Multiscrew
Polyurethanes: Foams Go 'Green' at Ever-Lower Cost
A great deal of effort is going into formulating rigid and flexible foams for lower cost and better properties, despite the transition to "cleaner" blowing agents. Improving fire and smoke performance is another challenge.
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D-LFT Composites Aim for Auto Body Panels
Direct long-fiber thermoplastic (D-LFT) compounding and molding is getting ready to expand beyond non-appearance structural automotive parts to exterior body panels.
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Chasing Nanocomposites
Nano-sized particles have mega-potential in plastics because just a pinch does so much more than heavy loadings of other additives. Three recent conferences presented almost 200 papers on the feverish pace of ‘nano’ R&D on boosting plastics’ mechanical and barrier properties, flame retardancy, and electrical conductivity.
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From Paper-Mill Sludge to Plastic Decking
Kadant Composites’ self-appointed mission for the past eight years has been to find commercial uses for paper sludge, a soggy mix of short cellulose fibers, calcium carbonate, and clay that is the copious byproduct of paper recycling.
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'Cleaner,' More Efficient Additives for Flexible and Rigid PVC
New vinyl additives designed to be more environmentally friendly while offering improved performance are available from Crompton Corp., Middlebury, Conn.
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Loads of New Additives and Colorants to Debut at K 2004
Several categories of new polymer additives will be unveiled at this year’s largest plastics show—K 2004 in Dusseldorf, Germany, next month.
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Small Is Beautiful
Chris Kasmer, operations manager and co-founder of LTL Color Compounders Inc. in Morrisville, Pa., likes to point to a single green plastic button on the keyboard of his computer when he describes what LTL does: “We color that.” LTL stands for “less than truckload,” and his firm lives up to its name: An entire production run of a particular color may be no more than 50 lb.
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K 2004 News Preview: Compounding
Compounding news at the K Show includes the use of alternative motors to save space and raise output on twin-screw machines.
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'Super-TPVs': The New Challenge to Rubber
Recent commercialization of a cluster of novel thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) families is promising to boost demand for thermoplastic elastomers in new and challenging industrial and consumer product segments.
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Beyond Decking: Wood Composites Branch Out
Extruded decking still drives the embryonic wood-filled plastics market. But injection and compression molded wood composites are coming on strong, and extruded profiles are moving toward more complex millwork shapes.
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