The Fraunhofer IMWS institute has developed a new process to significantly increase the adhesion of polymers. The idea for the process came from gecko lizards, which can climb vertical walls because their legs their hierarchical and fibrillated structure, they have a large surface area in contact with the surface. In polymers, such surfaces can be produced by hot-blow moulding (embossing).
A sensitive point for packaging is welding, especially for recycled or bioplastics. With ultrasonic welding machines, the time dependence of the process parameters can be precisely adjusted. Flexible packaging manufacturers have two main options to reduce their carbon footprint: on the one hand, reduce the amount of plastics produced from non-renewable materials, i.e. increase the The first is to reduce the amount of plastics made from renewable raw materials, i.e. by increasing the amount of bioplastics, and the second is to turn to renewable raw materials.
Even in large plastics processing companies, there is a cheap shredder at the end of the most modern production line, but this is an intermediate product that can make a lot of money after recycling at Hellweg Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG in Roetgen, Germany. In addition to shredding production waste, shredders can play an important role in preparing for recycling. This is aided by an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted sorting process, in which cameras and sensors improve object recognition and material assignment in the material flow.
In most plastics processing plants, raw material dryers are standard equipment, except where only polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene are processed. These polymers do not require drying as they are non-hygroscopic and non-polar. Water is a highly polar substance, so polymers that have a certain degree of polarity can absorb moisture from the atmosphere. The amount of moisture that a given polymer can absorb depends on the chemical composition of the polymer and the moisture content of the surrounding atmosphere.
In recent times, the most important thing in car recycling has been to recover as much of the valuable metals as possible of the metal. This was changed by the European Commission when it required new cars to have at least 25% of recycled recycled plastic. New recycling processes are needed to meet this requirement.
Korea's SK Chemicals is a joint venture between Hyosung Advanced Materials Co. Ltd. and Hankook Tyre and Technology Co. Ltd., has developed an iON brand of a new electric car-only tire for electric vehicles, reinforced with a cord made of recycled PET fibers. The so-called circular recycling technology used is a chemical method to break down waste PET into monomers and produce a new polymer.
Toray Industries (which also owns Zoltek Rt) has developed a pyrolytic process to recover Torayca carbon fibres used in Boeing 787 aircraft that are left over in the scrap between production and recycle them into thermoplastic composites. The resulting recycled carbon fibre (rCF) is used, for example, in the manufacture of the Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon 12 laptop, reducing its carbon footprint and reducing its carbon footprint. carbon footprint.
Within plastic waste, the recycling of post-consumer (PC) waste in particular is a major challenge: 65% of this waste is currently incinerated or landfilled. PC waste usually contains several types of polymers, contaminated either by additives or by use. There are also difficulties in recycling thermosetting plastics. In these cases, chemical recycling can be a solution, whereby small molecules are recovered from the plastic using chemical technologies and recycled to polymer or other primary raw materials.
The Israeli company UBQ Materials has added sustainable, bio-based additives to its globally patented technology that converts waste into useful materials. The new additives, which are compatible with PP, HDPE, LLDPE, PS, PVC and PLA, can partially replace these materials in varying proportions depending on the application, without compromising quality or durability.
Can chemical recycling revolutionise the management of plastic waste? The Consumer Goods Forum, a consumer goods organisation, has commissioned Sphera consultants to carry out a life-cycle analysis of the pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste from consumers and related chemical recycling technologies.
Robust and durable, fibreglass-reinforced plastics are widely used, for example as aircraft parts or in windmill blades. But their disposal is problematic. At the end of their life cycle, most fibreglass-reinforced plastics end up in landfills, which is not an ideal solution from a sustainability point of view.
The Austrian-owned company Gabriel-Chemie has started a new 2200 m2 investment in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. The €6 million investment is scheduled to be completed in 2024, doubling their current production area and providing space for additional extrusion lines. The building will include 800 m2 of additional office space. The company has been producing colouring master batches in Hungary since 2003. The investment is a sign of the company's commitment to invest in Hungary and will further expand the activities of the Gabriel-Chemie group.
In plastics processing, productivity is closely related to the ratio of tool change time to total production time, which is increasing due to the very small batch sizes in Just-in-Time production. The tool change assistant integrated in the Engel CC300 control can permanently reduce the average 60-90 minutes of manual tool change to less than 20 minutes and optimise the automatic blow-out function for each tempering cycle.
Despite the fact that the production and application of plastics containing electrically conductive additives has a long history, life is not stopping here, with continuous development. The basic aim is to achieve the conductivity level required in a given application with as few additives as possible and as cheaply as possible. In terms of applications, three classes (not clearly distinguishable) are distinguished: antistatic products, which reduce dust deposition on the surface, static dissipative products, which can dissipate static charge build-up within a foreseeable time by grounding, and conductive products, which can shield against electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Baerlocher USA's Baerolub AID polymer processing aids (PPAs) can be a suitable alternative to the perfluoro and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used in extrusion.
In plastic injection moulding, productivity is measured by the number of good quality and saleable products that can be produced with the available machines, materials and human labour. This article describes five ways to increase the productivity of injection moulding.
Keeping single-screw extruders running at peak performance is a constant challenge for processors, especially for older machines. When the extruder is running continuously, the screw and barrel can show signs of wear. The main signs include a decrease in specific speed and higher material exit temperature.
As construction projects continue to grow, so does the demand for large diameter plastic pipes. This article describes two new installations and some of the many large projects.
The formation of a line is a very common defect in injection moulding. Liner is best described as excess plastic that does not fit the mould pitch or weld configuration. As a processor, the goal is to avoid the operator having to remove the queue, which reduces the time spent on supervision and can result in incorrectly queued products reaching the customer.
During the Covid19 pandemic, a number of passenger aircraft were converted into cargo aircraft. With this goal in mind, a two-year collaboration between KraussMaffei and the National Institute for Aeronautics Research (NIAR) at the University of Wichita, using KraussMaffei FiberForm technology, has resulted in a thermoplastic acoustic window plug that weighs 20% less than the metal version (590 grams) previously used.
The Hungarian research on the understanding and modelling of the sealing problems of rotating axes in the Martian and lunar environment was a great success and recognition at the international conference organised by ESTEC on the topics of research funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). The problem is posed by the aggressive abrasive effect of the Martian and lunar dusts (regoliths).
All electronic devices generate heat, which can cause temperature-related problems over time. Therefore, in rechargeable devices, from high-power appliances to consumer electronics and electric vehicles, heat conduction is a major issue, and in ever-shrinking electronic devices, heat dissipation needs to be addressed.
A partnership between multinational LyondellBasell (LYB) and Hunan Huda Aisheng Group (AISN), a Chinese Tier I company with the most advanced economic indicators in China, has produced the first lightweight plastic hood applications for new energy vehicles from premium Chinese car brands, which were unveiled at Chinaplas 2024 in Shanghai.
Soon you will see bicycles on the streets made almost entirely of plastic, with half of the plastic recycled. The bicycle's components were developed by the German company Igus for the Dutch bicycle manufacturer MTRL a bicycle manufacturer. The first 100 bicycles from the Dutch company will soon be on the market.
Market research firm Innova Market Insights has forecast the key packaging trends for 2024 in its Top Packaging Trends 2024 report.
Plastics have led to significant technical progress in the medical devices market, including surgical and wearable devices and implants. Plastics in medical devices packaging, sterile containers and innovative drug formulation.
The Innovation Competition, organised for the 52nd time this year by the Society of Plastics Engineers, the automotive division of the Society of Plastics Engineers, once again featured a number of unique innovations in all eight categories. As in previous years, thermoplastics and thermoplastic composites were the clear leaders.
Bio-based plastics could be a promising alternative to conventional oil-based plastics, which would significantly contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting fossil energy resources. The Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (IfBB) at the Hochschule Hannover is currently investigating the suitability of such materials for use in high-temperature environments.
Polyethylene and polypropylene are thermoplastics belonging to the polyolefin family. They have many similar properties but differ according to their specific production technology and manufacturer. Polyethylene is produced and used in larger quantities than PP. Polypropylene is difficult to access in some regions.
Recently, many areas of industry have focused on the imminent phase-out of polyfluorinated alkyl compounds (PFA, small and large molecules) in the EU and other industrialised countries. This will either mean finding suitable substitutes or identifying areas where substitution is not feasible with current technologies - but again, only a temporary reprieve can be hoped for. In this article, we present the attempts of the Spanish company Tolsa to replace PTFE (poly(tetrafluoroethylene)) in its flame retardant formulations.
Long-fibre reinforced thermoplastic (LFT) compounds are characterised by their outstanding mechanical properties are increasingly being chosen for high-performance applications. They are successful substitutes for metals or various thermosetting polymers, achieving significant weight reductions and making processes more efficient and faster. Furthermore, the recycling of thermoplastic compounds is significantly easier. All this contributes to sustainability, reducing the carbon footprint of the product.
Around 8 million tonnes of polyamide are produced each year. Roughly a quarter of this is PA66, the rest PA6. For PA66, the plastics industry uses more than 50%, for polyamide 6 the situation is reversed: two thirds is used for fibre production. For polyamides, currently only 2% of the feedstock used comes from recycling, while for polyesters it is 15%.
In polyamides, it is the repeated presence of the -CO-NH- group that is dominant. They belong to the family of engineering plastics. Polyamides have a wide range of applications in the automotive, transportation, E+E, consumer products, etc.
Carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composite pallets solve many problems in material handling. The lighter weight and modular pallet design can be an answer to the challenges of logistical efficiency and sustainability, i.e. lower fuel consumption of vehicles and reduced waste due to longer life.
Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are characterised by flexibility similar to rubber, but processability similar to thermoplastics. Their favourable properties and wide range (14 000 types are referred to in the Omnexus database) make this group of materials worth reviewing:
Plastic films are designed to offer high performance in a wide range of applications and to allow high-speed extrusion without tearing and with ever decreasing thickness, while maintaining or improving their physical properties. Additives including antioxidants, anti-slip agents and processing aids are key to this performance.
The molecules that make up polymers are very long and have a chain-like shape, resulting in a tangled structure. This is advantageous in some respects, as polymers can achieve relatively high elongation, mostly without fracture, but it limits the formation of crystal structure at the molecular level. Consequently, under normal processing conditions no polymer can be completely crystalline. Some polymers are only partially crystalline, with a so-called semi-crystalline structure, consisting of crystalline and amorphous particles.
Besides temperature and time, the long-term behaviour of polymers is also affected by stress. The stress-strain curves recorded at a given temperature provide information on the relationship between stress and deformation. For example, for very short-time loading, the yield point or the breaking point is the upper limit of application. However, as the duration of the load increases, the allowable stress that can be applied in polymer systems must be reduced to ensure that the product performs as expected over its lifetime.
