Additive makers plan product launches

Minerals firm Tolsa SA (S152017) will be at NPE2018 with new ingredients for flame-retardant additives.

"Our materials are natural silicates that work in combination with flame retardants," global special additives business development manager Miguel Cristobal said in a recent phone interview. "They boost flame retardant properties in wire and cable uses, which are an important application for us."

The additives offer tailored performance benefits and make it possible to replace part of the high-loaded flame retardant system allowing better processability, officials added in a news release. Tolsa is based in Madrid, with North American mining operations in Casper, Wyo.

"Health and safety regulations are getting more stringent," Cristobal said. "The first market we're targeting is wire and cable, but we're also looking at automotive and train applications."

He added that Adins-brand silicates work with most polymeric matrices, including polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC. They can be used with formulations based on halogen and halogen-free solutions.

In wire and cable applications, the additives have shown significant improvements in fire retardancy. Demand for the materials is growing at an annual rate of around 6 percent, according to Cristobal. The materials are sold as a powder or can also be supplied as a masterbatch.

Other additives suppliers making the scene at NPE2018 include:

Milliken & Co. (S26023) of Spartanburg, S.C., which will feature its extensive portfolio of additive technologies for improving the clarity, performance and processing of polyolefins.

At NPE 2018, Milliken will launch two new products: A unique performance modifier for injection molded impact copolymer polypropylene (ICP PP), and the latest technology in its Hyperform HPN family of nucleating agents, which is specifically designed to maximize stiffness in ICP PP, officials said in a news release.

They added that both of these novel technologies "will significantly change" the way ICP PP performs, particularly regarding impact strength, stiffness and melt flow. By improving the physical properties of post-consumer recycled resins, the new performance modifier allows converters to take greater advantage of their cost and sustainability benefits, officials said.

Milliken's expanding array of products "add significant value" to PP, PE and other popular materials used in the packaging, housewares, furniture, industrial, automotive and appliance industries, they added.

The company's clarifying and nucleating agents will be featured in a wide range of plastic parts to be produced live on the show floor by leading manufacturers of thermoforming, injection molding, extrusion blow molding and compression blow forming machinery. Examples include pharma bottles and ice cream lids with in-mold labels.

Liquid color and additives maker REPI LLC (S19103) of Lonate Ceppino, Italy, will be spotlighting its portfolio of specialty additives for packaging, which ranges from Anti Yellow and IV Enhancers for recycled PET to UV Additives and special UHT Milk — barrier whites, which preserve the content from light damage.

REPI's Xpansor is a foaming agent for PVC in liquid form. It's able to lighten sheet and make smooth surfaces. REPI also makes ancillary equipment, such as its new Light Meter Plus, which can accurately measure color and additive performance.

Additives maker Vertellus (S10155) of Indianapolis will introduce two innovative technologies for driving increased use of recycled polyester in nylon resins and enhancing the benefits of recycled PET.

Officials said that by enabling new alloys and compounds containing these recycled resins to deliver improved properties and processability, the new additive solutions will help compounders and OEMs boost sustainability and control costs without sacrificing performance.

The first new Vertellus technology at NPE is a compatibilizer for creating alloys of recycled polyester and nylon. This technology enables new materials with performance properties similar to those of virgin nylon, but with a significant cost advantage.

Key properties of the new technology are excellent impact strength, tensile strength and flexural modulus. Target applications for these polyester/nylon alloys include office furniture, sporting goods, automotive parts and textile fibers.

Vertellus will also showcase a patent-pending technology for upgrading recycled PET and possibly bioplastics such as polylactic acid (PLA). This new additive is expected to deliver higher clarity and better performance at lower dosages.

Taiwanese additives maker Chitec Technology Co. Ltd. (S10139) will spotlight Revonox 6 Plus, its spiro phosphite antioxidant (SPA). The material is a powerful secondary antioxidant that protects melt-flow index and yellowing of polymers. Its advantage includes low melting point, high efficiency and solubility, officials said.

Revonox 6 is recommended for polyolefins applications such as high density polyethylene rotational molding, auto parts and polypropylene fiber spinning, as well as powder coating applications which require extra protection against thermal degradation.

AESSE Sales & Distribution (AESSE S&D) (Booth S11119) is a new sales, distribution and corporate development unit that will exhibit along with SACO AEI Polymers. Sheboygan, Wis.-based AESSE will feature impact modifiers, coupling agents and flame retardant masterbatches made in the U.S. by SACO AEI Polymers and products manufactured by its off-shore supplier partners in China.

Outside of SACO materials, AESSE will spotlight silicone-based and nylon-based masterbatches from Javachem, chlorinated polyethylene from Sundow Polymers Co. Ltd. and epoxy-based compatibilizers and additives from Fine-Blend.

AESSE officials said that the plastics industry is moving toward the development of more specialized, performance-enhancing additives to differentiate compounded products. They added that this trend is emerging as large resin suppliers provide less customization support and processors increasingly rely on specialty additives to develop tailored material solutions.

Orion Engineered Carbons (Booth S3701) is launching a new line of specialty carbon black beads. The Kingwood, Texas-based firm has developed the new materials specifically for thermoplastics requiring conductivity and anti-static properties.

OEC also will showcase its Printex-brand beads for pressure pipe, Arosperse-brand beads for wire and cable applications and Printex Kappa-brand beads for applications requiring electrostatic dissipation.

Officials said that the firm's XPB-brand are ideally suited for plastic auto body parts that require conductivity to ensure trouble-free coating. They're also appropriate for electronics packaging and for blown films for a range of packaging applications, officials added.