polymerguru

Bio-on and FLOS present the world's first product made with PHAs, the 100% naturally water-biodegradable bioplastic. The first design object to be made in this initial test of the revolutionary material is Miss Sissi, the FLOS lamp designed in 1991 by Philippe Starck and now an icon in lighting design. The creativity, experience and global presence of FLOS are thus teamed with the innovation of bio-on, the sole owner of the technology to produce PHAs bioplastic. Made so far of polycarbonate, one of the most widely used plastics in industry, Miss Sissi passed the test with the new bioplastic developed over the last 5 years in Italy by bio-on (using Co.Pro.B by-products). The PHAs biopolymer is revolutionary because it is made from the waste materials of sugar beet and cane production (so it has zero impact on the food cycle), it requires no organic solvents, it is completely biodegradable in soil and water and it provides exceptional performance. "We are proud to be

The world's first molecular nanotechnology company, Zyvex Technologies, and ENVE Composites announced an exclusive partnership to provide a bicycle rim specifically for downhill mountain biking that uses the latest advanced materials comprised of Nano-enhanced carbon fiber. This new bicycle rim gives a significant competitive advantage to the downhill cycling market as proven during the last year in development and testing. The ENVE DH rim provides performance benefits to all downhill cyclists including those that compete at the highest levels of World Cup racing. ENVE used Zyvex Technologies' Nano-enhanced carbon fiber technology called Arovex, which is a carbon nanotube and graphene engineered composite material that uses the proprietary Kentera technology to create chemical bonds on the carbon nanotubes. It provides an advantage in toughness without compromising strength. It also protects from fracture damage. ENVE has an exclusive license for this advanced technology for

After four years of construction, China famous Aizhai suspension bridge has been officially opened the 31th March 2012. Its large rock anchor sling and rock anchor base are made of carbon fiber material. Aizhai Bridge is a super large bridge connecting Hunan Jishou to Cha Dong highway across the Aizhai Grand Canyon. It is constructed by Hunan Road Bridge Group. The bridge is a single crossing suspension bridge with steel truss plus stiffening girder. The main cross is 1176 meters. And the width of bridge deck is 24.5 meters. The deck height is 350 meters above the bottom of the canyon.  In the process of construction, the bridge creates four world firsts:     1) The building height of Canyon crossing is 335 meters, and the length of crossing is 1176 meters.     2) A new structure of tower beam separation has been applied.     3) The rail cable shifting beam technology has been applied in erecting the main truss beam.     4) Large rock anchor sling and rock anchor base are made of c

In fact  Roquette  started to work on sorbitol and to produce it in small quantities in the early fifties. Thanks to our application laboratories, we quickly discovered a huge number of possible applications for this product, some of them were really unexpected. One of the big outcomes of sorbitol is its use as humectants in toothpastes and chewing gums. It is also an efficient alternative to sugar, which makes it popular in sugar-free pharmaceutical syrups. It is also widely used in sugar-free candies. We therefore developed numerous grades of sorbitols and derived polyols, with a wide range of purity and final properties. Sorbitol is also a raw material for the vitamin C, which production volumes have been significantly moved to China these past years. Because  Roquette  started very early to work on sorbitol and its derived products it is now a leading producer of other polyols (maltitol, xylitol, and so on). But sorbitol is also well known in the chemical industry: it is used as

3M is introducing the newest member of its high-strength hollow glass bubbles product line that will change the way the industry uses lightweight fillers. This new product will enable customers to do more with their resin systems. 3M™ Glass Bubbles iM16K are a high-strength injection molding grade for  polypropylene  and  polyamide  systems. They enable manufacturers to produce optimized resin formulations for lower-density filled plastics - without compromising strength or other physical properties. Now, manufacturers can do more beyond reducing weight. With a density of just 0.46 g/cc, resin systems optimized with iM16K can reduce weight by 15 percent or more in  polypropylene -filled systems, and 18 percent or more in nylon  glass fiber  systems, while maintaining optimized physical properties. Manufacturers can see productivity gains when using resin systems filled with high strength glass bubbles, such as iM16K. Because iM16K is hollow, like all 3M glass bubbles, there is less f

At JEC Europe, Booth #U17, SABIC's Innovative Plastics business is spotlighting a variety of lightweight, high-performance composites and other advanced materials that are making important contributions to its customers' sustainability initiatives across major global industries. In particular, the outstanding weight-out and non-halogenated flame retardance provided by SABIC's high-performance  Ultem ™  polyetherimide  ( PEI ) materials are increasing their appeal as environmentally responsible solutions. Customers are choosing  Ultem  materials for a broad range of applications - not just in aerospace, where they have achieved notable successes, but also in automotive, rail, oil & gas and building & construction. Ultem carbon-fiber-filled resin, structural foam, and textile fiber can slash part weight by up to 50 percent to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions. These innovative materials also provide exceptional, inherent flame-smoke-toxicity (FST) perf

Cereplast, Inc. ,a leading manufacturer of proprietary biobased, sustainable  bioplastics,  completed a third party Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) report that assessed the environmental impacts of a number of conventional and renewable plastics from cradle to factory gate (from raw material extraction to the production of the plastic product), and determined that Cereplast Hybrid 101 is superior to all conventional plastics evaluated in terms of overall environmental impact. The study was performed by Sustainmetrics and compared Cereplast Hybrid 101 bioplastic to four different conventional plastics including Low Density Polyethylene  ( LDPE ),  Polyethylene Terephthalate  ( PET ),  High Impact Polystyrene  ( HIPS ) and  Polypropylene  ( PP ). The LCA is currently undergoing third party peer review, which will be completed within the next two weeks. The goal of the study was to assess the environmental impacts from cradle to factory gate through an LCA method that quantifies the environ