ADDITIVES | ANTIOXIDANTS AND STABILISERS
Right: The UniteChem R&D centre is equipped for conducting a range of accelerated weathering tests
artificial grass almost 20 years ago. Landuzzi says hockey pitches used during the Olympic Games in Tokyo earlier this year were made with polyolefin fibres incorporating Solvay’s Cyasorb stabilisers. He says that with the right polymer and stabilisation system, artificial grass pitches can last up to 15 years (Figure 7). Earlier this year, China’s UniteChem Group (which claims to be world’s leading supplier of light stabilisers for plastics in terms of capacity) expand- ed its European footprint with a new sales office in Düsseldorf, Germany, and announced a collabora- tion with Leschaco Group to meet its logistics needs across the continent. According to Junyi Lin, CEO of UniteChem Group, the company is strengthening its European presence “in line with our strategic commitment to global expansion.” Unitechem has two manufacturing plants in Jiangsu Province, China, with two further produc- tion facilities under construction and set to come onstream in Sichuan Province before the end of 2022. It also recently opened a second and larger R&D and innovation centre in Shanghai. While its profile outside of China has been
relatively low, the company says it collaborates with leading brands worldwide and already a little more than half its production of light stabilisers is exported. According to Jan Kreibaum, UniteChem Director for Europe and Senior Industrial Advisor, the planned capacity increases will cover workhorse HALS stabilisers, for which demand continues to increase, as well as some newer types. New capacity probably can’t come onstream soon enough as Kreibaum says the market has been extremely tight for around a year, with the company struggling to meet demand despite debottlenecking. He says this situation is unlikely to change this year. Another Chinese additive supplier, Rianlon, which currently has six production bases in
industrial parks across the country, says the first phase of a new ‘world scale’ plant will come on stream at Zhuhai in the fourth quarter of this year. The company claims a strong competitive advantage in the field of specialty antioxidants. “At the same time, the company is also continuously improving the production capabilities for general antioxidants such as Rianox 1010, 1076 and 168,” says Margot Clauss, Senior Account Manager with Rianlon in Germany. “In terms of UV absorbers, our world-leading benzotriazole products, as well as the new product development, such as the triazine products, including Riasorb UV-1577 and UV-1164, are the key drivers for success,” she says. Clauss adds that the company has significantly
improved its capabilities for hindered amine light stabilisers. “The backward integration into the key intermediates for the HALS is the crucial factor for supply stability and quality,” she says.
PA activities
Figure 7: Impact of weathering on tensile strength of in-fill treated green LLDPE artificial turf yarns under extended QUV-340 exposure (ASTM G154) comparing a Solvay Cyasorb stabiliser system with a commercial reference Source: Solvay
88 COMPOUNDING WORLD | September 2021
Not all the development activity in stabilisers is focused on polyolefins. Brüggemann has devel- oped a metal and halogen-free heat stabiliser — Bruggolen TP-H2062 — for polyamides used in E&E applications in response to what it says is an urgent need of the industry. The additive offers permanent and improved protection in the temperature range of 120°C to 170°C. It prevents corrosion due to its electrically-neutral stabilisation, maintaining properties such as CTI as well as the mechanicals of compounds even after long-term heat aging. The additive is available as a dust-free and easily dispersible masterbatch whose addition dosage can be readily adjusted to suit the temperature protection needs for a wide range of applications. “TP-H2062 overcomes the disadvantages of both classic copper halide and phenol-based antioxidants,” says a spokesperson for the com- pany. “The former provide superior long-term protection up to 180°C. However, halides can
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IMAGE: UNITECHEM
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