polymerguru

A cross-institutional team of scientists has engineered a new family of enzymes to convert plant waste into sustainable and high-value products, such as nylon, plastics and chemicals. Lignin – A Main Component of New Enzymes The newly engineered enzyme is active on lignin – one of the main components of plants, which scientists have been trying for decades to find a way of breaking down efficiently. Lignin acts as scaffolding in plants and is central to water-delivery. It provides strength and defence against pathogens. Professor McGeehan, Director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation in the School of Biological Sciences at Portsmouth said, “ To protect their sugar-containing cellulose, plants have evolved a fascinatingly complicated material called lignin that only a small selection of fungi and bacteria can tackle. However, lignin represents a vast potential source of sustainable chemicals, so if we can find a way to extract and use those building blocks, we can create great thin...

Polyscope Polymers B.V. has introduced a new engineering thermoplastic alloy combining the benefits of styrene maleic anhydride ( SMA ) and polymethyl methacrylate ( PMMA ) to meet the needs of the rapidly growing point-of-care (POC) microfluidic medical test device segment.  Features of XILOY™ Alloy The injection moldable polymer, called XILOY™ SO2315 SMA/PMMA alloy, offers excellent optical properties, biocompatibility with a variety of proprietary coatings, reagents, and blood and tissue products, and maintains high dimensional stability to assure accurate and reliable immunoassay test results. The material is in use on devices completing their final agency reviews and expected to be commercially available to medical professionals soon. Use of SMA and PMMA Alloy to Mold Microfluidic Cassettes The newest material being used to mold microfluidic cassettes is an alloy of SMA and PMMA. The specific reactivity of anhydride groups on the SMA portion of XILOY SO231...

Covestro has partnered Silicon Valley based tech company Carbon to upscale 3D Printing process  to meet industrial demand of mass production.   Joint Forces to Prove Mass Production Viability Silicon Valley based company Carbon has developed Digital Light Synthesis™ (DLS™) technology,  which can accelerate the production of parts up to a hundredfold compared to previous processes.  After years of R&D, Carbon developed a novel polyurethane liquid resin suitable for production parts. Covestro is a key partner in the scale-up and high-volume production of this material.  The company invested a significant sum to enable the production in commercial quantity.  As a result, joint forces proving mass production viability of the 3D-printing process and the  respective material.  "Our biggest challenge in the upscaling of additive manufacturing until series production lies in the supply of suitable materials in the...

An audience at the 16th EIHA Hemp Conference, which took place in Germany in June, has voted for a hemp fiber reinforced plastic material as one of its hemp products of the year. BioLite, a polypropylene (PP) reinforced with 30% hemp fibers benefits from the strength of the fibers, making it strong, light and durable, its manufacturer, Trifilon, says. The new material is suitable for lightweight automotive construction and consumer goods and was used in this instance to make a trolley case.

Michelin and General Motors presented a new generation of airless wheel technology, the MICHELIN Uptis Prototype (or “Unique Puncture-proof Tire System”), at the Movin’On Summit for sustainable mobility. GM intends to develop this airless wheel assembly with Michelin and aims to  introduce it on passenger vehicles as early as 2024 . Michelin Uptis Prototype Later this year, GM will initiate real-world testing and validation of the Uptis Prototype on a Michigan test fleet of Chevrolet Bolt EVs. “General Motors is excited about the possibilities that Uptis presents, and we are thrilled to collaborate with Michelin on this breakthrough technology,” said Steve Kiefer, senior vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, General Motors. “Uptis is an ideal fit for propelling the automotive industry into the future and a great example of how our customers benefit when we collaborate and innovate with our supplier partners.” Airless Technology Airless technology makes t...

Dress with CO 2 :  Two research projects have succeeded in making elastic textile fibers based on CO 2  and so partly replacing crude oil as a raw material.  Covestro  and its partners, foremost the Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University and various textile manufacturers, are developing the production process on an industrial scale and aim to make the innovative fibers ready for the market. They can be used for stockings and medical textiles, for example, and might replace conventional elastic fibers based on crude oil. . Further Milestone in the Use of CO 2  as an Alternative Raw Material The elastic fibers are made with a chemical component that consists in part of CO 2  instead of oil. This precursor called cardyon® is already used for foam in mattresses and sports floorings. And now it is being applied to the textile industry. “ That’s a further, highly promising approach to enable ever broader use of carbon dioxide as an alterna...

The chemical compound carbon dioxide knows the general public as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and because of its climate-warming effect. However, carbon dioxide can also be a useful source of chemical reactions. A working group of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in the journal ChemSusChem reports on such an unusual application. It uses carbon dioxide as a starting material to produce the currently very intensively investigated technology material graphene.  Carbon Dioxide - A Useful Source of Chemical Reactions The burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil supplies energy for electricity, heat and mobility, but also leads to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and thus to global warming. To cut through this causal chain, scientists are motivated to search for alternative sources of energy, but also alternative uses for carbon dioxide. One possibility could be to see the carbon dioxide as a favorable starting material for the...

Automaker Porsche launches the new 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport body parts made of natural-fiber composite materials developed in the Application Center for Wood Fiber Research HOFZET, which is part of the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut WKI, together with the Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites IfBB of Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Features of Porsche’s New Bioconcept-Car The Bioconcept-Car’s driver and passenger doors and rear wing are made using a mixture of organic fibers. Vegetable fibers as a component in organic composites are a sustainable alternative for lightweight vehicle bodies.  The years of experience with the ‘Bioconcept-Car’ were integrated in material development for the parts of the new 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, the first car in series production to feature body parts made of a natural-fiber composite material. The driver and passenger doors as well as the rear wing are made using a mixture of orga...

Researchers have developed a cost-effective and eco-friendly way of producing  graphene  using one of Australia’s most abundant resources, eucalyptus trees. Cheaper and more Sustainable Synthesis Method Graphene is the thinnest and strongest material known to humans. It’s also flexible, transparent and conducts heat and electricity 10 times better than copper, making it ideal for anything from flexible nanoelectronics to better fuel cells. The new approach by researchers from RMIT University (Australia) and the National Institute of Technology, Warangal (India), uses Eucalyptus bark extract and is cheaper and more sustainable than current synthesis methods. Increasing Graphene Availability to Industries Globally RMIT lead researcher, Distinguished Professor Suresh Bhargava, said the new method could reduce the cost of production from USD 100 per gram to a staggering USD 0.5 per gram. “Eucalyptus bark extract has never been used to synthesize graphene sheets b...

WindEurope, Cefic (the European Chemical Industry Council) and EUCIA (the European Composites Industry Association) have come together to create a cross-sector platform to advance innovative approaches to the recycling of wind turbine blades.  Industries Speak WindEurope CEO, Giles Dickson, said: “Wind energy is an increasingly important part of Europe’s energy mix. The first generation of wind turbines are now starting to come to the end of their operational life and be replaced by modern turbines. Recycling the old blades is a top priority for us and teaming up with the chemical and compositors industries will enable us to do it the most effective way.” Cefic Director General, Marco Mensink, commented: “The chemical industry plays a decisive role in the transition to a circular economy by investing in the research and development of new materials, which make wind turbine blades more reliable, affordable and recyclable. Innovation is born from collaboration and we look fo...

XG Sciences  recently announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Sinochem Plastics and Yuyao PGS New Material Technology (an advanced materials development company focusing on the combination of graphene nanoplatelets and thermoplastic composites) to participate in developing advanced composites in China, based on its xGnP graphene nanoplatelets. The Agreement strengthens the on-going relationship among the parties through creation of the Graphene Applications Development Center (GADC), a joint venture company between Sinochem Plastics and Yuyao PGS New Material Technology in the Sino-Italy Ningbo Ecological Park in Yuyao City. The parties recently partnered to bring new  graphene enhanced anti-corrosion coatings  to industrial and marine applications. Under the Agreement,  graphene-enhanced thermoplastic composites  will be developed by GADC and will exclusively leverage graphene nanoplatelets produced by XG Sciences. The partie...