Plastics Additives
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Who Should Attend
Anyone new or familiar with the plastics industry who formulates, manufactures, or uses thermoplastic materials (some thermoset, and some elastomer material is included) will benefit from this constantly updated course now in its third decade including:-
Business Managers
- Formulators
- Technical Personnel
- Manufacturing Personnel
- End Users
Description
Antioxidants, thermal stabilizers, flame-retardants, and colorants are widely used in all plastics and they are also among the most expensive commercial materials that are added to polymers. Special emphasis is given to color and colorants because the understanding of color is basic and even applies to natural colored or unpigmented raw materials. Students find this section of the course useful in every day life as well as its application to enhance the aesthetic appeal of plastics in many areas of end use. Many of the additives in this section are among the most expensive additives used in the plastics industry. Learning how to use them in cost effective ways is covered. Flame-retardants are under pressure from environmentalists. This is an international concern and the facts are carefully presented.
Fillers, reinforcements, and plasticizers are used in the greatest amounts of all additives. Impact additives are extremely important in many applications. We want attractive parts that do not break when accidentally dropped. How this is achieved for many different polymer systems is covered. In addition some recent developments in super impact strength additives, where improvements of ten fold and more are reported, will be covered.
Blowing agents can be added to polymers to make foams. Foams can provide enhanced properties and costs or materials and processing can often be reduced. Foams are good examples of doing more with less. The process, as well as the additives necessary to make high quality foams from several different polymers, will be covered.