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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share :: What is the glass transition in plastics, really not from a datasheet point of view, but from the polymer molecule and up?

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share What is the glass transition in plastics, really not from a datasheet point of view, but from the polymer molecule and up? Plastics soften, become rubbery or flow when used above their glass transition temperature (Tg). Below Tg, those same materials become stiff, brittle and glassy. Parts crack in cold environments. Impact resistance disappears. What worked fine yesterday suddenly fails today. The glass transition is the temperature range where molecular mobility becomes mechanically relevant. It is not a chemical change or a melting event. - The polymer does not melt. - No chemical bonds are broken. - The chemistry does not change. - There is no phase change. Tg arises from cooperative segmental motion: small segments of polymer chains start to move together, enabled by sufficient thermal energy and free volume. Below Tg, polymer chains are effectively locked in place, like a tangled ball of yarn. Stress is stored elastically, leading to brittle fracture. ...

Teijin Carbon Advances High-Performance Cycling with Aerospace-Grade Prepreg Systems

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High-end bicycle manufacturers are entering a new era where frames and components must be lighter, stiffer, tougher, and more sustainable, all while enabling fast, repeatable, and cost-efficient production. To meet these demands, Teijin Carbon is expanding its portfolio of advanced prepreg systems, specifically tailored for premium road, gravel, and mountain bike applications. Drawing from its aerospace heritage, Teijin Carbon utilizes resin systems, fiber grades, and layup technologies originally engineered for certified aircraft structures. This expertise has resulted in a sports-focused prepreg range designed to help bicycle brands achieve new levels of performance, structural reliability, and design freedom. "Lightweight alone is no longer enough in high-end cycling. Brands now look for a balanced combination of stiffness, toughness, durability, flexural performance, and sustainability," said Yuki Tamenaga, vice president Global Sports Marketing & Strategy at Teijin C...

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share :Surface Morphology of Epoxy resin

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Designing a transparent epoxy resin requires the right ingredients and the correct balance between them. The material shown in the picture is the same one-component epoxy resin, cured with UV light in 60 seconds, but cast on two different surfaces. While the intrinsic transparency is determined by the chemistry of the formulation, the actual light transmission strongly depends on the surface morphology. In one case the surface allows light to pass through clearly, whereas in the other the rougher morphology causes light scattering, resulting in a white, opaque material. Same resin, same Chemistry, just a different surface. Physics often gets the last word 😉 source : Gianvito Romano #epoxyresin #morphology #opaque

BASF introduces BDO, THF, PolyTHF® and NMP product variants with reduced product carbon footprint (rPCF)

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BASF’s Intermediates division has introduced new product variants with a reduced product carbon footprint ( #rPCF ) for #butanediol (BDO), #tetrahydrofuran (THF), #polytetrahydrofuran (PolyTHF®), and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) produced at its Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. From this site, the products can be supplied to customers worldwide and help expand the division’s new rPCF product category, which is currently under development. The reduced product carbon footprint is achieved through low emission feedstocks and utilities at the Ludwigshafen site. As a result, the rPCF variants offer a lower carbon footprint of at least 10 percent compared to the corresponding standard products manufactured in Ludwigshafen. Supporting customers’ transformation toward lower‑carbon materials By introducing rPCF variants for BDO, THF, PolyTHF and NMP, BASF expands its portfolio of intermediates with a reduced product carbon footprint and supports customers in taking another step in redu...

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : 𝙇𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙫𝙨. 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share 𝙇𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙫𝙨. 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨: 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙄𝙨 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 For decades, the composites world has lived inside a familiar architecture. Thermosets built the cathedral: stable, mature, deeply optimized. Aerospace-grade precision. Automotive-grade trust. A global supply chain trained to repeat the same symphony. But every cathedral eventually meets its renaissance. Thermoplastic composites spent years in the wings, underestimated or misunderstood. Then something changed. Energy. Speed. Recyclability. Processing freedom. A new generation of applications that refuse to wait 8 hours for cure. What’s emerging now isn’t a trend. It’s the beginning of a structural shift. 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 (𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭) 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐬 • Incredible maturity and data depth • Predictable, repeatable performance • Embedded across aerospace, mobility, sports • A vast ecosystem of chemistry and know-how 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 ...

Aditya Birla and Catack-H partner to develop global composite waste recycling

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Today, on Tuesday 10 March 2026, on JEC World 2026, Advanced Materials Business of #AdityaBirlaChemicals (Thailand) Limited (AM-ABCTL), which is part of the Aditya Birla Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Korea-based Catack-H Co. to establish a partnership on #compositerecycling . The two companies wish to develop sustainable, scalable and commercially viable recycling solutions for the recycling of #compositewaste streams. This would benefit all the sectors in which composites are used, i.e. wind energy, construction, sports & leisure, automotive and aerospace. Catack-H, which is a South Korea-based deep tech startup, will lead the integration and optimisation of solvolysis-based recycling technologies, combining its own one – developed by KIST (Korea Institute of Science and Technology) – and AM-ABCTL’s proprietary Recyclamine (registered trademark) technology. The aim is to establish a closed-loop recycling system in which recovered materials can be r...