Erie, Pa. — Eastman Chemical Co. and Momentive Performance Materials Inc. are working together on a medical project: two-shot molding of liquid silicone rubber and thermoplastic, with Eastman's Tritan copolyester and Momentive's self-bonding LSR, called the Silopren 47X9 series.
They go together perfectly, like peanut butter and jelly. That was the title of a presentation by officials of the two companies at Penn State Erie's Innovation and Emerging Technologies Conference, June 21-22.
"Self-bonding to copolyester and Tritan is a big driver here," said Vincent Colarossi, Momentive's senior application development engineering for elastomers.
Both Tritan and Momentive LSR go into a range of products. Tritan, which Eastman introduced in 2007, goes into markets such as baby bottles, packaging, building products and electronic films for things like smartphones and e-readers. Eastman introduced the first Tritan medical applications in 2009, said Yubiao Liu, development association for medical applications.
Liu said Eastman has been working on two big medical areas for Tritan: fluid management and blood contact.
"For the fluid management components, because Tritan has a very good, clear toughness and chemical resistance," he said. Tritan also is durable, and it resists cracking during assembly processes such as sonic welding, and laser welding, bonding and marking, Liu said.
Liu added that Tritan copolyester also has good bonding strength, making it a match for fittings for medical tubing. And, he added, Tritan has very good color stability, when it undergoes Gamma/E-beam sterilization.
Liu and Colarossi tag-teamed during their 30-minute talk at the Penn State Erie conference. Colarossi jokingly apologized for using the PB&J analogy during the final presentation before lunch.
Momentive, based in Waterford, N.Y., is a silicone specialist. Eastman is based in Kingsport, Tenn.
