ADDITIVES | COMPATIBILISERS
plastics. These trends are forcing industry to use recycled plastics from lower performing and more contaminated sources.” According to Perrinaud , poor mechanical
Above: SK Functional Polymer says its compatibi- lisers can lower carbon
footprint by enabling the use of recycled plastics
into the original film at low levels meant the film could be recycled at more than 30% without any processing or surface finish defects. Interface Polymers says that the key direction of
its future developments is to have Polarfin compati- bilsers for an increased range of mixed plastics. It is also looking to develop di-blocks for surface modification of PP and PE. This will generate a surface that can not only increase the bonding of the new generation of AlOx
and SiOx barrier
materials but will also increase flexibility and reduce failure due to surface cracking. The company says it is on course to start up a
commercial development plant in Q3 2023 to meet increasing industry demand for these di-block compatibilisers. Earlier this year, Evonik announced it had invested in Interface Polymers through its Sustain- ability Tech Fund. “Many modern applications would be unthinkable without plastics, but recycling them is still a big challenge,” says Bernhard Mohr, head of Venture Capital at Evonik. “Interface Polymers’ additive technology offers a solution and is an excellent fit with Evonik’s Circular Plastics Program.” The reduced performance and highly heteroge-
neous properties of recycled plastic is also being addressed at SK Functional Polymer. The com- pany says its additives compatibilise plastic blends and act as coupling agents in the presence of fillers, as well as improving impact resistance and adjusting rheology – up or down – depending on the specifications. “The main incentive for using mechanically
recycled plastics is their lower carbon footprint versus virgin fossil-fuel based resins,” says Richard Perrinaud, Director, Market Development. “Most companies have announced commitments to lower their carbon footprint and see the use of recycled plastics as one way to contribute to the achieve- ment of their carbon footprint target. Regulators are also increasing the incentive to use recycled
48 COMPOUNDING WORLD | May 2023
properties of recycled resins is the main issue. “However, in some industries, such as food packag- ing, aesthetics and the fact that mechanical recycled resins are not food contact compliant are also vital. To obtain compounds that meet industry requirements, impact performance and rheology are key. SK Functional Polymer has evaluated several solutions to improve both properties using high polarity and reactive functional polyolefins, such as Lotryl acrylate copolymer and Lotader reactive polyolefins.” The company says it has developed several
compatibilisers that perform well in both virgin polymers and recyclates. Lotryl 29MA03T resin is the most recent introduction and is mainly used for styrenics, ABS and HIPS, but also for styrenic alloys such as PC/ABS. Lotryl 28BA700T copolymer has been designed to increase the fluidity of virgin and recycled technical resins, such as polyamides, thermoplastic polyesters and styrenics. And while already a well-established product, SK says Lotader AX8900 epoxide-modified resin is increasingly being used to fine-tune the rheology of recycled styrenics and thermoplastic polyesters used in extrusion applications. Other recent successes include the use of Lotryl copolymers to improve the impact resistance of recycled ABS, even when contaminated with other resins such as HIPS, homo-PS or PP. The impact resistance can be increased by 50-100% depend- ing on the initial recycled ABS and the loading of the Lotryl additive. The company says its focus for 2023 is on recycled
styrenics. In addition, there is a current significant effort on the recycling of PE/EVOH or PP/EVOH blends to provide solutions for recycling oxygen- barrier food packaging films. This is challenging because any solution must meet mechanical performance as well as aesthetic requirements, such as the absence of optical defects.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.4kenrich.com �
www.kraton.com �
www.brueggemann.com �
www.byk.com �
www.intermixperformancematerials.com �
www.ngc-nordic.com �
www.interfacepolymers.com �
www.evonik.com �
www.sk-fp.com
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: SK FUNCTIONAL POLYMER
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