Material News th
Material News th www.bio-based.eu www.biowerkstoff-kongress.de Int. Congress 2013 6on Industrial Biotechnology and Bio-based Plastics & Composites April 10 th – 11 th 2013, Maternushaus, Cologne, Germany Highlights from the world wide leading countries in bio-based economy: USA & Germany Organiser www.nova-institute.eu Partner ARBEIT UMWELT S T I F T U N G UND DER IG BERGBAU, CHEMIE, ENERGIE www.arbeit-umwelt.de www.kunststoffl and-nrw.de WWW.CO2-chemistry.eu Conference on Carbon Dioxide as Feedstock for Chemistry and Polymers CO2 Bio-based tie layer Yparex B.V. (Enschede, The Netherlands) recently announced that it is the first supplier in the packaging industry to develop and commercialize an adhesive tie layer for multilayer packaging films that is to a great extent bio-based. This tie-layer resin is derived from 95% annually renewable resources and is fully recyclable, yet it meets the same performance specifications as non-renewable petroleum-based polymers of the same family. Being asked about the chemistry of the adhesive resin, Wouter van den Berg, General Manager of Yparex told bioplastics MAGAZINE, that it is a maleic anhydride- (MAH)-modified and functionalized polyolefin compound, where the polyolefin is biobased. More details cannot be disclosed here, but van den Berg is open to all kind if direct inquiries. Yparex’s response to the need for more sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging was to develop a biobased version of the company’s popular Yparex ® brand adhesive tie-layer resin for multilayer barrier-packaging producers. Adhesive tie layers are special polymers used in very-popular multilayer films that bond together dissimilar resins that otherwise would not adhere to each other. The new extrusion grade is suitable for blown or cast multilayer film structures that use common barrier resins like polyamide (PA) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH). The new polymer is the first of what the company hopes will become a growing family of bio-based ‘green’ tie layer grades. Since the plant-based resin behaves exactly as the same grade of petroleum-derived resin does, it is a perfect drop in solution for packaging manufacturers looking to lower their carbon footprint and offer their customers a more sustainable product. MT www.yparex.com. CO 2 as chemical feedstock – a challenge for sustainable chemistry 10 th – 11 th October 2012, Haus der Technik, Essen (Germany) Organiser Partners Institute for Ecology and Innovation www.nova-institute.eu www.hdt-essen.de www.kunststoffland-nrw.de www.co2-chemistry.eu www.clib2021.de 30 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/12] Vol. 7 www.arbeit-umwelt.de
Material News New PLA/ABS blend Toray introduces High Plant Content Grade ECODEAR By Kotaro Sagara R&C Green Innovation Business Planning Dept. Toray Industries, Inc. Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan Toray Industries, Inc. (Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan) recently announced that it has developed a high plant content grade of the environmentally friendly biomass-based resin ECODEAR , which contains 50% or more polylactic acid (PLA) made from plant derived starch. Toray will start selling the material in September this year for office automation equipment and electronic products that need to comply with EPEAT, the environmental rating tool for electronic products in the U.S. Toray’s Ecodear is a biomass-based resin polymer alloy that combines PLA with ABS to give sufficient mouldability and physical properties, as PLA alone would have inadequate mouldability, durability, heat resistance and strength for certain applications. The use of PLA in Ecodear until now was limited to 30% to give the material the required physical properties, but the new development enabled to increase the content of PLA to 50% or more. This has resulted in further improving Ecodear’s potential to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases including CO 2 . 2 µm ABS PLA While PLA-based resins carry high expectations for expansion of its use in the future, they are less suitable for certain moulding processes compared with other materials and rather inferior to these materials in durability, heat resistance and strength over a long period. On the other hand, ABS resins have a wide range of applications including home electronics, office automation equipment, automobile and toys and are highly versatile given its well-balanced properties of high mouldability, durability, heat resistance and strength. Toray developed an alloy resin combining these two materials to offer Ecodear , which is an environmentally friendly and high-utility resin material. In recent years it has become an important issue to increase the content ratio of PLA resin while maintaining sufficient physical properties. Towards that end, a method has been proposed to add talc, a mineral used for reinforcement, to crystalize PLA to improve the physical properties of the material when increasing the portion of PLA resin. This method, however, is not productive and far from practical, as it requires moulding at the temperatures of 90°C or higher for crystallization. Toray aimed to achieve the level of mouldability and physical properties of the material containing 70% or more of ABS resins with the lowest possible content ratio of ABS polymer, and succeeded in evenly dispersing small amount of ABS resin in PLA resin by utilizing morphological control, which gives full command of control over molecular structure. This resulted in the realization of the high plant content grade of Ecodear that addresses PLA resin s existing weakness in mouldability and physicality with 30% less ABS resin content. www.toray.com General purpose ABS resin PLA resin Existing ECODEAR Newly developed grade Competing products by other companies Content ratio of PLA resin (% by weight) 0 100 30 ≥50 ≥50 Moldability Features Tool temperature (degree Celsius) 40~80 40 40~60 40~60 ≥90 Molding Time Short Long Short Short Long Charpy impact strength (kJ/m2) Heat Deflection temperature HDT/B ( @ 0.45MPa) 10~20 2 ≥10 ≥10 ≥10 95 57 ≥80 >70 ≥80 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/12] Vol. 7 31
