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Moulding materials
News Release from: Smithers Rapra | Subject: Nano plastics compounding facilities
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 17 February 2006
Nano plastics technology made available
Rapra Technology, a polymer research and test house, is making its nano compounding facilities and expertise available to companies seeking to optimise their own materials, processes and products.
Rapra Technology, Europe's leading polymer research and test house, is making its nano compounding facilities and expertise available to companies seeking to optimise their own materials, processes and products All plastics materials and processes will be considered by Rapra for a 'nano-boost' - and Rapra may also be able to offer part-funding for some of the research and feasibility investigations
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 25 Apr 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Colin Chilles led the first part of Rapra's nano-compounding project - an ambitious 12 month research project into the effects of melt processing of montmorillonite type nanoclays when combined with selected polyamides and polypropylenes: "Our initial work succeeded in mapping out the materials and processability terrain in several areas.
Truth to tell, there is much less mystery around nano materials than even twelve months ago," he says.
"Practical development is the key and we at Rapra now feel ready to approach the market on that basis with our services, know-how and solutions." Chilles says that in commercial terms: "Nano-compounded polymers basically offer the user a much tidier and lighter package with improved structural performance than the alternative additives and fillers.
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True, the nano materials can be more expensive but they offer a combination of properties that can be hard to match, such as stiffness, heat distortion temperature, improved barrier and flame retardancy properties.
In terms of overall additive loading, research shows that nanoclays can replace four to five times their weight of conventional additives for the same or better results - thus making the overall bill of material goods lighter and potentially cheaper." Rapra is aiming to help companies with the formulation and development of nanoclay compounds for companies with ambitions in the nano materials area.
This will be backed up with the extensive testing and analysis facilities of Rapra.
"It will also be possible to look at the predictive processability of these polymers," says Chilles, "So that companies are confidently able to go forward to produce a better nano-based product on their own equipment - ideally at less cost." The performance of a number of nylon and polypropylene materials in nano compounding have impressed the Rapra researchers to date, although Chilles notes that many other polymers such as TPU's and polyesters have very bright developmental futures.
Perhaps unsurprisingly engineering polymers and technical injection moulding have been leading the nano plastics future to date and automotive applications have seen the biggest take up of nano-polymer use.
Car trim and panels for example give greater tensile, impact and scratch resistance and engine parts give higher heat distortion temperatures.
Generally, notes Chilles, "The main uses for nanoclay polymer compounds are in high value applications where weight saving and specific properties are of importance." He adds that: "Our desk research has found estimates of the polymer nanocomposites market growing by 18.4% /year from 2003-2008 - but I suspect that these figures are now higher." At the heart of the project is Rapra's Rondol extruder machine.
The company chose the 21mm, 40 L/D screw Rondol compounder because its size and length was most appropriate for the project and because it can handle relatively low amounts of material (< 1kg samples) with a fast turnaround.
The Rondol is also ideally suited to producing sufficient quantities for customer evaluation trials and also has good up-scale potential in relation to larger compounding machines.
The 21mm clam shell barrel machine has a variable agitator configuration capability, side feeder and will soon include the touch screen data acquisition option.
This offers flexibility for developing and making small production runs of new compounds of nanofilled or conventional compounds.
The machine can be configured for studying the effect of feeding and processing parameters on compound performance.
For example, Rapra researchers have configured it for the addition of carbon nanotubes, liquid plasticisers, super critical gases as well as nanoclays.
* What are Nanoclays? - Nanoclays are sold as creamy white powders with a particle size in the order of microns or tens of microns.
By processing them - for example, through Rapra's twin screw compounder - the particle size will then be reduced into the nano-particle range.
Chemically, Nanoclays are a form of high purity aluminosilicate mineral derived from montmorillonite (MMT).
MMTs have a sheet type or plate type structure and the layers are about 1 nanometre thick with a plate diameter of 100-500 nanometres.
The MMTs are first washed to purify them and are they typically treated with a surfactant or other surface treatment molecule.
This has two purposes.
The first is to widen the gaps between the plates (gallery spacing) - up to six times in some cases.
The second purpose of the surface treatment is to give affinity for the intended polymer of end use.
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