Keeping the family tradition in materials, SPE

Paul Browitt has seen the future and it looks black.

Black as in graphene, that is.

Browitt, membership chair for the Quebec Chapter of the Society of Plastics Engineers, said in a phone interview that the two-dimensional form of carbon is one of the newest plastics industry trends and it is showing some very interesting characteristics.

Browitt is president and owner of Terinex International Ltd., a materials supplier based in Saint-Lazare, Quebec. Terinex recently added graphene to its diverse product lines that include resins, additives, concentrates and compounds. Among graphene's most promising applications is as a molded-in shield against electromagnetic frequency interference in plastic parts for electronics goods.

"Comparing graphene to carbon black, you only need a fraction of the material," Browitt said from his office. In addition to shielding properties, graphene usage could reduce risk of delamination or other degradation of physical properties.

Browitt said the high price of graphene need not discourage its use. When other manufacturing costs are taken into account, graphene could be the most cost-effective additive. It promises to eliminate a costly painting step often used to impart shielding to a plastic part and it can lessen impact on other physical properties. It also is not as fine a powder as carbon black, so workplace hygiene is a lesser problem.

Terinex sells graphene products and other plastics-related materials in small lots, often less than a thousand pounds. In this niche, Terinex fills a gap in the supply chain. Most large materials producers don't want to handle less-than-truckload quantities, but Terinex can meet their needs, according to Browitt.

Terinex is especially well-situated for Quebec's plastics industry. Most processors in the sector are small to medium companies and they value a supplier that is sensitive to their needs. Terinex has been filling those needs since 1976, when Terence Browitt founded the company that his son Paul now manages.

"It's a real problem when a big supplier wants to sell a truckload to one customer rather than several smaller clients," Paul Browitt explained. "In desperation, small customers look for solutions."

Paul Browitt continues an SPE tradition in his family started by his father, a long-time and active SPE member who is now retired at age 75. Terence Browitt was SPE president in 2001-2002. In 2015, Terence Browitt was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame.

Paul Browitt has been an SPE member since 1997, which shouldn't be a surprise.

"My dad said, 'If you work here, you will need to be involved in SPE.'"

And involved he is. Paul Browitt is on SPE's task force looking to revamp the organization. That builds on his previous stints as president of SPE's Quebec Chapter and as an International Councillor.