above: Mackinac Group is readying a
conductive TPU with surface resitivity as low as 102
ohm-sq
trate based on a super-conductive carbon black. Vulcan XCmax 22 specialty carbon black is an example of a conductive carbon black in this range. “With many new polyamide applications
G
requiring conductivity without sacrificing mechani- cal properties, this new conductive concentrate offers a new path for compounders to achieve their target performance at lower loadings compared to conventional conductive carbon blacks,” he says. The PA6-based concentrate is highly versatile and can be diluted up to a level of 70% to reach the final volume resistivity requirements (Figure 2).
1E+07 1E+06 1E+05 1E+04 1E+03 1E+02 1E+01 1E+00
40% 50%
Surface Resistivity (Ohm/sq.) Volume Resistivity (Ohm,cm)
Static applications Discussing static dissipation, Daniele Bonacchi, Application Development Leader at Imerys Graphite & Carbon, says the company’s Ensaco carbon blacks have proven to be a very good solution for demanding applications. “Our propri- etary process enables the controlled production of extremely clean, easily dispersible, low moisture conductive carbon blacks that match the severest purity requirements for low PAH,” he claims. “The specific high structure/low surface area
combination achievable by our process helps dispersion as the low surface improves polymer wetting, while the high structure decreases the contact forces between the aggregates. Moreover, Ensaco‘s low moisture uptake positively influences the dispersion, avoiding at the same time the possibility of bubble formation.” Higher carbon black dispersion means a low machine melt filter change rate with the resulting improved productivity. This is critical in demanding applications such as thin sheet and film application, where very high dispersion is mandatory and melt filtration is most frequently used. The purity of carbon black is also key in the
electronic packaging industry, as soluble ions can migrate and induce corrosion. For this reason, many ESD programs have limits on the ions contained in the final plastic objects. Ensaco carbon blacks are low ash content and have very low metallic impurities. They also display more than one order of magnitude lower content of soluble species than other conductive blacks as well as low sulphur and grit contents, the company claims (Figure 3).
60% Concentrate Loading (wt%)
Figure 2: Cabelec PA6-based concentrate loading in PA6 polymer system Source: Cabot
52 COMPOUNDING WORLD | February 2018 70%
Mix and match Masterbatch and speciality compound producer Colloids says it is developing several new electri- cally conductive and electrostatically dissipative
www.compoundingworld.com
Resistivity
PHOTO: COLLOIDS
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