Glow-In-The-Dark
(GITD) Compounds and the Automotive Industry
In re-designing its emergency release latch to meet new federal safety
standards, Astro Cap Manufacturing decided to make the mechanism both
functional and stylish. Astro Cap Manufacturing of Garnett, KS develops
products for the truck industry.
By
utilizing glow-in-the-dark (GITD) compounds from specialty compounder
RTP Company, the release latch met the FMVSS requirements for phosphorescent
characteristics ensuring emergency egress to anyone trapped inside
the trunk of a vehicle.
Astro’s
existing release mechanism was an unlit steel rod, which did not meet
the visibility requirements of the safety standard, nor was it stylish
enough to use with Astro¹s sleek, newly designed line of bed covers
for pick-up trucks. For the re-design, Astro approached LeVic Plastics
and emphasized the need for a glow-in-the-dark part with appealing,
softened lines that offered high impact and tensile strengths. LeVic
contacted RTP Company which recommended an RTP 100 Series GITD polypropylene
compound for the mechanism.
The
intensity with which a phosphorescent material glows is measured in
millicandles per meter squared (mCd/m2) and is an expression of light
emitted from the part. The average human eye, adapted to darkness,
can typically distinguish an object emitting no less than 0.030 mCd/m2.
Charged with a 100 foot-candle lamp for 1 minute, the RTP 100 Series
GITD compound emitted 0.032 mCd/m2 after 8 hours, exceeding the safety
standard’s requirements.
GITD
compounds typically require high loadings of phosphorescent additives
to obtain long duration glow properties. Unfortunately, these high
loadings often cause significant degradation of mechanical properties.
To balance these characteristics, RTP Company has formulated numerous
GITD compounds that contain various phosphorescent pigments combined
with proprietary carriers, yielding compounds with long duration glow
features without significant reduction in mechanical performance.
A new generation of brighter and longer glowing GITD compounds uses
light stable pigments that do not fade.
RTP
Company has formulated GITD compounds meeting the phosphorescent release
handle specifications of Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda, Ford,
Delphi, and Saab.
Dupont
Co. sold its Invista Fibers Business to Koch Industries Inc.
The fibers unit, which includes the Lycra and Stainmaster brandsgenerated
sales of $6.3 billion 2002, representing about 25 per cent total sales
for DuPont. In February 2002, DuPont had announced plans sell or spin
off the unit, including polyester and nylon fibers, in order to focus
on core businesses. The deal does not include DuPont’s polyester and
nylon resin businesses.
The
two largest suppliers of Nylon (Honeywell-Nylon 6) and DuPont (Nylon
6/6) have now exited either the fiber or resin business. If one recalls,
Honeywell and BASF swapped businesses last year-BASF took the resin
business; Honeywell the fiber business.
Wichita,
Kan-based Koch also owns PET maker Kosa Inc. of Houston, which also
is a major polyester fiber producer. The deal includes DuPont’s adipic
acid and hexamethylenediamine assets, which are key raw materials
used to produce DuPont’s nylon 6/6 resins. Koch is expected to continue
to supply those materials for DuPont’s market-leading nylon 6/6 business.
In
preparation for the sale, last year DuPont placed its nylon 6/6 resin,
acetal, specialty polyester and co-polyester businesses as well as
its interests in DuPont Dow Elastomers and DuPont Teijin Films U.S.
LP into its performance materials unit.
Zeotherm
TPVís
Zeotherm
TPVs are different from standard TPVs in that they are based on polyacrylate
elastomers and nylon 6, rather than on the combination of polypropylene
and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) that most TPVs are constructed
from. This chemical makeup allows Zeotherm to provide greater heat
and oil resistance than standard TPVs, according to the manufacturer.
The
materials can retain physical properties after 1,500 hours of exposure
at 150°C. They also have a perpound selling price that’s quite a bit
higher than standard TPVs. The products are being designed as a material
upgrade.
The
company also expects to launch two additional TPV families — one based
on epichlorohydrine (ECO) and another based on hydrogenated nitrile
(HNBR) — in the next two years. Each of those new lines will contain
several individual grades.
Cyclic
Resins
The CBT resin is an ultra-low viscosity material that polymerizes
“reactively” into PBT (poly butylene terephthalate). The material
can be processed like a thermoset or a thermoplastic. It can therefore
react with a number of other compounds creating new materials. The
developer’s goal is to add new markets for PBT replacing metal and
thermosets.
CBT
is available as a two-part system or one-part system. The advantages
of cyclic thermoplastics gaining the properties of PBT (high temperature
resistance, chemical resistance, dimensional stability, recycling,
thermoforming, machineable) with the processing advantages of CBT
™ (low viscosity, adjustable reaction times, no heat of reaction or
VOC’s and long shelf life). Some of the applications where CBTs are
being evaluated include: Prepreg (wind turbines, automotive), Long
fiber molding compounds, Powder coatings, Functionalized polymers
(elastomers), rotomolded parts, cast parts, pultruded parts, sheet
molding compound and RTM/SRIM parts.
Techmer
and Eastern Rainbow ink Business Deal
Techmer PM LLC’s plans to grow its Asian business include a production
deal with Uangzhou Eastern Rainbow of Guangzhou, China. Techmer, a
Los Angeles-based colour concentrates maker, will supply Eastern Rainbow
with its formulations and some advanced additive packages. Eastern
Rainbow then will make concentrates based on polyolefins, styrenics
and engineering resins for the injection molding, film and fibers
markets, according to Techmer President John Manuck. More and more
customers have been asking Techmer to supply them in China with locally
produced colour concentrates.
The
two firms will share revenues and profit from Chinese sales of Techmer
concentrates. The arrangement also gives Eastern Rainbow access to
more-advanced additive products, including flame-retardants, ultraviolet-light
stabilizers and gamma stabilizers. In addition, Eastern Rainbow would
provide Techmer with sizable opportunities for non-woven fibers in
the personal-hygiene market.
Techmer,
which employs 500 at five U.S. plants, with sales of approximately
$130 million is a smaller manufacturer that has chosen to grow globally
by partnering with strong local companies.
Electronics
Industry: Lead-free Soldering
Under pressure to protect the environment, the semiconductor industry
in Japan is taking mea sures to implement lead-free soldering technologies
for mounting electronics parts and components. To meet the challenging
new processing requirements, Shoei Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, a leading manufacturer
of aluminum electrolytic capacitors and miniature rechargeable batteries,
has decided to replace PPS with high-temperature resistant VICTREX®
PEEK˜ polymer for the resin mold cases of its ‘PetitCap’ aluminum
electrolytic capacitor. Soldered on to the surface of a printed circuit
board, these super low profile capacitors are used in consumer electronics
products such as notebook PCs, DVD players and CD-R/W drives.
To
avoid contaminating the environment, the semiconductor industry is
transitioning to lead-free soldering at an accelerated pace. When
compared to conventional solder which has a processing temperature
of approximately 482°F (250°C), lead-free alternatives require longer
heating times (preheating and reflow, at temperatures exceeding 500°F
or 260°C). Prior to transitioning to lead-free soldering, Shoei manufactured
the resin mold cases from PPS. However, with heat resistant temperatures
of only 464°F (240°C) PPS could not withstand the lead-free soldering
process.
VICTREX
PEEK polymer, on the other hand, has a heat resistant temperature
of up to 600°F (315°C). Shoei is currently producing 7 million “PetitCap”
capacitors per month. Some 40% of the total production is being produced
using VICTREX PEEK polymer for shipment to customers who have already
started to implement lead-free soldering.
Premix
Thermoplastics, Inc., a specialty compounder of electrically conductive
thermoplastics is opening of its first North American manufacturing
facility in Milton WI. Premix Thermoplastics is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Premix Oy of Finland, a leader in conductive plastics technology
in Europe.
Premix
Thermoplastics formulates its compounds utilizing most of the commercially
available thermoplastic resins and all of the electrically conductive
additives including: carbon black, carbon fibers, nickel coated carbon
fibers, stainless steel fibers, metal flake and powders, inherently
dissipative polymers (IDP) and inherently conductive polymers (ICP).
Premix
Thermoplastics can custom formulate electrically conductive compounds
for a wide range of applications including thermoplastic elastomers,
polyolefins, styrenics or engineering polymers.
New
Process Aids to Work more Efficiently and Effectively
Dupont Dow Elastomers has introduced new process aids that are used
in the production of blown film, cast film and extruded pipe, wire
and cable. Introduced at NPE, Viton Freeflow Z represents a breakthrough
in process aid technology. The new products-Viton ™ Z-100 and Viton
FreeFlow Z-200 use a combination of rheology modified fluoroelastomer
and innovative interfacial agents to make them work more efficiently
and effectively than products currently on the market.
For
film converters, the additive eliminates melt fracture quickly, facilitating
the production of smooth, clear films with a high gloss finish. It
offers robust processing capability; the ability to reduce die gap
size in blown films and it reduces die-buildup on extruded goods.
Viton
Fee-flow Z-100 uses a lower level of polyethylene glycol (PEG) than
other fluoroelastomer processing aids. Among its benefits are: reduced
potential for olfactory effects in the final products; reduced screw
slippage in film extruders and reduced breakdown from oxidatively
unstable components and reduced negative interactions with other film
additives.
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