BASF to Increase Production Capacity for Polyisobutenes in Germany

BASF will increase the production capacity for its medium-molecular weight polyisobutenes, marketed under the tradename OPPANOL® B, at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, by 25%.

Increased Demand for PolyisobutenesBASF will increase the production capacity for its medium-molecular weight polyisobutenes, marketed under the tradename OPPANOL® B, at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, by 25%.

Increased Demand for Polyisobutenes

The investment comes in response to the rising global demand for high-quality medium-molecular weight polyisobutenes. The capacity expansion is expected to reach full completion by the first half of 2025.

“With this step we are further strengthening BASF’s position as a reliable supplier that strongly supports growth and the demanding requirements of customers in various industries,” said Lena Adam, senior vice president, fuel and lubricant solutions, BASF.

Suitable for Window Sealants

Medium-molecular weight polyisobutenes are essential performance components for products in a variety of industries including the automotive, construction, electronics as well as the food & packaging industry. Applications, for example, may include surface protective films, window sealants, binder material for batteries and food packaging solutions.

“The additional production capacity for our medium-molecular weight OPPANOL® B polyisobutenes will enable our customers to grow with innovative solutions that contribute to sustainable development, for example, in energy-efficient housing. Building on our backward integration into key raw materials we will be leveraging the full strength of BASF as a global leader in polyisobutene,” said Dr. Tanja Rost, vice president, global marketing and product development, fuel and lubricant solutions, BASF.

Source:BASF/Specialchem

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#polymers #polyisobutene #sustainable #window #sealants #expansion #basf #germany

US Plastics Machinery Shipments Decline Almost 20% Year-on-Year

Single-screw extruders are a rare bright spot in survey, with shipments surging just over 40%.

Shipments of primary plastics machinery in North America declined 4.1% in Q2 2023 compared with the previous quarter and 19.8% from the same period in 2022, according to the Plastics Industry Association's Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES). The initial estimate for the second quarter of 2023 indicates a shipment value of $331.6 million.

Bucking the trend, shipments of single-screw extruders surged 39.3% in a quarter-over-quarter (Q/Q) analysis and exhibited an even more remarkable year-over-year (Y/Y increase of 40.9%, according to CES. By contrast, shipments of twin-screw extruders declined 15.0% Q/Q and 11.2% Y/Y.

Injection molding machinery shipments declined 6.1% Q/Q, and 23.6% Y/Y. 

Subdued manufacturing landscape

Noting that the manufacturing sector is the main customer of the plastics industry, PLASTIC’s Chief Economist Perc Pineda, PhD, commented: “Although the US economy exhibited resilience in the first half of 2023, the decline in plastics machinery shipments signifies a subdued manufacturing landscape. The upswing in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) that followed the conclusion of the COVID-19 recession reached its peak in the first quarter of 2021, subsequently maintaining a consistent trajectory. Interestingly, PCE on services commenced its recovery at a slower pace post-COVID-19 recession, and this upward trend has persevered, playing a pivotal role in driving the economic expansion in the first half of the year," said Pineda.

Plastics machinery suppliers expressed some optimism that business would improve in the months ahead. In the most recent quarterly CES survey gauging their outlook on market conditions and equipment expectations, the percentage of participants expecting conditions to either remain the same or improve in the next 12 months rose to 46.0%.

Plastics machinery exports rise:

During the second quarter, US exports of plastics machinery saw a notable uptick of 10.2%, reaching a total value of $252.8 million, reports the CES. The primary export destinations for US plastics machinery, Mexico and Canada, collectively received exports worth $126.4 million, accounting for 50% of all US plastics machinery exports. Imports, valued at $458.6 million, declined 10.5%. As a result, the trade deficit in plastics equipment shrank by 32.0%. It now stands at $205.8 million.

"As the economy readjusts, the shift between goods and services consumption is underway. However, sustaining a robust economic expansion, given a 5.5% benchmark interest rate or possibly higher in 2023, appears unlikely.

Source:Plasticstoday.com

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#plastics #plasticsindustry #injectionmolding #extrusion #machinerysales #importexport

Sensing and controlling microscopic spin density in materials

By fine-tuning the spin density in some materials, researchers may be able to develop new quantum sensors or quantum simulations.

Electronic devices typically use the charge of electrons, but spin — their other degree of freedom — is starting to be exploited. Spin defects make crystalline materials highly useful for quantum-based devices such as ultrasensitive quantum sensors, quantum memory devices, or systems for simulating the physics of quantum effects. Varying the spin density in semiconductors can lead to new properties in a material — something researchers have long wanted to explore — but this density is usually fleeting and elusive, thus hard to measure and control locally.

Now, a team of researchers at MIT and elsewhere has found a way to tune the spin density in diamond, changing it by a factor of two, by applying an external laser or microwave beam. The finding, reported this week in the journal PNAS, could open up many new possibilities for advanced quantum devices, the authors say. The paper is a collaboration between current and former students of professors at MIT, and collaborators at Politecnico of Milano. The first author of the paper, Guoqing Wang PhD ’23, worked on his PhD thesis in Cappellaro’s lab and is now a postdoc at MIT.

A specific type of spin defect known as a nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond is one of the most widely studied systems for its potential use in a wide variety of quantum applications. The spin of NV centers is sensitive to any physical, electrical, or optical disturbance, making them potentially highly sensitive detectors. “Solid-state spin defects are one of the most promising quantum platforms,” Wang says, partly because they can work under ambient, room-temperature conditions. Many other quantum systems require ultracold or other specialized environments.

“The nanoscale sensing capabilities of NV centers makes them promising for probing the dynamics in their spin environment, manifesting rich quantum many body physics yet to be understood”, Wang adds. “A major spin defect in the environment, called P1 center, can usually be 10 to 100 times more populous than the NV center and thus can have stronger interactions, making them ideal for studying many-body physics.”

But to tune their interactions, scientists need to be able to change the spin density, something that had previously seldom been achieved. With this new approach, Wang says, “We can tune the spin density so it provides a potential knob to actually tune such a system. That’s the key novelty of our work.”

Such a tunable system could provide more flexible ways of studying the quantum hydrodynamics, Wang says. More immediately, the new process can be applied to some existing nanoscale quantum-sensing devices as a way to improve their sensitivity.

Source:MIT News

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com  

#microscopy #sensors #density #spin #quantumsensing

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Graphene Based wearable garment for the army

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

“At the time, Neel was looking for someone to develop a wearable garment for the armed forces using graphene.

In October 2019, Khushboo Patel, an engineering graduate, collaborated with Neel Panchal, co-founder of graphene manufacturing startup LHP Nanotechnologies, to develop a wearable graphene-based garment for the armed forces.

Using Khushboo’s prior experience and Neel’s expertise in graphene manufacturing, they began working on the concept. Graphene’s unique properties, including flexibility and efficient thermal regulation, were essential for the project’s success.

Khushboo and Neel Panchal did not have a manufacturing space to conduct the experiments and thus decided to do so in their home kitchen. It took them close to 1,000 trials to finally achieve what they sought.

After a month of intensive specialised manufacturing processes for several critical components, the duo was ready with the proof of concept of the ‘heated winter jacket’ for Army personnel.

To overcome the challenge of maintaining the temperature, the duo integrated AI with software that would learn the wearer’s personal preferences in different settings within a short period and then begin to adjust to their comfortable temperature.

“The most crucial parameters were the efficiency of the jacket, ensuring a lightweight nature, longer operating time, durability, and flexibility. Every element had to be redesigned to withstand the harsh climes,” he adds.

However, the duo say that every constraint they faced along the way only kept them trying harder and coming up with more ideas.

To Read more about their journey, check out the link https://buff.ly/3OZgeZP

Source:The Better India

Visit MY BLOG https://lnkd.in/fcSeK9e

#graphene #innovation  #artificialintelligence #jacket #AI #device #smartdevice #temperaturecontrol

Researchers Found PFAS Indicator in Some Menstrual Products of USA

Researchers have analyzed over 100 period products for fluorinated compounds, an indicator of potentially harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Their results show that while PFAS are absent from many products, they might be accidentally or intentionally added to others.

Period products come in a variety of styles- liners, pads, tampons, cups, and underwear, to help people feel comfortable during a menstrual bleed. But their labels don’t usually list the ingredients, so consumers don’t know what’s in their product of choice.

Risk of Negative Health Outcomes with PFAS:

“Of course, you’re concerned for the wearer, but we’re also concerned about the ecological impact because PFAS are forever chemicals” says Graham Peaslee, Ph.D., the principal investigator of the project. “ Once these products are thrown away, they go to landfills and decay, releasing PFAS into groundwater. And we, or later generations, could end up inadvertently ingesting them.”

PFAS are a category of over 12,000 compounds that have stick, stain- and water-resistant properties, which are desirable characteristics for some products. But because these compounds don’t break down easily in the environment or our bodies, they are persistent and bio accumulative, hence the ‘forever chemical’ moniker. Researchers have also linked exposure to PFAS with an increased risk of negative health outcomes, including some cancers and immune suppression.

Currently, there are few regulatory limits on including PFAS in textiles or period products in the U.S. or Europe, and when it comes to personal products like these, people are concerned about what goes into them, says Peaslee, which is why his research team at the University of Notre Dame started testing them for PFAS.

While it’s not known how much PFAS could pass from different materials through the skin, the team has found these compounds in firefighting gear, school uniforms and period underwear. And other researchers have detected PFAS in additional period products, such as tampons and pads. So, Alyssa Wicks, a graduate student in Peaslee’s lab who is presenting at the meeting, wanted to expand the analyses to a larger variety of period products that haven’t been widely tested, including the packaging for single-use tampons and pads, as well as reusable options, such as menstrual cups.

“Our first step was a screening that’s done quickly and simply,” says Wicks. “We determined if these products had organic fluorine as a surrogate for PFAS.” She cut out a small portion of each item and analyzed it in less than three minutes, using particle-induced gamma-ray emission spectroscopy.

Wrappers having Highest Amount of Flourine:

Some pads and period underwear had multiple layers, which were sampled separately. For instance, some of the tested underwear products had as many as 10 layers, though the average was closer to four. Additionally, the researchers measured total fluorine in the single-use product’s wrappers. So far, Wicks has analyzed 123 period products sold in the U.S., 30 of which were different underwear, with this technique. She also plans to analyze similar products sold in Europe.

The results of these analyses suggest that some period products potentially include PFAS, but not all of them. “In general, tampons didn’t seem to contain fluorine,” says Wicks. “Same with menstrual cups and the layers of pads that come in contact with a person’s skin.”

Most surprising to the researchers was the presence of total fluorine in the wrappers for numerous pads and some tampons, as well as the outer layers of some of the period underwear. Some of the highest amounts measured were 1,000 to several thousand parts per million total fluorine. Because of those high concentrations, Wicks hypothesizes that PFAS might be used to keep moisture out of the wrappers so that the items inside remain dry. In addition, she suggests that adding these compounds to the outer layer of the period underwear would keep blood from escaping the inner layers and stop it from spreading onto a person’s clothing.

This initial work has allowed the researchers to home in on which period products likely have PFAS in them. Next, the team will analyze the samples that contained measurable amounts of fluorine specifically for 40 individual PFAS compounds.

In the meantime, the team notes it is interesting that some products tested in the study were actually free of fluorine. “It’s clear that PFAS are not essential,” concludes Peaslee. “Feminine products are essential, but the need for a fluorinated wrapper, or the need for a fluorinated layer, doesn’t seem to be, because plenty of them are made without relying on these compounds.”

Source: ACS Chemistry for Life/spcialchem

Non-destructive testing: Safran Engineering Services banks on its software suite

LEAP engine fan blades, fixed internal structure panels for their nacelles, internal landing gear pistons. these items all have one thing in common: their quality is inspected and assessed using non-destructive testing (NDT), for which Safran Engineering Services has developed the SMV2 software suite. The development prospects are promising.

Non-destructive testing: a technique for the future.

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a technique used to inspect and assess the quality of materials, components or structures, while preserving their integrity. It uses a variety of methods and technologies to detect defects such as cracks, porosities, inclusions, dimensional variations and other potential imperfections in the materials. Safran uses this type of technology to inspect metal and composite parts, including large-scale components.

The Group therefore called on internal and external expertise to develop high-performance non-destructive testing tools. One of the most ambitious, enabling the inspection of fixed internal nacelle structure panels, is based on an infrared thermography inspection method using a flash and a thermal camera. “This is an innovative method. Others use digital tomography, 2D digital radiography or visual inspection with high-definition digital cameras,” explains Marc Garas, application software service manager at Safran Engineering Services.

Safran Engineering Services has been involved in the research phases of these projects from the outset, and it has developed a software suite, a veritable toolbox that can be adapted to different testing projects.

The SMV2 software suite

This software suite, known as SMV2, has been designed for the Group’s various use cases, from the different acquisition methods – thermography, tomography, radiography and digital cameras – to the geometric specificities of each part and the types of peculiarities to be investigated. The Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs) have been the subject of extensive ergonomic research to help inspectors in their work.

Integrated into a robotized cell, the software suite performs multiple functions. “In the case of nacelle parts, it communicates with the robotized cell and controls the infra-red camera built into the cell, as well as the flash which heats the surface of the part. It allows images to be analyzed by an operator to detect any defects. It supervises the entire process in real time, and stores information in a database which can then be used by data scientists or production managers,” continues Marc Garas. An inspection report, which is used to validate the part, can then be generated automatically.

Source:www.safran-group.com/jeccomposites

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#composites #tomography #ndtinspection #nacelle #robotics #softwaredevelopment #testing

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Petrochemicals Historical timeline- Part 7

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:

Petrochemicals Historical timeline- Part 7

Early 1950s Polypropylene discoveries were made in different places because of improved knowledge sharing but this led to nine different teams claiming

to have invented it. Patent litigation was finally resolved in 1989. American chemists Paul Hogan and Robert Banks, working for Phillips Petroleum, are generally credited as the inventors.

1955 South Africa started making its own synthetic fuels using the Fischer-Tropsch method because of limited oil imports with the trade sanctions under the apartheid regime.

1960s Work conducted on water conservation for soils in the US led to the development of a resin in the form of an acrylic gel which were then developed into super-absorbent fibres.Commercial production began in Japan in 1978 and in 1980, super-absorbent polymer was used in baby diaper production.

1960s First synthetic oils are developed with Mobil Oil and AMSOIL leading the field. The synthetics contain additives such as polyalphaolefins

derived from olefins. Introduced commercially in the 1970s to the automotive market.

1963 Australian chemists start work on conducting substances for computer screen shields, windows that can exclude sunlight and photographic film.

1965 Kevlar was invented at DuPont as a result of research involving high performance chemical compounds. It is used in bullet-proof vests, underwater cables, space vehicles, brake linings, skis,building materials, parachutes, boats and skis.

Source:World Petroleum Council Guide

Visit MY BLOG http://polymerguru.blogspot.com

#petrochemicals #polypropylene #kevlar #polymerscience #fibers #bulletproof #cables