MATERIALS | BIO-BASED POLYMERS
Compounds with natural fibres
PolyOne says its reSound NF, a natural fibre filled portfolio of materials launched in 2015, is making headway these days with a number of appliance manufacturers interested in creating products with a higher sustainability factor. Products have a minimum 30% bio-based fibre content and can be formulated using a number of base resins, including PLA blends but also fossil-based polymers like ABS and PP. Testing at Fraunhofer ICT Institute in Pfinztal, Germany has shown
that a 40% filled reSound NF formulation has equivalent performance to a 30% filled short glass fibre reinforced alternative, at a 7-8% lower density. Several trials have shown that reSound NF can be successfully processed on standard injection moulding machines and dropped into existing tooling with little to no modifications.
similar hardness, and even exceed some of them. For example, it has a tensile strength of 36 MPa. The elongation at break is 660%. It is suitable for extrusion and injection moulding. Desmopan 37385A has a hardness of 85 Shore
A. Covestro plans to expand the series with variants of different hardness. A product with a hardness of 95 Shore A is in advanced development. Back on more solid bio-ground, Lubrizol Engi-
Below: Lubrizol is aiming at light-coloured auto interior parts, among other things, for its bio-TPU
neered Polymers says it is working on a new gener- ation of its aliphatic Bio TPU for injection moulding. “This is the first bio-based TPU that looks, functions and feels even better than conventional TPU,” the company says. “The new development is designed to achieve outstanding moulding performance, me- chanical strength and chemical resistance.” Shore A hardness is 80. The grade can be highly transparent or in light colours, does not yellow, and has high stain and hydrolysis resistance. Trinseo also offers bio-based non-degradable
TPUs, designated Apilon 52 Bio, for footwear and the leather goods sectors. These compounds were also designed to have equivalent physical- mechanical properties and the same processability
as traditional fossil-based TPUs. At another TPE supplier, Hexpol TPE Group, Global R&D Manager Klas Dannäs says interest in bio-based materials in the automotive industry has accelerated over the last few years “and it’s an upward trend. Our Dryflex Green TPEs are being adopted for several applications previously using conventional TPE compounds, both as a drop-in substitution, without the need for mould or tool modification, and also for new developments.” Dannäs says that, since most bio-based raw ma- terials in the market are quite hard on their own, a major challenge has been to develop compounds with high renewable content at low hardnesses, while at the same time maintaining mechanical properties at acceptable levels. “With grades from 15 Shore A, Dryflex Green TPEs differ from other soft thermoplastic materials on the market, by also including soft materials with high levels of renew- able content,” he says. Depending on the hardness, compounds with a renewable share of over 90% are possible.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.pttmcc.com �
www.abmcomposite.com �
www.trinseo.com �
www.bio-fed.com �
www.bio-on.it �
www.biomer.de �
www.maipsrl.com �
www.radicigroup.com �
www.dsm.com �
www.cathaybiotech.com �
www.covestro.com �
www.lubrizol.com �
www.hexpoltpe.com �
www.braskem.com �
www.polyone.com
58 INJECTION WORLD | March 2019
www.injectionworld.com
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