polymerguru

DZNE researchers provide evidence that traces of the widely used PFAS chemicals in human blood are associated with unfavorable lipid profiles and thus with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The findings are based on data from more than 2,500 adults from Bonn and the Dutch municipality of Leiderdorp. PFAS were detected in the blood of nearly all study participants. The study results were published in the renowned scientific journal “Exposure and Health”. Effects are More Pronounced in Younger Population: It is estimated that more than 10,000 different per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been developed since their invention in the 1950s. They are used in thousands of products ranging from cosmetics and dental floss to pan coatings and firefighting foams because of their water-, fat- and dirt-repellent properties. In addition to their basic chemical structure, PFASs have another thing in common: they are virtually non-degradable. They enter the human food chain prim

Azelis announces it has been appointed the exclusive distributor in the U.S. of LANXESS polymer additives phosphorous flame retardants. It includes the Disflamoll® and Levagard® product lines. Azelis’ CASE technical expertise and application labs in the Americas region will be leveraged to grow the market and support customers' needs. The commercial partnership is effective as of April 1, 2024. Building Additive’s Portfolio for CASE Market: LANXESS Polymer Additives is a leading supplier of flame-retardant additives for multiple industries, including construction, electrical and electronics, and transportation. Fire represents a significant risk to both life and property. LANXESS flame retardants are innovative polymer additives that provide substantially increased fire protection when added to rubber and plastic materials, such as flexible PU, rigid PU foam formulations and PVC. They offer superior low flammability, low flame propagation, and low smoke density and are designed to

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Congratulations Oxford Brookes Racing team. I’m very proud to present the  Oxford Brookes Racing  OBR24 Carbon Fiber Monocoque. Our Composites Team has shown exceptional dedication this year, undertaking a redesign of the laminate and internals of the chassis, manufacturing new moulds, and introducing a three-stage cure process to elevate the quality of the chassis. Thanks to these advancements, we managed to cut the monocoque weight by 26% and significantly improve the manufacturing quality and controllability. We were also able to deliver the project on time, and an entire month ahead of last year’s timeline. These substantial improvements to one of OBR’s largest and most complex components will help the team increase testing time, decrease our lap time, and maximize our score at FSUK and FSCz this year. Words can’t describe how proud I am of this team for pulling together and persevering through the long days and nights on this project. To everyone involv

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share So, like most of us in Europe, you enjoyed an unusually warm, sunny and dry weather spell this summer. Now you are back to work and dive again into your plastic part associated with the problems. The part shown is made of nylon. Nylons are very decent materials for mechanical properties, except they can be very sensitive to some environmental aspects. In dry weather, PA66 will lose moisture, which acts as a very efficient plasticizer, making the material much more brittle. If such part dries out in the sun, the UV radiation will slowly break down the polymer chains and also contribute to the material becoming more and more brittle over time. Contrary to the moisture effect, UV degradation is irreversible. Moisture absorbed by nylons also translates into some "swell". Look at it as "negative shrinkage". So if nylon dries out around an overmolded insert, the tensile stress becomes much larger until it could trigger part failure, possibly at

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Different types of annealing heat treatments: #Annealing is a process in which metal is heated and then allowed to cool, to restore its original ductility and reduce hardness and brittleness. Annealing Types - Stress Relief Annealing: Aims to alleviate internal stresses within the metal component, typically addressing stresses caused by uneven cooling post-casting. This involves heating to a point sufficient for dislocation removal within the metal’s crystal lattice, followed by slow cooling in still air, without phase transitions. Isothermal Annealing: Utilizes detailed knowledge of an alloy’s temperature-time diagrams to enhance machinability, maintaining the alloy above the recrystallization temperature for a period, then rapidly reducing the temperature to a lower, constant level to control austenite decomposition. Diffusion Annealing: Aims to equalize the alloy mix's chemical composition, erasing segregation from casting. For steels, it involves me

Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that high-performance carbon nanotube sheets and textiles can be recycled at the macroscopic scale with nearly 100% retention of mechanical and electrical properties. Researchers from IMDEA Materials Institute have published groundbreaking work demonstrating, for the first time, the ability to recycle high-performance carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets while preserving their shape, structural alignment, mechanical and electrical properties, and intrinsic flexibility.  The paper, Network structure enabling re-use and near full property retention in CNT sheets recycled from thermoset composites, was recently published in a special issue of prestigious journal Carbon. It represents a significant advance in the field of sustainable nanostructured materials and in the viability of fibres, sheets, and textiles made of carbon nanotubes to play a key role in the future green energy transition. “This research represents a crucial step towards manufactu

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Key features of PPE and modified PPE resins Heat resistance: Pure PPE resin has a glass transition point of approximately 210°C. Modified PPE resins exhibit a range of behavior depending on the partner material used to form the alloy: from high-fluidity grades with heat deflection temperatures below 100°C to highly heat-resistant grades with heat deflection temperatures above 200°C. • Flame retardance: The oxygen index (a measure of the quantity of oxygen needed for combustion) for pure PPE resin is 28, a high value indicating that it is relatively easy to make this material flame-retardant. Asahi Kasei's lineup of modified PPE resins includes several grades with excellent flame retardance at the UL94 V-0 level. • Low specific gravity: PPE resin is a lightweight material whose specific gravity just 1.06—is the lowest of all engineering plastics. • Electrical insulation: PPE resins have high volumetric resistivity, making these materials excellent electri