polymerguru

Options for flexiblizing epoxy resins have traditionally been limited. The addition of plasticizers, for example, has generally had an adverse effect on the epoxy 's mechanical properties. Now, however, there is another viable alternative: liquid urethane polymers, such as Desmocap® urethane polymer from Bayer MaterialScience LLC. Desmocap urethane polymers can improve and/or expand the flexibility, elongation, impact resistance, tear resistance, cure rate and adhesion of epoxy resins. Epoxies incorporating urethane liquid polymers are well suited to a variety of uses, including caulks, coatings, membranes and sealants, and can also be utilized to encapsulate electrical parts.

The British company Omlet, that has made its name with its innovative plastics chicken coops namely Eglu has also just developed innovative line of plastic bee hives. These new products, namely Beehaus™, specially designed for instance for urban people who want to harvest their honey, are made from a medium density polyethylene (MDPE) using a rotational molding process. According to the firm, Beehaus™ beekeeping units offer several advantages compared with conventional wooden bee hives: they are easy to clean and offer better temperature control as well as enhanced durability. They cost £465 i.e. $790.

he Aqua Pure Traveller is a unique water purification system in a convenient hand held water bottle. The advanced filter uses a combination of technologies to disinfect containments in the water that pose a risk to human health. The Aqua Pure Traveller has been proven to remove the bacteria from the water before drinking, such as E.Coli, Vibrio Cholera and S.pyogenes (the cause of Strep Throat). It also kills parasites that may be present in the water and even viruses such as Polio type 1. This is particularly useful when clean water is scarce such as during natural disasters, expeditions or long outdoor trips in remote areas. The Aqua Pure Traveller is also perfect for taking abroad and purifying water from hotels and Aqua Pure Traveller restaurants or for outdoor pursuits and taking in water from streams or rivers. It is also available to military specifications. The bottle part of the Aqua Pure Traveller is blow moulded in LDPE and contains Addmaster's antimicrobial additi

The German material producer Bayer MaterialScience has announced that it has developed an innovative viscoelastic carpet based on polyurethane foams and a special textile fabric. This new viscoelastic carpet concept is already commercialized by the German company Kymo GmbH under the brand name Pure Moss™. According to the firms, walking across this carpet feels like walking over soft moss. This new viscoelastic carpet is based on a four-layered structure. The top layer is an overlay of bielastic knitted fabric with a soft, long-pile texture. Below this is a viscoelastic polyurethane layer and, underneath that, a rebonded foam made from recycled polyurethane material. The bottom layer in contact with the floor is a thin reinforcing fabric that stabilizes the entire structure and protects the less tear-resistant layers above against tensile forces, for example when laying the carpet. The viscoelastic carpet provides a high level of comfort together with excellent insulating properties.

between 2008 and 2009, the sale of virgin plastic in Italy dropped by almost one million tons, down to a level of 6 million tons in 2009. A two step drop: -8% in 2008 and -9% last year. This is the conclusion of the latest Plastic Trend Synthesis study published by Plastic Consult, the Italian consulting company, which analyzes the trends of all major thermoplastic polymers. In terms of consumption, the only polymer going against the trend is PET (+2.9%), thanks to the good performance of bottling liquid beverages. Negative signs are all that’s left for the other thermoplastics: -10,5% for low density and linear low density polyethylene, due to negative trends in palletizing and -8,1% for high density polyethylene, dragged downward by industrial applications (pipes and drums/tanks) and the building market. Polystyrene’s performance was slightly better than average, with consumption of expanded and compact polymer shown a negative trend of -6.2%. The demand for PVC (-15%) and tehcnop

Some natural latexes are the main ingredient in the extraction of natural rubber, an indispensable raw material for all kinds of industries and essential for the manufacture of surgical gloves, condoms or tyres. All the latex used in Europe is imported, extracted fundamentally from the the Hevea brasiliensis tree. The largest producers in the world are Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, three Asian countries that have practically the worldwide monopoly of this resource. In order to find alternatives to this commercial dependence and promote the cultivation of latex-producing plant species in the European Union, within the VII Framework Programme, a research project is being undertaken in which twelve technological centres, universities and companies related to this matter are taking part. The Basque Neiker-Tecnalia technological centre is part of this consortium and its function is to carry out research into, amongst other matters, the genotype and the possibilities of introducing into

Composite door for the French high-speed train made by RTM-Light A collaborative industrial project between the American material producer Owens Corning, a world leader in glass fiber reinforcement and building material systems, and the French company Stratiforme Industries has allowed to produce a new composite door for the French high speed train i.e. TGV. This innovation is a lateral cover or engine compartment door made by using a resin transfer molding (RTM-Light) process and Uniconform™ mat as reinforcement while the previous doors were made by hand lay-up. As a result the new composite door exhibits higher characteristics in terms of stiffness, impact resistance, dimensional stability and fire resistance. Moreover the new process allows to reduce the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and styrene emissions.