polymerguru

In 200- and 400-meter sprints, an athlete’s control through the track’s curve can add or subtract crucial milliseconds — the difference between being crowned champion and taking second place. For gold-medal-winning American sprinter Allyson Felix, commanding this variable is just one of the many challenges integral to repeating her 2012 success. To address the challenge ahead of Rio, Felix entered into an unprecedented collaboration with Nike, comprising design and engineering research, with the aim of creating a new spike built specifically for the races’ requirements. Fig. 1:  Nike The Nike Zoom Superfly Flyknit unites extensive scientific analysis from Nike’s Sports Research Lab (NSRL) with computational design by the company’s designers and pixel-level stitch placement by its Flyknit engineers. Combining this data with perception testing by Felix and additional feedback from her coaches, the collective team precisely adapted the spike’s key elements of strength, fit and f...

Solvay Specialty Polymers , among the leading global suppliers of high-performance thermoplastics, announced that its fatigue-resistant, biocompatible Zeniva® polyetheretherketone (PEEK) resin helped Instratek fabricate the radiolucent implant component of its ToeTac™ Hammertoe Fixation System. A Houston-based developer of medical devices for extremity surgery, Instratek launched the ToeTac™ single-use kit in December 2015 for the operative repair of hammertoe deformities. “As our team investigated candidate materials for the ToeTac™ implant, we found Solvay’s Zeniva® PEEK was the only polymer that met all of our performance specifications,” said Lance Terrill, director of engineering at Instratek. “Not only was this high-performance material ideal for our clinical application, but Solvay’s comprehensive PEEK material testing package and superior customer service were also important factors in the success of this project.”  The ToeTac™ implant incorporates two threaded ends fo...

The Resource Efficiency Segment of the Essen-based Evonik Group received the European Plastics Innovation Award in the “Material Innovation” category for its use of polyamide 12 (PA 12) VESTAMID® NRG in high-pressure gas pipelines. PlasticsEurope, the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe, and the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) had organized the joint award for the first time in eight different categories. It recognizes companies that have attracted public attention with particularly innovative developments in plastics Technology. ESTAMID® NRG offers an outstanding property profile for high-pressure pipelines and enables gas utilities to effectively build up their subterranean pipeline networks without any concern about losses in throughput performance. A number of installations, including in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia, have demonstrated that pipes made of PA 12 allow for significant savings in labor and installation cost compared to steel. In its rationale ...

We are pleased to announce our 6th Conference on Polymer Compounding with the following highlights: (1) *Brand-Owners & OEM’s*: Meet world-class brand-owners and OEM’s such as BOEING, VOLVO, GENERAL CABLE and more (2) *Symposium on Flammability*: 40% of the content is on “Latest Developments in Polymer Flammability Advances” (3) *Case-Histories of $MM Impact*: 60-minutes presentation on $MM Case-Histories related to “Cost-of-Poor Quality” arising from Compounding Processes (4) *Differentiated Value*: Coming from a highly TECHNICAL & BUSINESS driven environment enables us to develop BEST-in-CLASS conferences that are rated exceptionally high from the global participants More Details @ * https://innoplastsolutions.com/compounding

Below are the compelling reasons to participate in our upcoming 3D-Conference: (1) *Game-Changing Technologies*: Witness how the future of manufacturing is Re-Shaping major industries such as MEDICAL, AEROSPACE, and MACHINERY/EQUIPMENT. (2) *Differentiated Value*: Coming from a highly TECHNICAL & BUSINESS driven environment enables us to develop BEST-in-CLASS conferences that are rated exceptionally high from the global participants. Our conference chairman, John Hornick's book "3D Printing Will Rock the World" just got released and he will share his insights on this dynamic field along with leaders from Multi-Industries.  More details at https://innoplastsolutions.com/3d

Versalis (Eni), a European producer in the polymers and elastomers industry, and Genomatica, one of the leaders in bioengineering solutions, announced that they have successfully advanced to pilot-scale production of bio-butadiene (bio-BDE) from fully renewable feedstock. Versalis used this bio-BDE to make bio-rubber, specifically, bio-polybutadiene (bio-BR). These accomplishments represent a remarkable milestone for the rubber industry, by enabling an improved technological and sustainability footprint; and to the broader industry for butadiene, one of the most widely-used chemicals in the world, with over ten million tons produced per year. The success of this innovative undertaking results from a newly-developed process for the on-purpose production of butadiene which uses various types of sugars as feedstock, rather than the traditional use of hydrocarbon feedstocks. The project started with the establishment of a technology joint venture between Versalis and Genomatica in early 2...

The compounder and plastics distributor  FKuR Kunststoff GmbH , Willich, Germany, the film manufacturer Oerlemans Plastics BV, Genderen, the Netherlands, and the specialist foodstuffs packaging distributor BK Pac AB, Kristianstad, Sweden, are closely working together on expanding the possibilities for using bio-based plastics for sustainable foodstuffs film packaging. In this transnational cooperation project, bioplastics specialist FKuR is the distributor for the Green PE from the world-leading, Brazilian biopolymer manufacturer Braskem which is used to produce the film. This 100% recyclable, sugar cane-based polyethylene helps to reduce the environmental impact caused by greenhouse gases because using renewable raw materials binds up to 2.15 tons of atmospheric CO 2  for each ton of Green PE. And since the plastic is not biodegradable, this CO 2  remains bound in the plastic over the entire product life cycle. In the next step, Oerlemans Plastics uses the Braskem b...