ADDITIVES | CLARIFIERS AND NUCLEATORS
Key considerations In terms of nucleator development for PP, Jacoby highlights some important considerations that must be taken into account by developers and potential users: How difficult will it be to obtain FDA or EU
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regulatory approval for food contact application and will there be limitations on use; n How readily will the nucleant disperse in PP and will the dispersion be stable or prone to re-agglomeration; n Will the nucleant display synergistic or antagonistic interactions with other additives, such as acid scavengers, stabilisers and fillers; n Will there be organo- leptic issues – taste and odour – associated with its use; n Will the nucleant lead to uneven shrinkage and warpage in injection moulded parts; n And finally, and more of interest to nucleant develop-
ers, how will the product be positioned relative to existing
Above: PP containers nucleated with Milliken’s Hyperform HPN 715 are suitable for microwave use
products in terms of performance, cost and ease-of-use. And will it be sold to PP resin produc- ers, to compounders for incorporation into their PP grades, or a a masterbatch for use by converters?
Right: Under- the-hood
automotive PP parts such as fluid tanks are a target market for Milliken’s Hyperform HPN 715 nucleator
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Integral to polyolefin Clarifiers and nucleators are now an integral element in polyolefin grades developed for various fabrication processes and end use applications, according to Milliken. “Over the past few years we have seen robust growth in clarifier and nucleator use and we expect to have similar growth in the future as demand for storage containers, houseware parts, packaging material, automotive and industrial components keeps rising,” says Allen Jacoby, Senior Vice President Plastics Additives, at the company. While he sees the current global coronavirus pandemic leading to some dramatic short term impacts in areas such as automotive, the company’s longer term view is that demand will grow. “Consumer buying behaviour is changing rapidly. Today, the consumer wants to see, touch, feel and experience a product before making a purchasing decision. Consumers are asking for more robust products which are long lasting as well as sustainable. With changing consumer buying behaviour, demand for clear as well as sturdier
COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2020
packaging is increasing. These market demands are being fulfilled by clarifiers like Millad NX 8000 and nucleators like Hyperform,” he says. “On the other hand, an increase in polypropylene produc- tion capacity is driving resin producers to create speciality grades with Milliken’s clarification and nucleation technology. A classic example is thin wall injection moulded containers nucleated with Hyperform, which provides the required attributes for a packaging material used for home delivered food in Asia.”
In assessing what drives new developments in clarifiers and nucleators, Bhavesh Gandhi, Global Product Line Manager Hyperform, says that the end use application determines the development of resins that meet consumer demand for safety, clarity, integrity and sustainability of the products they buy. Global sustainability initiatives are driving developments in both clarifier and nucleator technologies, particularly those that enable recyclability. There is also an ever-increasing demand for
better optical, thermal and physical property improvement in the polyolefin sector. Like Jacoby earlier in this article, Gandhi also highlights a demand to improve the rigidity of PP while maintaining impact properties. With regard to clarifiers, he says enhancing the sustainability and processability of clarified PP while continuing the push for greater clarity are driving new generation technologies. Among the latest product developments from
Milliken is Hyperform HPN 715, which addresses the demand for a high stiffness additive for PP. The company says HPN 715 has enabled development of resin grades that can be used to replace PS in packaging applications.
Developed for injection moulded PP, Milliken says the Hyperform HPN 715 nucleating agent can provide stiffness up to 10% higher than PP using other nucleators and up to 30% higher than non-nucleated PP (it is suitable for use with PP
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IMAGE: MILLIKEN
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