NEW PLASTICS THAT RESEMBLE PVC, WITHOUT CHLORINE

Main Menu | News By Date | News By Supplier | News By Category | About Us

NEW PLASTICS THAT RESEMBLE PVC, WITHOUT CHLORINE
12 December 2003 - Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.

Even non-chemists know at least the abbreviations of those nasty substances: DDT is a highly persistent insecticide, CFCs used as propellants and refrigerants destroy atmospheric ozone, and PVC stands for plastics often regarded with suspicion.

Add PCBs and PCP to this cocktail, and you can't help wondering why industry doesn't simply stop using these substances or replace them with something more harmless. But apart from the fact that it is often difficult to find alternatives with the desired properties, there is an even more fundamental dilemma: Chlorine is produced in large quantities as an inevitable by-product of hydrogen gas and caustic soda via electrolysis of salt. In Germany, a quarter of this chlorine is used to synthesize vinyl chloride, the chemical basis for PVC. But despite advances in methods of recycling these mass-produced plastics, many companies are trying to avoid its use altogether, for they may also contain heavy metals as stabilizers and phthalates as plasticizers, both potential pollutants.

An environmentally friendly, low-cost alternative to PVC and acrylic plastisols has been developed by Professor Slaweyko Marinow: "The important feature of my invention is that these paste-like precursors can be processed using all established techniques for PVC plastisols." The chlorine-free ones consist of a similar dispersion of microscopic plastic particles and permitted additives and fillers in a solution of monomers, harmless plasticizers and / or common solvents. They are based on the following comminuted plastics (polyolefins): Polyethylene and -propylene of various densities and their mixed copolymers, which may also contain butadiene. The viscosity and flow behavior of the pastes can be adapted to the needs of the customer within a relatively wide range by varying the mixing ratio of all ingredients. The composition also affects the setting and hardening time, which can range from one minute to several hours.

"We are already negotiating with a number of companies who have shown interest in obtaining a license for the process," reveals Dr. Pia Schoester, a service agent at the Fraunhofer Patent Center PST. "The wide spread of potential applications ought to appeal to many branches of industry." The plastisols can be used in corrosion-resistant coatings for metal parts such as building frameworks and vehicle underbodies, or for containers used by the food industry. Other possible areas of use include textiles and paper. All this and more can be discovered by visitors to the ACHEMA show in Frankfurt, at Stand A 11-B 12 in Hall Forum 0.

http://www.fraunhofer.de

About: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft undertakes applied research of direct utility to private and public enterprise and of wide benefit to society. Its services are solicited by customers and contractual partners in industry, the service sector and public administration. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft maintains over 80 research units at more than 40 different locations throughout Germany. A staff of some 12,700, predominantly qualified scientists and engineers, works with an annual research budget of over one billion euros. Of this sum, more than € 900 million is generated through contract research. Two thirds of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s contract research revenue is derived from contracts with industry and from publicly financed research projects. The remaining one third is contributed by the German federal and Länder governments, as a means of enabling the institutes to pursue more fundamental research in areas that are likely to become relevant to industry and society in five or ten years’ time.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is also active on an international level: Affiliated research centers and representative offices in Europe, the USA and Asia provide contact with the regions of greatest importance to present and future scientific progress and economic development.

More News:
  • For December 2003
  • From Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
  • For Thermoplastic Composites