polymerguru

The new bottles made from renewable raw material are already available at drug stores and supermarkets. The SUNDOWN® regular line of products, which uses groundbreaking technology for the sun care market, is now available at stores in more sustainable packaging. It is one of the few brands around the world to use sugarcane-based polyethylene in its packaging, which contains 60% green plastic and 40% recycled material, thus helping to avoid unnecessary disposal of solid waste. To find out whether the SUNDOWN® product is manufactured using this material, consumers must look for the "I'm Green" logo on the front and back of the packaging. The green plastic developed by Braskem is produced from sugarcane ethanol, a 100% renewable raw material that is also used as fuel in flex cars. Using green resin not only prevents CO 2  emissions but also removes CO 2  from the atmosphere. For each ton of plastic produced, green plastic sequestrates 2.5 tons of CO 2  released during sugar...

With support from the Welsh Assembly Government, Vertech Limited, a relatively new start-up company partnered with Dawyck Estates, Specialist Bridge designer Cass Hayward LLP, Cardiff University’s School of Engineering, Rutgers University’s AAMIPP Department and Axion International to put in place the first recycled thermoplastic road bridge in Europe. Spanning the River Tweed at Easter Dawyck in Peeblesshire, the 90-foot bridge was built using 50 tons of waste plastic in just 4 days by an outstanding team from Glendinning Groundworks Ltd and 10 Field Squadron (Air Support), Royal Engineers. Being made from plastic, the bridge won’t rust, requires no painting or regular maintenance; and is 100% recyclable. Vertech will also be manufacturing sheet materials using the same technology for use by the European construction sector as a replacement for plywood, MDF and laminates. With this unique technology, Vertech hopes that Europe would be able to convert a large volume of plastic waste...

The FDA apparently will issue a final decision next Spring on an interest group's petition requesting a ban on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging. This results from a settlement reached last week in Natural Resources Defense Council v. HHS, No. 11-cv-5801 (S.D.N.Y. 12/07/11). FDA is agreeing to issue a final decision on or before March 31, 2012, settling a complaint by the NRDC that the agency unreasonably delayed a decision on its petition, which dates to 2008. In reality, FDA continued to gather data on the issues, and has been looking at taking what it has called reasonable steps to reduce exposure to BPA in certain aspects of the food supply. For example, the American Chemistry Council has supported restricting the use of BPA in infant feeding bottles and spill-proof cups used by infants. NRDC didn't want to wait for the science, taking the usual pro-plaintiff, anti-industry position that all gaps in knowledge should be filled in with worst-case scenarios. Stud...

Buoyed by consumer preferences, government mandate and corporate commitments, bio-based chemicals and materials will more than double capacity to 9.2 million tons, says Lux Research. The bio-based chemicals and materials industry, carefully nurtured from labs to factories, has reached a tipping point and capacity will double in market potential to $19.7 billion in 2016, as its global manufacturing capacity zooms 140%, according to a recent report by Lux Research. The global capacity for 17 major bio-based materials doubled to 3.8 million tons this year, but over the next five years will climb to 9.2 million tons, bringing critical scale to an industry poised to revolutionize the chemicals market, said the report, titled, "Global Bio-based Chemical Capacity Springs to Scale." "Several strong forces consumer preference, corporate commitment, and government mandates and support are driving development in this space." said Kalib Kersh, Lux Research Analyst and lead au...

Experts estimated the world's installed capacity for concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) at 23 megawatts in 2010. The market research company GTM Research expects annual demand to rise to more than a gigawatt by 2015. Gone are the days of small pilot plants. Forecasts in particular underline the increasing importance of CPV. But a major prerequisite for building the solar panels is a supply of the required high-quality lenses. "We supplied PLEXIGLAS® Solar Fresnel lens parquets for over 10 MW of electricity from concentrating photovoltaics in 2011 already," says Uwe Loffler, who is responsible for the Solar Market Segment at the Acrylic Polymers Business Line of Evonik Industries. "That proved we can produce lenses for multi-megawatt projects." PLEXIGLAS® is used for the primary lenses in the solar panels. These high-quality lens parquets can be supplied with an edge length in excess of one meter. Customers have confirmed the optical efficiency of over 87%. The k...

Styrene is one of the major building-block chemicals used to make many of the rubbery polymers and plastic materials we use today. More than 6 billion tons of it is manufactured each year in the United States alone, most of which goes into producing insulating materials, automobile tires, footwear, medical devices and hundreds of other widely used products. The problem is that all styrene is currently derived from a dwindling resource petroleum and its production requires one of the most energy-intensive processes in the petrochemical manufacturing industry. More than three metric tons of steam is necessary to produce just one metric ton of styrene. That excessive energy consumption also produces significant amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing to the detrimental buildup of greenhouses gases in the atmosphere. At Arizona State University, David Nielsen and Rebekah McKenna are seeking ways to make styrene and other common petrochemicals using renewable resources. They want to produ...

Molecular Solar is pioneering ultra-thin, flexible solar panels that can be used in portable chargers for mobile phones and other handheld devices, allowing devices to be recharged without needing to be connected to a mains power supply. As well as being a convenient way to charge electronic equipment, the technology will also help to reduce an individual's carbon footprint. The Lord Stafford Awards showcase collaboration between business and academia in the Midlands and Molecular Solar was recognised for its very successful partnership with Warwick Ventures, the University of Warwick's technology commercialisation company. Warwick Ventures helped set the company up in 2008 and has been instrumental in securing funding to enable Molecular Solar to translate the research done in the University's Department of Chemistry into marketable products. Most recently, Molecular Solar announced that its solar cells, which are made from organic photovoltaic materials, can now produce ...

PolyOne Corporation, a premier global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, announced an alliance with Sanitized AG, one of the leading producers of antimicrobials with over 50 years of experience, to provide innovative, customizable polymer solutions for specialized healthcare and medical device applications. PolyOne will utilize Sanitized® MedX antimicrobials in select formulations of WithStand™ Antimicrobial Solutions, which consist of active ingredients developed using proprietary technology that helps to inhibit the growth of bacteria, viruses and fungi on plastic surfaces. "PolyOne continues to align with leading global and innovative companies that help us better serve our customers," said Craig M. Nikrant, Senior Vice President and President, Global Specialty Engineered Materials, PolyOne Corporation. "This alliance gives Sanitized the benefit of PolyOne's expertise in medical polymer formulation and our penetration in the health...

The newly-developed ALFAPump™ System from Sequana Medical Switzerland helps patients suffering from excessive fluid in their abdomen: the battery-operated pump implant is based on the  PEEK  polymer VESTAKEEP® from Evonik Industries and has received CE approval. It pumps the excessive fluid from the abdominal cavity into the bladder, from which it can be excreted by the patient in the natural manner. Up to now, the water has had to be drained using painful paracentesis during regular doctor's appointments. Patients with liver disorders, congestive heart failure and certain types of cancer are particularly affected by ascites. The new system consists of a subcutaneously implanted pump and a catheter system: one catheter connects the abdomen to the pump, while the second connects the pump to the bladder. The new technology is made possible thanks to the use of VESTAKEEP®  PEEK,  a polyether ether ketone which is particularly characterized by its biocompatibility and...

Teijin Limited has announced that it will establish the world's first pilot plant for fully integrated production of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) components from carbon fiber on the premises of its Matsuyama Factory in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The new plant will feature Teijin's unprecedented mass production technology for CFRTP components, which significantly reduces cycle times required for molding composite products to under a minute, enabling rapid production of various prototypes and performance evaluation tests. Construction of the new plant will begin shortly, with operations expected to commence in mid 2012. The new plant will enable Teijin to further accelerate its commercialization of CFRTP components for mass-produced automobiles and other industrial uses. Capital expenditure for the establishment of the pilot plant will total over two billion yen. Teijin's proprietary mass production technology for CFRTP enables the integrated production of ca...

Global wind energy installed capacity increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.9% from 74.1 GW in 2006 to 198.2 GW in 2010, of which 36.1 GW came online in 2010. There was a fall in annual additions in 2010 by 10.9%, however, as major wind markets such as the US, Germany and Spain were hit by the global economic crisis. The global wind power markets are expected to recover in 2011 with the huge order intake by major wind manufacturers, the growing Asia-Pacific region, emerging South America and Africa regions, steady European wind markets and recovery in North America,  GlobalData  says. The growing Asia-Pacific wind power market powered by India, China and other emerging countries such as Republic of Korea, Thailand and Philippines will continue to drive the wind power market as well as emerging South America and Africa countries such as Brazil, Columbia, Argentina and South Africa. China largest in 2010 China was the global leader with a cumulative installed ...

French scientists have created a new lightweight plastic that is as strong and stable as other thermoset materials such as Bakelite, yet can be easily reworked and reshaped when heated. The team suggests the material could be used in many applications, from aviation to electronics, while being recyclable and repairable. Typically, the atoms in thermoset polymers are permanently crosslinked giving them excellent mechanical properties and solvent resistance. However, unlike thermoplastics, which can be repeatedly melted and moulded, thermosets remain fixed in shape once made and cannot be reprocessed. Now, Damien Montarnal and colleagues led by Ludwik Leibler at the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution in Paris have created a thermosetting material that can be repeatedly reshaped like a silica glass using heat. According to the team the reworked material retains the mechanical properties of the original material. 'These materials are thermoset organic res...

Toray Industries, Inc. has succeeded in producing laboratory-scale samples of the world's first fully renewable biobased  PET  fiber by using fully renewable biobased  PET  derived from biobased para-xylene from Gevo, Inc., one of the leading companies in renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels. Gevo has succeeded in converting isobutanol, produced from biomass by employing its own highly effective production method that uses synthetic biology, to synthesize para-xylene employing conventional chemical process used in commercial operations. Toray used terephthalic acid synthesized from Gevo's biobased para-xylene and commercially available renewable mono ethylene glycol (MEG) as raw materials, and successfully produced the PET samples by applying a new technology and PET polymerization in June this year. This biobased PET has exhibited properties equivalent to petro-based PET in laboratory conditions. Toray has also succeeded in the production of a fiber using this...

Leftover lettuce, old bunches of flowers, potato peelings, coffee grounds: the average kitchen generates lots of organic waste. This can be turned into nutrient-rich compost in an industrial composting plant, but only if it is collected separately in advance and that can be a bothersome and unhygienic task. Throw the leftovers straight into the bin and you will be confronted with a foul-smelling residue after emptying it. Lining the bin with a paper bag means liquid soaks through, the paper tears. This dilemma results in large quantities of compostable material ending up in the normal rubbish and subsequently being incinerated, using lots of energy in the process. Alternatively, biodegradable waste is disposed of in regular plastic bags, which must be painstakingly removed at the composting plant. Bioplastic Bin Liners BASF has a solution to this problem: the compostable plastic Ecovio® FS. In an industrial composting plant, this innovative material biodegrades within four weeks. ...

The all-new 2012 model – the only factory-built, CNG-powered car produced in America – received the honor yesterday. The prize was presented to Honda by the editors of Green Car Journal representing a diverse panel of environmental experts and automotive enthusiasts who annually select a single vehicle for its outstanding environmental performance. The six-judge panel on the Green Car of the Year jury selected the Civic Natural Gas from a field of five contenders,  including the Ford Focus Electric, Mitsubishi i, Toyota Prius V and Volkswagen Passat TDI. "The Civic Natural Gas is not only a great vehicle, it also demonstrates Honda's commitment to provide a variety of alternatives to gasoline," said Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "The Civic Natural Gas and the all-new Fit EV that we introduced yesterday at the Los Angeles Auto Show are the latest additions to a rapidly expanding family of alternative energy Honda v...

As part of its commitment to help London 2012 stage a sustainable Olympic Games, The Coca-Cola Company is placing 260 new recycling bins in locations around the city centre. These bins will encourage people to recycle the 11,000 tons of waste produced in the capital every day - before, during and after the Games. Working in partnership with WRAP, Coca-Cola has already established 44 Recycle Zones across the country, and has plans to almost double this number by the time the Games commence. The process that follows the collection of waste includes the following steps:  1. The bottle gets picked up, squashed as small as possible and taken to a reprocessing plant 2. There, the bottle is spun in a special machine to shake off dirt and a magnet removes any metal 3. All the bottles are sorted by color and type 4. The sorted bottles are ground into flakes, and the flakes are then sieved through to get rid of any discolored or contaminated bits 5. These tiny pieces of plastic can then b...

Theoretical research by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has led to record-breaking sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiencies in solar cells. The researchers showed that, contrary to conventional scientific wisdom, the key to boosting solar cell efficiency is not absorbing more photons but emitting more photons. "A great solar cell also needs to be a great light emitting diode," says Eli Yablonovitch, the Berkeley Lab electrical engineer who led this research. "This is counter-intuitive. Why should a solar cell be emitting photons?  What we demonstrated is that the better a solar cell is at emitting photons, the higher its voltage and the greater the efficiency it can produce." Yablonovitch is the corresponding author of a paper describing this work titled "Intense Internal and External Fluorescence as Solar Cells Approach the Shockley-Queisser Efficiency Limit." Co-author...

A new plastic chair introduced in Brazil is receiving awards for its contemporary look with a focus on features such as geometry, harmony and consistency thanks to Ticona Engineering Polymers and the exceptionally well balanced property profile of Celstran® long fiber reinforced thermoplastics (LFRT). Manufactured from a single mold, the IC01 chair by designer Guto Indio da Costa uses a  glass fiber  reinforced  polypropylene  ( PP ) Celstran LFRT grade from Ticona that offers design, processing and cost advantages vs. unfilled polypropylenes and acrylonitrile butadiene styrenes ( ABS ), as well as short glass reinforced nylons and polyesters. "In addition to the significant weight and cost advantages over typical materials used in similar applications, this Celstran  PP  LFRT offers high stiffness, strength, toughness and low warpage while providing wide design latitude, colorability and a much better surface finish out of the mold," said Simone Orosco, ...

SABIC's Innovative Plastics strategic business unit is presenting the low moisture absorption of Ultem*  polyetherimide  ( PEI ) foam for composite aircraft structures. Ultem resin's low-moisture absorption is critical in that it helps address two major aircraft OEM challenges: reducing weight for fuel conservation and emissions reduction, and lowering systems costs while delivering equal or better performance than traditional materials. Low moisture absorption combined with the proven flame-smoke-toxicity (FST), dielectric, acoustic and thermal performance of Ultem foam underscores the pioneering work of SABIC in engineering superior, world-renowned thermoplastic solutions for the aircraft industry. "By replacing competitive materials such as polymethacrylimide (PMI) with Ultem foam, OEMs and tiers can meet their environmental goals and industry challenges, while lowering systems costs by streamlining processing and extending the application's useful life," sai...

Scientists at a Chinese university said Monday they can use rice to make albumin, a protein found in human blood that is often used for treating burns, traumatic shock and liver disease. When extracted from rice seeds, the protein is "physically and chemically equivalent to blood-derived human serum albumin (HSA)," said the research in the US-published Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings could lead to a breakthrough in production of HSA, which typically comes from human blood donations. The demand for the blood protein is about 500 tons per year worldwide, and China has faced worrying shortages in the past. The rice method was devised by scientists at Wuhan University in China and colleagues from the National Research Council of Canada and the Center for Functional Genomics at the University at Albany in New York. First, they genetically engineered rice seeds to produce high levels of HSA. Then, they worked out a way to purify the protein from the se...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500165_162-20126356/body-parts-manufacturing-future-may-be-now/ CBS News)   Synthetic body parts sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but body parts that can be used in humans are actually being made and used. A medical professor in England has developed a new nano-plastic that has enabled a world first in organ transplantation and opened the door to "off-the-shelf" body parts.  CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips remarked that professor Alex Seifalian's work might well be the start of a whole new medical industry. While the technique is not yet approved in the United States, Seifalian's London lab is already getting body part orders from other countries around the world. "60 Minutes" on growing body parts Phillips, who recently visited Seifalian's lab, reported that you might think you'd stumbled onto a film set for a re-make of "Frankenstein" in which the synthetic parts are manufactured. Bu...