The two ICP resins are the first in Socar’s portfolio to incorporate Milliken Chemical’s Hyperform HPN performance additive for PP. The two firms have been working together on developing the materials for the past year.
According to Socar, the new grades are ideal for use in thin-wall injection moulded (TWIM) packaging applications such as caps, closures and opaque containers, as well as in various housewares, sporting goods and toys.
The two new grades are CB 4848 MO (with a melt flow rate of 48) and CB 6448 MO (with a melt flow rate of 64), which are the most common melt flow rates for ICPs.
Both offer an excellent balance of end-use properties, Socar said. The grades deliver moulded parts that exhibit low shrinkage, improved thermal resistance, and an excellent balance between stiffness and impact resistance, the company added.
Additionally, Socar claimed the two different grades enable converters to achieve faster processing, while allowing both newer and older injection moulding machines to efficiently process the material.
The company said the new grades advance its aim of providing customers with reactor grades of heterophasic copolymers that use no organic peroxides, and abide by its zero-phthalate philosophy. This means no catalysts and chemicals containing phthalate compounds are used at any stage of production. At the same time, the resulting products offer superior rigidity and dimensional stability, Socar explained.
The use of Hyperform in the ICP formulation is also said to aid processability by helping to boost converters’ productivity through reduced cycle times, while also reducing their energy usage.
These efforts build upon the previous cooperation between the companies that last year led to the introduction of Socar’s first two random copolymer PP grades – RB 4545 MO and RB 6545 MO.
Those grades use Milliken’s Millad NX 8000 family of clarifiers, which Socar said can boost clarity in TWIM packaging products while maintaining an excellent balance of overall properties.
Based in Azerbaijan, Socar is currently marketing the ICP resins to customers in Russia, Turkey and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
