COMPATIBILISERS | MATERIALS
post-industrial waste and post-consumer waste at over 30%, which results in a rough surface layer being formed. This creates a major issue with printing through high print head wear and loss of print definition. Incorporating a Polarfin di-block into the original film at low levels means the film can 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. This will allow packaging companies to have the freedom to design the best performance and lightest weight packaging, but with the ability to have it classed as recyclable into either PP or PE waste streams. The company 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. Interface Polymers will also have a commercial development plant starting up in the third quarter of this year to meet increasing industry demand for di-block compatibilisers.
Intermix Performance Materials – formed at
Cornell University in the USA – has successfully scaled up one of its materials that compatibilises virgin and post-consumer blends of PE and PP. “We are currently working with four end-users of polyole- fins to explore the use of their materials in a number of applications,” says Geoff Coates, Co-founder of Intermix and Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. “These include recycling of post-consumer plastic packaging, development of polymer alloys for use in athletic gear, remediation of PE and PP rope recovered from the ocean, and reinforcement in composite pipe construction. Intermix is also investigating a new generation of compatibilisers with a major polyole- fin producer and was recently granted STTR grants from the National Science Foundation (Phase 1) and Department of Energy (Phase 2).”
Intermix has developed a multi-block copolymer (MBCP) that when added to a stream of mixed PP and PE enables these two polymers to be com- bined, yielding a polymer alloy that is mechanically comparable to pure PE and PP samples, without the need for sorting. The MBCP additive can compatibilise mixtures of PE and PP with as little as
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