Market needs

In response to market need for and efficient solutions, Sumitomo Chemicals have developed a unique range of plastics stabilisers.

• Plastics need some help of stabilisers, i.e. antioxidants, to retain their high performance after extrusion at elevated temperatures and during their use.
• In order to test and verify the efficiency of Sumitomo’s newly developed antioxidants, they turned to us in Norner for assistance.
• Our long term experience with additives testing and analysis was the decissive factor. 

Polymer technology develops new additive innovation

Sometimes more advanced polymer polymerization technology is required for a proper response to market needs.

• Higher processing temperature is required for thinner film extrusion, and therefore higher stabilisation will be required.
• Increased amount of processing stabiliser might work, if the processing temperature isn’t too high and the film isn’t too thin. 

For use in food wrappings or electronic components, it is more necessary than ever that the additives, their decomposition products or polymers that have low molecular weight are not transferred to the food or the surface of the product, so that contamination of the product and/or the mold due to bleed-out will not occur. 

It is common to use a combination of phenolic antioxidant and a phosphoric antioxidant as processing stabilizers. 

Development and cooperation

The focus of Sumitomo’s development was to develop a more modern and efficient system which also could reduce the total amount used with better purity for the given application. The result was their G-series of SUMILIZER®additives and all was tested by Norner. 

Norner has made a thorough work on assessing the efficiency and performance of the SUMILIZER® GP in both LLDPE and PP materials. A unique feature is that it contains both a phenolic and a phosphoric antioxidant in one chemical molecule. 

Because of this dual functionality the SUMILIZER® GP is capable of neutralising all different radical reactions in the polymer matrix.

Results

• Experiments were carried out with virgin polymer powders and we compounded selected additive recipes of SUMILIZER® GP and the standard reference package on a twin screw extruder under N2 blanket. 
• The compounds were investigated and analysed.
• The figures below show the influence of multiple extrusion on the polymer colour and MFR.
• We tested the stability against gas fading which was excellent.

Norner additive services cover

• Quantitative analysis of organic additives by GC or LC
• Quantitative analysis of in-organic additives by SEM/EDS
• Analysis of NIAS in polymers
• Additive identification with FTIR
• MIgration analysis
• Food (EU/FDA), Reach and Pharma advisory
• Physical testing of the effect of additives
• UV, WOM and wide range of other ageing testing
• Compounding and extrusion