SICOMIN LAUNCHES SR GREENPOXY 28 - THE NEW BIO BASED EPOXY RESIN FOR HP-RTM PROCESSING

As the Automotive industry focuses on more sustainable manufacturing, Sicomin, the leading supplier of eco-resins, has announced a replacement for petroleum based materials with the launch of its new bio-based epoxy resin aimed specifically for HP-RTM processing techniques.

SR GreenPoxy 28 is the sixth product to be added to Sicomin’s renowned GreenPoxy range and is available with immediate effect in the industrial quantities typically required by Automotive OEM’s.

Certified by Veritas, SR GreenPoxy 28 is a fast cycle, low toxicity, third generation bio based formulation aimed specifically at the HP-RTM moulding processes used for both high performance structural parts and aesthetic carbon fibre components. The new formulation has been optimized for fast production cycle times and superior mechanical performance.

SR GreenPoxy 28 can be fully cured using a 2-minute cure cycle at 140 Deg C, producing an onset Tg of 147 Deg C, as well as exceptional mechanical properties under both dry and hot/wet test conditions.

Comments Philippe Marcovich, President, Sicomin; “More and more manufacturers and suppliers are betting on bio-based alternatives derived from renewable raw materials. The latest addition to our GreenPoxy range, SR GreenPoxy 28, is an exciting alternative to traditional resins providing exceptional performance and quality for high volume programmes.”

Source:SICOMIN

A New Way to Turn Chicken Feathers into High-performing Fire Retardant

Researchers at the University of Auckland have developed a way to turn chicken feathers into a high-performing fire retardant. 

New Safer Alternative to FRs

Chicken is a popular source of protein in most parts of the world and millions of chickens are produced each year for us to eat – in New Zealand it’s estimated we each eat, on average, about 40 chickens a year.

Billions of chicken feathers are produced by the poultry industry, most of which end up in the incinerator or landfill. Chicken feathers are, in short, an international waste problem.

However, Distinguished Professor Debes Bhattacharyya of the Faculty of Engineering has found a way to use chicken feathers as a base for a fire-retardant, one that is safer than many fire-retardants, cheaper to produce, and solves an international waste problem at the same time.

“People pay to get rid of chicken feathers,” he says.

Keratinous Fibers from Chicken Feathers

Chicken feathers are made of keratinous fibers which are found in the hair, wool, horns and hooves of mammals. They are also naturally occurring flame inhibitors. Fire retardants are added to industrial and consumer products such as furniture, textiles, electronics, even Christmas trees, as well as building products such as insulation. Traditionally halogen compounds were added to create flame retardant material, but while they were effective, they were highly toxic. 

“They might have saved you from death by burning, but have exposed to many more effects that are detrimental to health. Furthermore, as a result of the environmental long life and bioaccumulation, traces of the compounds have been detected in everything from household dust to breast milk, causing hormone-disrupting effects", says Dr Bhattacharayya. 

As a result there has been a global shift away from halogenic retardants and toward other types of retardants among which ammonium polyphosphate (APP) is the most prominent. However, as they are expensive to produce there is an increasing demand for alternatives.

Dr Bhattacharayya and his team have previously shown that chemically modified wool fibers also made of keratin can also be used as an effective retardant. This could potentially provide a revenue stream for low-grade wool in an era when the price of and demand for wool have declined.

Alternative Source of Keratinous Fibers

They more recently turned to chicken feathers as an alternative source of keratinous fibers, which are even cheaper and in many countries, more of a waste problem.

The team has developed a rapid and simple way to chemically modify the keratinous fibers of both wool and chicken feathers, and convert them into a flame retardant powder that can be added to polymeric materials.

The powder enhances the fire retardancy of the polymer by accelerating char formation, the solid material produced in the initial stages of combustion, and which inhibits combustion.

“Moreover, standard fire retardants need to be added in high concentrations which can reduce strength as a result, but what we’re showing is that we can optimize the process so that this fire retardant removes this disadvantage of inferior mechanical performance compared to current fire retardants,” says Dr Bhattacharyya.

“We also assessed this from a commercial perspective and have been able to show that the cost around this compound is around a third lower than the existing standard compounds used as a fire retardant. So it’s a perfect fire retardant material, passes most of the fire retardant standards, and can be used with polymeric materials.”

He acknowledges that the method has so far been proven in the lab and getting it to market will require getting companies on board to develop ways to produce the keratinous fiber-based product at a large scale, and to ensure that it is compatible with existing manufacturing processes.

“However, initial results are very promising and has attracted the interests of several multi-national companies."

“Our invention, whose intellectual property rights are protected, has been tested to show that it could be a direct replacement for APP, the predominant existing product.”

Source: University of Auckland

Researchers Find New Method to Produce Conductive Graphene Material Using Bacteria

In order to create new and more efficient computers, medical devices, and other advanced technologies, researchers are turning to nanomaterials: materials manipulated on the scale of atoms or molecules that exhibit unique properties. 

Graphene—a flake of carbon as thin as a single layer of atoms—is a revolutionary nanomaterial due to its ability to easily conduct electricity, as well as its extraordinary mechanical strength and flexibility. However, a major hurdle in adopting it for everyday applications is producing graphene at a large scale, while still retaining its amazing properties.

Mixing Oxidized Graphite with Bacteria

In a paper published in the journal ChemOpen, Anne S. Meyer, an associate professor of biology at the University of Rochester, and her colleagues at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, describe a way to overcome this barrier. The researchers outline their method to produce graphene materials using a novel technique: mixing oxidized graphite with bacteria. Their method is a more cost-efficient, time-saving, and environmentally friendly way of producing graphene materials versus those produced chemically, and could lead to the creation of innovative computer technologies and medical equipment.

Thinnest Yet Strongest

Graphene is extracted from graphite, the material found in an ordinary pencil. At exactly one atom thick, graphene is the thinnest—yet strongest—two-dimensional material known to researchers. Scientists from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of graphene; however, their method of using sticky tape to make graphene yielded only small amounts of the material.

“For real applications you need large amounts,” Meyer says. “Producing these bulk amounts is challenging and typically results in graphene that is thicker and less pure. This is where our work came in.”

Lab Procedure

In order to produce larger quantities of graphene materials, Meyer and her colleagues started with a vial of graphite. They exfoliated the graphite—shedding the layers of material—to produce graphene oxide (GO), which they then mixed with the bacteria Shewanella. They let the beaker of bacteria and precursor materials sit overnight, during which time the bacteria reduced the GO to a graphene material.

“Graphene oxide is easy to produce, but it is not very conductive due to all of the oxygen groups in it,” Meyer says. “The bacteria remove most of the oxygen groups, which turns it into a conductive material.”

While the bacterially-produced graphene material created in Meyer’s lab is conductive, it is also thinner and more stable than graphene produced chemically. It can additionally be stored for longer periods of time, making it well suited for a variety of applications, including field-effect transistor (FET) biosensors and conducting ink. FET biosensors are devices that detect biological molecules and could be used to perform, for example, real-time glucose monitoring for diabetics.

“When biological molecules bind to the device, they change the conductance of the surface, sending a signal that the molecule is present,” Meyer says. “To make a good FET biosensor you want a material that is highly conductive but can also be modified to bind to specific molecules.” Graphene oxide that has been reduced is an ideal material because it is lightweight and very conductive, but it typically retains a small number of oxygen groups that can be used to bind to the molecules of interest.

Bacterially-produced Graphene Material - Applications

The bacterially produced graphene material could also be the basis for conductive inks, which could, in turn, be used to make faster and more efficient computer keyboards, circuit boards, or small wires such as those used to defrost car windshields. Using conductive inks is an “easier, more economical way to produce electrical circuits, compared to traditional techniques,” Meyer says. Conductive inks could also be used to produce electrical circuits on top of nontraditional materials like fabric or paper.

“Our bacterially produced graphene material will lead to far better suitability for product development,” Meyer says. “We were even able to develop a technique of ‘bacterial lithography’ to create graphene materials that were only conductive on one side, which can lead to the development of new, advanced nanocomposite materials.”

Source: University of Rochester

Discovery of a New Class of Enzymes to Convert Plant Waste into Eco-friendly Products

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 things.”

“Cellulose and lignin are among the most abundant biopolymers on earth. The success of plants is largely due to the clever mixture of these polymers to create lignocellulose, a material that is challenging to digest,” he further added.

Engineering of Naturally Occurring Enzymes

The team’s goal is to discover enzymes from nature, bring them into our laboratories to understand how they work, then engineer them to produce new tools for the biotechnology industry. In this case, the team has taken a naturally occurring enzyme and engineered it to perform a key reaction in the breakdown of one of the toughest natural plant polymers.

Current enzymes tend to work on only one of the building blocks of lignin, making the breakdown process inefficient. Using advanced 3D structural and biochemical techniques the team has been able to alter the shape of the enzyme to accommodate multiple building blocks. The results provide a route to making new materials and chemicals such as nylon, bioplastics, and even carbon fiber, from what has previously been a waste product.

The discovery also offers additional environmental benefits – creating products from lignin reduces our reliance on oil to make everyday products and offers an attractive alternative to burning it, helping to reduce CO2 emissions.

An International Research Team of Specialized Experts

The research team was made up of an international team of experts in structural biology, biochemistry, quantum chemistry and synthetic biology at the Universities of Portsmouth, Montana State, Georgia, Kentucky and California, and two US national laboratories, NREL and Oak Ridge.

Professor McGeehan said, “We now have proof-of-principle that we can successfully engineer this class of enzymes to tackle some of the most challenging lignin-based molecules and we will continue to develop biological tools that can convert waste into valuable and sustainable materials.”

The research was jointly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the DOE EERE Bioenergy Technologies Office. The 3D enzyme structures that underpinned this work were solved at the Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility in Oxford. 

Source: UoP News

Newly Engineered Thermoplastic Alloy by Polyscope Polymers for Medical Segment

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 SO2315 copolymer is especially helpful in microfluidic chip applications for its intrinsic ability to react with the “bioanchor,” which captures and binds to analytes (substances/chemicals of interest, e.g. amino acids, peptides, proteins) in the fluid sample, simplifying the post-mold coating process while, at the same time, making it more robust and cost-effective. 

SMA also provides higher thermal stability than PS for tests requiring heat to process samples, plus it maintains very-high dimensional stability to assure micro channels operate properly and cassettes fit into test devices. SMA is not especially miscible with PS, leading to a copolymer that is more opaque than transparent. Instead, chemists combine it with PMMA, with which it is highly miscible. 

The PMMA portion of the copolymer provides excellent transparency for optical detection test methods and has good biological compatibility with human tissue and fluids. The resulting copolymer is chemically compatible with the proprietary coatings and reagents typically used on microfluidic cassettes. It also processes easily and maintains consistent tight dimensions for intricate molded micro patterns that are critical to accurate and reliable rest results. 

Use of XILOY SO2315 Copolymer in Further Applications

In addition to use for disposable microfluidic cassettes for POC medical diagnostic devices, XILOY SO2315 copolymer is also appropriate for use in a variety of demanding applications in lighting, display, housewares, and consumer disposable applications. 

 

Source: Polyscope Polymers BV

Covestro Joins Carbon to Upscale 3D Printing for Digital Mass Production

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 required quality and quantity," explains Patrick Rosso, global head of additive manufacturing at Covestro. "By partnering with companies like Carbon, we are pushing existing scale boundaries and supporting various industries along the value chain on their way to digital mass production.” 

Production Using DLS™ Technology on a Large Scale

Efficient manufacturing process DLS™ technology developed by Carbon, is now being used for the 

first time on a large scale. Like stereolithography, the workpiece is created in a vat of liquid plastic

 resin that is cured by means of UV radiation. 

At Carbon’s DLS™ technology, oxygen is supplied from below to counteract the curing and thus 

creating a liquid dead zone. For this purpose, the bottom of the vessel is made of a light- and 

air-permeable membrane, like a contact lens. Due to this dead zone, the printed part can be 

pulled continuously upward without the formation of individual layers. 

Production using DLS™ technology is up to 100 times faster than with stereolithography – another

 important prerequisite for industrial mass production. In that context, a proprietary process combines 

software, hardware and materials. It imparts the desired technical and mechanical properties to the 

finished parts. 

Rising Demand of 3D Printing in Industrial Mass 

Production

3D printing offers unique opportunities to produce three-dimensional, often complex shaped parts 

in one single step. While predominantly prototypes and sample parts have been produced in small 

numbers so far, many industries are increasingly interested in industrial mass production. 

Covestro is currently researching materials to enable an extended range of industrial applications. 

To this end, the company is upgrading laboratories for 3D printing at its Leverkusen, Pittsburgh and 

Shanghai sites, where it develops and tests material solutions for serial additive manufacturing in 

collaboration with different customers. 
 

Source: Covestro

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Hemp fiber-reinforced plastic wins product of the year

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.