CHICAGO (June 28, 2:30 p.m. EDT) — Milliken Chemical continues to broaden the usefulness of its nucleating agents and clarifiers.
Well-established as clarifiers in polypropylene, Milliken products are now tackling blown polyethylene film to boost clarity and physical properties. Hyperform HPN-20E is its flagship product in this area. Much of the work Milliken did was in conjunction with Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering Co. Inc., said Heather Dolan, business development manager for parent Milliken & Co.
Dolan said her firm ran trials on three-layer blown film machinery at Battenfeld Gloucester's Gloucester, Mass., headquarters. Milliken's entry into PE showed a 40 percent decrease in haze and a twofold increase in gloss compared with unnucleated linear low density PE. Other improvements included a 30 percent increase in machine direction tear, and a 20 percent hike in stiffness.
“Battenfeld Gloucester has been an excellent resource for Milliken while we were developing this additive,” Dolan said. Milliken conducted tests with monolayer, three-, five- and seven-layer constructions. Milliken and Battenfeld Gloucester each have samples and test results at NPE.
PE crystallizes more quickly than PP and is more difficult to nucleate, Dolan said in an off-site interview during NPE. While her firm launches Hyperform HPN-20E in North America, parallel marketing is under way in Asia and Europe.
Hyperform is an undisclosed particulate, whereas Milliken's Millad products are sorbitol-based. Several years ago Millad developed additives to clarify PP film. Millad 3988 has been the Spartanburg, S.C., firm's mainstay in this area.