MATERIALS | STRETCH & SHRINK FILM
contains calcium carbonate. “PLA and amorphous PHA shows a good balance between stiffness, strength tear and puncture,” said Vuurens. Compared to pure PLA film, the PLA/PHA films have a faster composting rate, higher output, improved flexibility and higher toughness, he said. “MDO combined with CA1240PF leads to
microporous films – resulting in reduced density,” he added.
Both compounds have been subjected to blown
MDO processes (with up to fourfold stretch achieved). Potential applications include shrink wrap and labels – as well as frozen food bags, hygienic films and other products.
High compatibility Lucobit of Germany has developed a number of stretch hoods based on its Lucofin material – an ethylene butylene acrylate (EBA) copolymer. Rinos Muchenagumbo, chief sales officer at
Lucobit, said the material has good compatibility with a range of polymers, is recyclable and has good elongation and tensile properties. He said there was an established structure for
stretch hoods: two outer layers (each about 20% of the thickness) such as metallocene LLDPE contain- ing antiblock, slip agents and stabilisers; and an elastomeric middle layer, comprising around 60% of the thickness, acting as the ‘stretch engine’, he said. He said that a Lucobit stretch hood kept the same thickness ratios, but that it contained around 26% Lucofin in total – which helped to cut material costs by around 15%.
“Lucofin reduces melt pressure by 10-20%,
meaning that output can be raised by 10-15%,” he said. Typically, melt pressure reduces from 400 to 300
bar, bubble stability is retained and wall thickness variation is small (1-3%). He added that tensile strength can be increased and wall thickness decreased.
“Despite a slight increase in orientation, the film performed well with 13% less wall thickness,” he said.
He cited one US customer, who tested Lucofin-
based stretch hoods on a shaker table to replicate transit conditions. According to the customer: “The stretch hoods lasted the entirety of the typical testing time without any major shifting. We also had some competitor films on the table at the same time and they failed almost immediately.” n The next edition of Stretch and Shrink Film runs in Charleston in the USA, on 3-4 December 2024. For more details, contact Angelina Ruocco on +1 610 478 0800 (
angelina.ruocco@
amiplastics.com).
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.sabic.com �
www.lantech.com �
www.gerdaugraphene.com �
www.cargill.com �
www.baystar.com �
www.colines.it �
www.erema.com �
www.mingca.com.cn �
www.exxonmobilchemical.com �
www.cjbio.net �
www.lucobit.de
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