Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Tosaf to Unveil Innovative Property-enhancing Masterbatches at Fakuma 2024

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

At Fakuma 2024, Tosaf will be presenting its latest developments in the field of property-enhancing masterbatches for the plastics industry. One focus will be on the optimization of products made from PET and rPET in particular.

The company will also be presenting its new PPAX color masterbatches for coloring PPA, PFAS-free processing aids for film extrusion and halogen-free flame retardants for PP. Examples of Tosaf's commitment to sustainability will include the CO2 footprint calculator, bio-based materials, recyclates and biodegradable plastics.

Optimizing the Properties of PET and rPET:

As to be shown at Fakuma, Tosaf offers a wide variety of solutions for PET and rPET that help to optimize quality, efficiency, sustainability and costs during processing and recycling. With regard to the aesthetics and functionality of PET packaging, additives are available that correct the color and gloss of rPET or prevent water droplets from depositing on the inner walls of packaging.

Additives for absorbing and eliminating oxygen from the headspace of packaging, UV protection additives and - especially for milk containers - ultra-lightproof white masterbatch help to extend product shelf life. Acetaldehyde scavengers prevent changes in the flavor of water in rPET bottles. Processing aid additives prevent electrostatic charging or change the surface properties of PET to prevent blocking and reduce the coefficient of friction. Special IR absorbers facilitate thermoforming with uneven wall thicknesses without impairing clarity.

Additives are used to improve the properties and quality of rPET by linking shortened PET polymer chains and thus increasing the molecular weight. Compatibilizers enable the recycling of PET-PCR blends that are contaminated with polyolefins or barrier plastics such as PA and EVOH. An NIR-reflective black masterbatch facilitates sorting during recycling.

HFFR for Safe Fire Protection with PP

FR8719PP is an innovative, halogen-free flame retardant (HFFR) from Tosaf for PP pipes or molded parts that are used, for example, for laying and fixing cable conduits and for conducting liquid media. Even in low concentrations, it makes it easy to comply with strict fire protection criteria and thus enables a switch to a more sustainable solution without the products losing any of their flame retardancy and properties. Processing advantages are the good dispersing behaviour in the melt and the very low formation of dye build-up during extrusion. If halogen-free is not a priority, brominated flame retardants such as FR6413PE and chlorinated, low-cost grades such as FR0049PE from Tosaf offer high thermal stability and fire protection without compromising the product properties.

PFAS-free for Improved Processability

Tosaf's PFAS-free processing aids for the extrusion of polyolefins can be used without restriction instead of conventional formulations for film production. They meet the FDA and EFSA food contact requirements and, depending on the grade, are optimized in terms of either their rheological or their optical properties such as light transmission, haze and clarity. The unproblematic behavior of PFAS-free monomaterial PE films in recycling is an advantage.

Coloured PPA without Loss of Properties

With PPAX, Tosaf Color Service has developed a new colour masterbatch carrier system that is based on the high-performance plastic PPA (polyphthalamide) and is combined with specially selected pigments that allow high processing temperatures. This makes it possible to produce products made with it in brilliant and varied colours without reducing the high heat resistance, very good strength, stiffness and toughness, low moisture absorption and high chemical resistance. It can also be used to laser mark-coloured parts.

Documented Sustainability

Tosaf is leading the way on the ‘green path’. It quantifies and reports on its carbon footprint down to product level, utilizes solar energy and offers a portfolio of products based on renewable sources or recyclate. Thus, the company is already prepared for a further tightening of regulations. At the same time, Tosaf is fulfilling its customers' desire to maintain relationships with environmentally conscious partners. The company has already undergone global validation for the ISO 14064 standard for quantifying and reporting greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. This now covers the entire life cycle of a product and does not end at the factory gate. Tosaf calculates its carbon footprint for the production facilities as a whole as well as for the products themselves and makes the results available to customers on request to calculate their own sustainability figures.

Tosaf is also continuously expanding its portfolio of sustainable solutions. Options include bio-based concentrates that use coffee grounds and eggshells as fillers, polymers from renewable sources and recycled polymers. These are supported by a collaboration with recycling plants for various polyolefins and polystyrene.

source: Tosaf/polymer-additives.specialchem.com