CJ Biomaterials' PHA Used for Fully Biodegradable Plastic Bottle Cap by Beyond Plastic

 CJ Biomaterials, Inc, continues to expand the applications for its advanced PHA technology, announcing that their biopolymers are being used by California-based Beyond Plastic to develop the world’s first completely biodegradable plastic bottle cap. CJ Biomaterials is a division of South Korea-based CJ CheilJedang and a primary producer of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) biopolymers.

Both Recyclable and Compostable:

“We are proud to be working with Beyond Plastic to help make this innovative solution a reality. These PHA-based bottle caps not only address the pressing environmental concerns associated with traditional plastic caps, but also demonstrate the versatility and effectiveness of our PHA technology in delivering sustainable alternatives,” says Max Senechal, chief commercial officer at CJ Biomaterials. “We remain committed to advancing eco-friendly solutions that contribute to a healthier, more sustainable planet.”

Derived from nature and produced sustainably, CJ Biomaterials’ biopolymers serve as building blocks to improve functional characteristics of traditional plastics. They offer a range of environmental benefits. PHAs work well as modifiers to other polymers or biopolymers and serve to increase bio-based content, accelerate biodegradation, and improve the functional properties of resins and finished products. As one of the industry players capable of mass-producing PHA, CJ Biomaterials is committed to impactful action. It delivers more sustainable solutions with its extensive PHA technology platform.

With the inclusion of CJ Biomaterials’ PHA, the Beyond Plastic bottle cap is both recyclable and compostable, in addition to being fully biodegradable.

“Utilizing CJ Biomaterials’ PHA biopolymers, we’ve developed an authentically eco-conscious alternative to conventional plastic bottle caps. This marks a significant leap forward in sustainability, but it’s just the beginning,” Fred Pinczuk, Beyond Plastic’s chief technology officer explained, saying that Beyond Plastic has an ongoing focus on facilitating manufacturers’ adaptation of equipment to seamlessly incorporate PHA. “Our aim is to offer tailored PHA formulations for diverse applications, such as straws, caps, and various single-use plastics currently threatening our environment. Once the process is streamlined, it will catalyze a profound transformation within the industry.”

PHA-based Polybag with Properties Similar to Petroleum-based Polybags:

CJ Biomaterials began producing its PHACT™-branded PHA biopolymers in 2022. Since that time, the company has partnered with multiple organizations to develop innovative solutions using its PHA technology. The introduction of the PHA-based plastic cap is just the latest application announced by CJ Biomaterials. Earlier this year, the company introduced a PHA-based polybag with properties similar to traditional petroleum-based polybags.

The technology was also used in the development of microwaveable paper coating used in New Today’s Chicken Noodle Cup packaging, sold at CU, South Korea’s convenience store chain. The company also works with NatureWorks to broaden the use of PHACT™ PHA combined with Ingeo™ PLA in multiple markets and applications.

Source: CJ Biomaterials/Omnexus.specialchem

Milliken to Unveil Two New Solutions for PP and PE at NPE 2024

Milliken & Company will bring its full range of additive and colorant solutions for polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) plastics to NPE 2024.

Milliken joins industry leaders for the expo to explore novel and sustainable pathways for plastics, enabled in part by the company’s comprehensive polymer additive portfolio.

Opportunity to Collaborate with Plastics Value Chain:

Milliken works across the value chain to enable PP and PE formulations that make plastics more reusable, recyclable, and efficient without sacrificing performance. With a range of clarifier and nucleator agents, masterbatches, polymeric colorants, and viscosity and performance modifiers, Milliken’s portfolio helps its customers and brand owners achieve their own sustainability goals.

“We look forward to NPE, as it’s an exciting opportunity to collaborate with the entire plastics value chain under one roof,” shares Milliken’s global vice president for Plastic Additives Wim Van de Velde. “Milliken offers a suite of performance-driven, sustainability enhancing products that support manufacturing and brand trends and help solve circularity challenges to make plastics a material of choice.”

At NPE 2024, Milliken will unveil two new solutions—Milliken UltraGuard 2.0 and Hyperform HPN 58ei. “NPE 2024 attendees will have a first look at two Milliken additive launches, with far-reaching sustainability benefits,” adds Van de Velde. “These two new additives join our portfolio centered on making smarter plastics.”

Delivering New Solutions for Optical Performance

The latest UltraGuard 2.0 solution builds on our longstanding line of tailored masterbatches for PE to improve barrier performance in HDPE and LLDPE by up to 70%—subsequently supporting more mono-material packaging options and material downgauging.

Hyperform HPN 58ei enhances performance for PP sheets and thermoformed parts to deliver improved optical performance, isotropic shrinkage and regrind quality and is FDA-approved for food packaging. Visitors can visit Milliken’s booth throughout NPE to learn more about these two products.

Complementing its overarching approach to responsible manufacturing processes and in alignment with the company’s 2025 Sustainability Goals and its near- and long-term net-zero targets, Milliken develops products that support its customers’ sustainability goals.

Reducing Resource Consumption and Solving Circularity:

Milliken partners with the value chain to create purposeful additive solutions that reduce resource consumption, enhance health and well-being, and solve circularity and end-of-life challenges. Solutions include:

Source: Milliken/www.specialchem.com

 

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Want to understand how to set up a Type4 H2 Cylinder manufacturing plant??

Join me on April 24th, 10AM-12.30PM IST at IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat.  I will be hosting a workshop on Type 4 Hydrogen Cylinder manufacturing and sharing my experiences, and also address challenges in the liner and overwrapping cylinders manufacturing process, material selection, future of the hydrogen economy, etc. 

Don't forget to be there, you can register here https://lnkd.in/d2dbcra3

Look forward to seeing you at this workshop, let's connect, and build a clean energy future together!

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Hengshen’s carbon fibre materials are used in a 143-meter-long wind turbine

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Hengshen’s carbon fibre materials are used in a 143-meter-long wind turbine blade.The blade is 143 meters long and has an impeller diameter of 292 meters. It is one of the wind turbine blades with the largest impeller diameter in the world. 

The carbon fibre fabric used in this blade is exclusively supplied by China’s Hengshen which has annual production capacity of 5,000 tons of carbon fibre. The product portfolio covers raw silk, carbon fibre, sizing agents, fabrics, liquid resins, adhesives, prepregs, carbon fibre composite parts, and aviation composite structural parts. 

In 2021, Hengshen’s 24K carbon fibre, fabric and carbon plate products obtained DNV certification from the international authoritative certification agency, becoming the first domestic carbon fibre unit to obtain this certification. Up to now, Hengshen has supplied products such as carbon fibre pultruded sheets and warp-knitted fabrics in batches to domestic and foreign wind turbine manufacturers such as Envision Energy, Shanghai Electric, and Mingyang Smart Energy.

source: Hengshen/hscarbonfibre.com/jeccomposites.com

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Mold Deformation

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Do you realize how deformable your mold can be ?

Years ago I measured the mold plate deflection under a packing pressure of 80 MPa (that is 800 bar or less than 12000 psi) , for a simple two plate, robust, stainless steel plate mold. We found that the bending accounted for 20 microns equivalent increase in cavity thickness. Over the original 2mm cavity thickness, this is a whole 1 %, more than the typical shrinkage of a nicely packed PC. But the amazing finding, based on FEA computations of the mold metal structure itself, is that about 1/3 of this increase was due to steel compressibility !

So, even in the remote (actually impossible) case your mold would be very very stiff, the cavity would still grow bigger during pack because of STEEL COMPRESSIBILITY !

source:Vito leo

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Frozen smoke’ sensors detect toxic air in our offices and homes

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Researchers from the University of Warwick and the University of Cambridge have developed sensors made from frozen smoke. They claim the sensors can detect extremely low concentrations of formaldehyde.

Significantly, the results may contribute to a new era of air quality monitoring. 

Formaldehyde — what is it?

Formaldehyde is a commonly found air pollutant in indoor environments. Household items like wallpapers, pressed wood products, paints, and tobacco smoke emit it.High concentrations of formaldehyde exposure can lead to respiratory irritation, headaches, respiratory symptoms, and an increased risk of certain cancers.Current indoor air quality sensors lack the sensitivity to detect formaldehyde at such low levels. This is what the researchers focused on. 

The team used 3D printing techniques to develop sensors made from aerogels, also known as frozen smoke. These sensors can detect extremely low levels of formaldehyde in indoor air, which the researchers tested for. 

Aerogels are frozen smoke

Frozen smoke is an apt name for aerogels due to their see-through appearance.These materials exhibit low density, which can be as low as a thousandth of traditional solids, and their highly porous nature.Aerogels are 99.8 percent air, with a network of interconnected nanoparticles forming a highly porous structure, and they possess a high surface area. These properties make aerogels a great candidate for gas-sensing applications.

Their unique structure provides ample sites for gas molecules to interact, improving sensitivity.Through 3D-printing, researcher can tailor aerogels, allowing for precise control over sensor design.

This also helps enhance performance when detecting formaldehyde and other gases at low concentrations.For this, the researchers chose tin dioxide (SnO2), a semiconductor material with excellent sensing properties (especially formaldehyde), allowing for detection even at low concentrations.

3D printing of a hybrid material:

While SnO2 is excellent at detecting formaldehyde at low concentrations, the researchers wanted to enhance it.

They began by creating SnO2 quantum dots using soap-like substances to help with high-pressure, high temperature process. In the paper, the researchers describe this as a ‘surfactant-assisted hydrothermal growth process.’

During this stage, SnO2 mixes with a surfactant to control the size and shape of the resulting nanoparticles.The hot water conditions promote the growth of SnO2 nanoparticles into quantum dot structures with uniform size and distribution.In the next step, the team evenly distribute SnO2 quantum dots on graphene oxide (GO) sheets dispersed in a solution. This serves as the ink for the 3D printing process.

For gas sensing applications, the scientists 3D-print the aerogels on printed circuit board (PCB) substrates in meander (or zig-zag) shapes.The researchers then dope these sensors with metal salt solutions, resulting in a hybrid material: SnO2/rGO 0D-2D material–based aerogels.

Here, the rGO is reduced graphene oxide, which offers high electrical conductivity and large surface areas.This enhances the sensor’s sensitivity and response and also improves the material’s mechanical strength and stability.Next, the combination of quantum dots combined with the SnO20D for 0D (or 0-dimensional) materials. This further enhances the sensing capabilities of the aerogel.

More importantly, their small size allows for precise tuning of electronic properties, enabling selective detection of formaldehyde molecules amidst other gases.

Metal doping introduces additional functionalities to the sensor material. These metal ions can modify the electronic structure of SnO2/rGO, enhancing its sensing performance by increasing sensitivity, selectivity, and stability.

And the 2D or 2-dimensional material is the graphene sheet.

Improving with machine learning

Further, the researchers developed a gas species recognition algorithm based on dynamic feature extraction.They used machine learning algorithms to classify different gases based on their features accurately.This allowed for real-time sensing and recognition, even without reaching a steady state in the sensing response.The sensor achieved a record-high response of 15.23 percent for 1 part per million formaldehyde concentration and an ultralow detection limit of 8.02 parts per billion.

The findings of the study are published in Science Advances.

source:Interesting Engineering

Clariant and Lummus Technology Awards Contract for Catalyst Technology in China

Clariant and its process partner Lummus Technology have been selected by Huizhou Boeko Materials to provide their CATOFIN catalyst and process technology for the dehydrogenation of isobutane at the new plant in Huizhou City, China.

The process technology is exclusively licensed by Lummus Technology, while the tailor-made catalyst is supplied by Clariant. It is the first time Huizhou Boeko will license the CATOFIN technology at one of their sites.

Yielding Superior Annual Production Output:

The scope of the current award includes the technology license and basic engineering. Once complete, the plant will produce 550,000 metric tons per annum (MTA) of net isobutylene. It will serve as feedstock for the downstream production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).

The highly efficient CATOFIN process uses fixed-bed reactors and operates at optimum reactor pressure and temperature to maximize catalytic dehydrogenation of isobutane for high yields of isobutylene at low investment and operating costs.

“We are delighted to deliver our industry leading CATOFIN catalyst to this first Huizhou Boeko plant and look forward to a fruitful partnership. CATOFIN offers excellent reliability and productivity, yielding superior annual production output, which in turn leads to increased overall profitability for the plant,” said Jens Cuntze, business president catalysts and APAC at Clariant.

New Plant Ensures Customer Proximity and Covers Increasing Demand

Since its commercial launch in 2017, CATOFIN has been selected for 39 new projects around the world. More than 50% of these plants are located in China. To meet the rapidly increasing demand of customers like Huizhou Boeko in the region and to ensure close proximity, Clariant recently opened a new CATOFIN catalyst plant with significant production capacity in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China in April 2023.

Source: Clariant/omnexus.specialchem