Benjamin Daniel gathers more information about the clarifiers, nucleators and colourants that Milliken has introduced to this region’s markets from Sami TK Palanisami, the company’s commercial manager for EMEA
Milliken team share a light moment with the Packaging MEA team at ArabPlast 2019
Why is packaging important? Because it helps deliver a product to the customer, in precisely the way the brand desires, safely protecting the contents while making it attractive for the consumer. Plastic plays an important part in packaging. One type of plastic, PET, has various desirable properties. It offers glass- like clarity, and is durable, lightweight, recyclable and organoleptic. Over the years, it has been further optimised for processing, such as for injection moulding into PET preforms and for stretch blow moulding into containers.
Polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) are other popular types of resin for use in packaging applications, each with their own sets of properties. Specialty chemicals supplier Mil- liken & Co., has extensive experience in developing additives that help to refine and enhance both PET and PP.
Milliken recently used the Arabplast platform to introduce how its additives can help address some of the key challenges confronting today’s plastics processing industry.
Perfectly clear PP
Milliken’s Millad® NXTM 8000 clarifier is used to produce NX UltraClearTM PP resin. “One of the main issues with polypropylene in the past was that it was not transparent, but the good news is that we now can make polypropylene as transparent as PET. As you know, polypropylene by nature is hot fillable and thus is microwavable as well,” says Sami TK Palanisami, Milliken’s commercial manager – EMEA.
The NX UltraClear PP resin can be processed to yield ultimate clarity and transparency in injection molded, blow molded and thermoformed polypropylene products. This means consumers can more easily see what they are buying. “Additionally, it is very good for sealing in thermoformed applications, as well.
If you want to seal PET, normally you need to have a polyethylene layer to seal it and the mix of materi als makes the package less recyclable. But now, with NX UltraClear PP you can achieve high clarity in the container, and also use PP resin for the label, making it a mono-material packaging solution that is readily recyclable,” says Palanisami.
UV-sensitive PET
PET is widely used in var- ious packaging applications. Milliken has introduced its ClearShieldTM UV absorber to improve key properties of the resin.
“What it does is it effectively protect UV-sensitive packed contents from ultraviolet-light degradation while maintaining the clarity and transparency of
PET,” says Palanisami. Makers of home- and personal-care products are using more natural ingredients, and they’re embracing memorable colours, active ingredients and special additives. But UV light can negatively impact some of these new ingredients, and current UV filters come with their own challenges. “The crystal-clear ClearShield additive is compounded directly into the PET resin, which eliminates the need to add UV additives to the formulations of the pack- aged contents themselves,” Palanisami explains.
Nucleating agents
Millekin’s Hyperform HPN nucleating agents, Palanisami says, provides an excellent balance of physi- cal properties, and help to improve end-product performance. “Hyperform HPN enables the production of stronger, lighter parts by increasing stiff- ness by about 10% when compared to conventionally nucleated PP, while still retaining the same impact behavior as a non-nucleated resin. Additionally, Hyper- form HPN improves the stiffness of non-nucleated PP by 25-30%.”
Bright and stable colours
At Arabplast, Mil- liken showcased a new generation of its Keyplast colorants for plastics that can be used by liquid and solid masterbatch producers and compounders. These colourants yield stable, reproducible colours, and are suitable for use with a wide range of resins — from PET in transparent applications, and polystyrene in most general-purpose, medium and high-impact grades.
Palanisami adds, “These versatile colorants also can be used with various engineering thermoplastics, such as polycarbonate, as well as in most compounds of nylon 6, nylon 6,6, glass- filled compounds, and other polyamide resins. In these applications Keyplast is compatible despite the high processing temperatures needed, and helps to produce vibrant colours with thermal and UV stability.”
Nucleating agents
Milliken’s Hyperform HPN nucleating agents, Palanisami says, provides an excellent balance of physical properties, and help to improve end-product performance. “Hyperform HPN enables the production of stronger, lighter parts by increasing stiff- ness by about 10% when compared to conventionally nucleated PP, while still retaining the same impact behavior as a non-nucleated resin. Additionally, Hyper- form HPN improves the stiffness of non-nucleated PP by 25-30%.”