polymerguru

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share BIXBY INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS WITH RHEOM MATERIALS TO SCALE PRODUCTION OF BIOBASED LEATHER ALTERNATIVE, SHORAI Rheom Materials, a next-gen materials startup, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Bixby International, an established thermoplastic extrusion and lamination company. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in Rheom Material’s journey towards commercial-scale production of its novel biobased material, Shorai™. Shorai, Rheom Materials’ flagship product, is a biobased leather alternative designed to meet the growing demand for sustainable materials. Shorai combines the performance of traditional leather with sustainability, offering scalable production at a competitive price point, all while reducing carbon footprint. Extruded as a continuous sheet and having more than 92% biobased content, Shorai achieves an 80% reduction in carbon footprint compared to synthetic leather. The partnership with Bixby International w...

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Understanding Shrinkage in Injection Molding: The Role of the Packing Phase In injection molding, shrinkage is fundamentally linked to thermal expansion. However, this relationship can become complex, especially when we factor in the "Packing Phase." During this phase, we apply significant pressure to the molten material, allowing us to inject more grams of material into a predefined mold volume, assuming we disregard mold deformation for now. As a result, the final shrinkage can vary widely—ranging from high shrinkage, dictated by the room pressure PvT curve (in cases where no packing is applied), to even negative shrinkage in situations of overpacking. While the basic principles of shrinkage are driven by Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE), the reality is much more nuanced. For instance, with glass-filled polymers, increased packing pressure can influence the anisotropy-driven warpage of the material; it may even suppress warpage without affe...

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Comparative Analysis of POM with Other Plastics: Some of the key advantages and limitations of POM compared to other plastics are highlighted below: POM vs Nylon POM has lower moisture absorption and better dimensional stability than nylon It has higher tensile strength, hardness and modulus than nylon Nylon offers higher toughness, ductility and impact strength compared to POM Nylon has better chemical resistance than POM, especially to bases, oils and greases POM provides lower coefficient of friction than nylon POM vs Polycarbonate POM has much higher strength, hardness and stiffness than polycarbonate PC offers very high impact resistance compared to brittle POMPolycarbonate has superior temperature resistance up to 140°C vs 90°C for POM POM has lower moisture absorption and better dimensional stability PC has higher ductility and fracture toughness compared to POM POM vs Polyimide Polyimide can withstand much higher temperatures than POM It has exc...

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Toray and PTT Global Chemical Agree to Explore Mass Production Technology to Build Supply Structure for Non-Edible Biomass-Derived Nylon Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with major Thai petrochemicals producer PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (GC) to explore mass production technology for adipic acid made from non-edible biomass*1. Toray and GC will jointly evaluate the feasibility of mass production technology and commercialization in Thailand and Japan. If business is determined viable, they aim to commercially manufacture several thousand metric tons of bio-based muconic and bio-based adipic acid annually by 2030. Last year, both companies began jointly developing technology to produce these raw materials for nylon-6,6 from non-edible biomass-derived sugars made at Cellulosic Biomass Technology Co., Ltd., a Thai company in which Toray has an 84% stake. GC employs its proprietary fermentatio...

SABIC, a global diversified chemicals company, today announced the official launch of its new US$170 (S$220) million ULTEM™ resin manufacturing facility in Singapore, marking the company’s first advanced specialty chemical manufacturing facility in the region producing the high-performance thermoplastic, ULTEM™ resin. The new facility is a strategic move to support SABIC’s goal of increasing global ULTEM™ specialty resin production by more than 50%, responding to the growing demand from high-tech and manufacturing industries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan and China. The facility opening was officiated by Ms. Low Yen Ling, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), Eng. Khalid H. Al-Dabbagh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SABIC, Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Omar Al-Harthi, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Singapore...

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Mitsui Chemicals & Partners Create Floor Tiles Comprising of a Cellulose Microfiber The three partners have created floor tiles made of Transwood™ with Prasus™ a fully bio-based composite that combines a cellulose microfiber compound with Prasus™ a mass-balanced bio-polypropylene resin produced by Prime Polymer. New Building Material Selected for use in Flooring of an Event Facility The new building material was selected for use in the flooring of an event facility for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan (Expo 2025): the EXPO National Day Hall, which has been designed by Akihisa Hirata Office, among others.Mitsui Chemicals has decided to provide sponsorship for Expo 2025 in the form of supplying the 20,000 floor tiles each measuring 15 centimeters square required for the facility. In providing these biomass-based floor tiles,Mitsui Chemicals aims to express its endorsement of the theme of Expo 2025,Designing Future Society for Our Lives,and help to ensure tha...

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Understanding Common Issues with Color Masterbatches in Injection Molding: The use of color masterbatches is prevalent in injection molding. However, over the years, I have frequently encountered several issues that typically result in surface defects on the molded parts. These issues can be categorized into three main scenarios: 1. Incompatible Carrier Materials Sometimes, masterbatches (e.g., with 50% pigment and 50% carrier) use a high-flow carrier like LLDPE, even when the host polymer to be colored is not LLDPE-based. Issue: The incompatible high-flow carrier is pushed to the surface by hydrodynamic forces. For instance, small amounts of LLDPE in a nylon part can readily create blisters or delamination. 2. Neglecting to Dry the Masterbatch In nylon or polyester parts, even when the masterbatch uses the correct carrier (same as the host matrix to be colored), users often neglect to dry the masterbatch, drying only the bulk resin to be molded. Issue: User...