polymerguru

With the launch of VISIOMER® HEMA-P 100, Evonik introduces a Phosphate methacrylate monomer that improves adhesion, reduces corrosion, and provides flame-retardancy. VISIOMER® HEMA-P 100 can act as a dispersant and complexing agent. Incorporated by polymerization, HEMA-P is non-migratory, and the effects are long-lasting. It can act as a dispersant and complexing agent. Incorporated by polymerization, HEMA-P is non-migratory, and the effects are long-lasting. Typical product applications of VISIOMER® HEMA-P include adhesives, coatings, construction and composites: *In acrylic dispersions​, HEMA-P acts as an adhesion promoter & anti-corrosive agent (e.g. DTM) *In structural acrylic adhesives, HEMA-P increases adhesion to polar substrates and improves corrosion resistance *In emulsions for wood, textile or paper coatings, HEMA-P enhances the flame-retardancy *To cast PMMA, HEMA-P brings flame-retardancy without compromising transparency or mechanical properties VISIOMER® HEMA-P stand

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share I praised the incredible power of Dynamic Rheology to study polymer flow behaviour and the polymer molecular structure. To be totally fair, I have to also acknowledge the equally valuable power of Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA or DMTA). The principle is strictly the same, with an in-phase and out of phase response. The test is however conducted on solid samples (tension, torsion, bending...) and is most useful in a Temperature sweep approach, ideally from cryogenic temperatures up and above Tg. The data produced (in addition to the Tg value) can help assess the damping characteristics of the polymer for NVH aspects for instance. The observation of multiple sub-Tg transitions is of great spectroscopic interest to understand molecular motions and segmental movements. These transitions are the key reason for toughness observed below Tg in many polymers, a performance aspect we rely upon everyday in our plastic parts. Subtle plasticizing or anti-plasticizing

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Scientists Develop Artificial Worm Gut to Break Down Plastics A team of scientists from NTU Singapore has developed an artificial ‘worm gut’ to break down plastics. This offers hope for a nature-inspired method to tackle the global plastic pollution problem. Overcame the Slow Feeding Rate and Worm Maintenance: By feeding worms with plastics and cultivating microbes found in their guts, researchers have demonstrated a new method to accelerate plastic biodegradation. The team included scientists from NTU’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE). Zophobas atratus worms are known for their nutritional value. It is the larvae of the darkling beetle commonly sold as pet food and is known as ‘superworms’. However, their use in plastics processing has been impractical due to the slow rate of feeding and worm maintenance. NTU scientists have now demonstrated a way to overcome these

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Composite Essentials! How important have composite materials been during the history of mankind? This schematic shows the relative importance of the four classes of materials (metals, polymers, composites, and ceramics) in engineering as a function of time!  As you can see, composite materials have been used by humans for thousands and thousands of years, however, their relative importance was considerably reduced until the advent of fiberglass composites! Since 1960, composite materials have become more and more important for the engineering world.  This uptrend in relative importance is evident and makes us very excited about the future of composite materials!    Image Source: Article ''Biomimetics and Composite Materials toward Efficient Mobility: A Review'' written by Joel Boaretto, Mohammad Fotouhi, Eduardo Tende, Gustavo Francisco Aver, Victoria Rafaela Ritzel Marcon, Guilherme Luís Cordeiro, Carlos Pérez Bergmann, and Felipe Vannucchi

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Overmolding a metal insert often poses specific molding challenges due to shrinkage disparities, primarily stemming from differences in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between materials. This incongruity leads to elevated residual stresses after ejection, contributing to subsequent warpage. To alleviate warpage, it is crucial to optimize the alignment of metal and polymer expansion coefficients. For instance, pairing magnesium with 50% glass-filled nylon can significantly reduce warpage by closely matching their CTEs, outperforming the alternative of overmolding stainless steel with unfilled PA66. Furthermore, optimizing the gating solution proves advantageous in producing lower warpage overmolded plastic/metal parts, due to the typical anisotropic shrinkage of glass-filled grades. The parallel to flow direction better matches the metal near-zero shrinkage. Increasing packing pressure proportionally diminishes the shrinkage anisotropy of glass-filled

Today's KNOWLEDGE share: PET Vs PETG: THE MAIN DIFFERENCES A basic formula for making polyesters, like PET and PETG, is the combination of acid monomers plus glycol monomers. In the case of PET, the acid is usually DMT (dimethyl terephthalate) and the glycol is ethylene glycol. These two monomers are the building blocks of the final long-chain polymer: polyethylene terephthalate. For creating PETG, the same monomers are used, except some ethylene glycol (30-60%) is substituted with a different glycol monomer, CHDM (cyclohexanedimethanol). So it’s not that PETG has significantly more or less glycol than PET, it just has a different type of glycol. Therefore, the -G in PETG represents the chemical modification of the typical PET structure with CHDM glycol units, or “glycol-modified” for short. The key impact of this glycol modification from a physical standpoint is that semi-crystalline PET gets transformed into amorphous PETG. Let’s quickly review what crystallinity has to do with p

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Composite Essentials! What are some of the different fiber types that can be used as reinforcement phases in composite materials?  Today we would like to share with you the definitions and examples of the most common fibers used in the industry!  Carbon fibers are long and thin strands of material with about 0.005-0.010 mm in diameter, composed mostly of carbon atoms (more than 90% content). The carbon atoms are bonded together in microscopic crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber. The crystal alignment makes the fiber incredibly strong for its size.  Glass fiber is a non-metallic material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. The base ingredients of glass fibers are forms of silica, mainly sand, limestone, stone ash and borax. It is also considered the oldest, and most familiar, performance fiber.  Aramid (short for “aromatic polyamide”) fibers are synthetic fibers in which the fiber-forming substance is a long-cha