Standard sheet and profile extrusion

A large variety of grades for standard sheet extrusion is available with Lotte Starex® ABS, MABS (ABS/PMMA), ASA, SAN and Infino® PC, PC/ABS with very high transparency and desirable mechanical properties. Applications include refrigerator liners, construction components with Starex® ABS, weather resistant Starex® ASA and SAN for decking, roof tiles, windows and window spacers, rain gutters and fencing profiles for outdoor, Infino® PC for highly transparent roofing and wall sheet extrusion and fancy furnishing sheets and profiles.

Standard and hyperfilled polyolefin and engineering polymer compounds for sheet and foam extrusion, corrugated sheets, etc., are available at Mesgo including Altair® PE, Avior® PP, Izar® PS and ABS and  Mizar® PA.

PVC Compounds are available from TPV Compound.

Mepol main products are the mineral filled or glass fiber Meplen® PP and Mepron® PS compounds. The industrial versions EcoMeplen® and EcoMepron® contain min 30 % of recycled polymers.

With over 30 years experience, ColorTech also guarantees a full portfolio of compounds with fast and reliable color matching capability and great service flexibility for small batches, including the brands Teclene® PP, Teclan® ABS, Tecral® ASA, Tecstil® SAN, Tecstir® PS and Tecril® PMMA.

Hyperfilled calcium carbonate masterbatches to be added directly during the extrusion of virgin polymers are also available with Mesgo SwingAdd® PE, PP, PS, ABS - up to 84% mineral content, perfectly free-flowing.

Mesgo SwingAdd® include also processing aids and UV protection masterbatches, and they are available as single-function additives or as a combined proprieties or colors (combi-batches).

Jazzwhite® and Tangoblack® white and black masterbatches are produced in large volumes at Mesgo Grigno plant, and they show very high concentration and excellent dispersion of the pigments on polyolefins, styrenics, PA and other engineering polymers at very reasonable costs. Color masterbatches are produced at Mesgo Iride Colors, with very high flexibility also for small batches.

Spot offers, slow movings, off-specs of polyolefins, ABS and PC - extrusion grades - are regularly available at Speedy Polymers at advantageous prices.

Case Study

A transparent alveolar PC sheet

Opportunity: Customer produces alveolar PC transparent sheets for construction.

Tip

Spacers profiles for double-glazed thermal break window frames

Try the Lotte Starex® ASA, SAN/GF or Infino® PC/ABS specific compounds with gas-tightness features and weather / mechanical resistance on repeated cold-hot cycles.

Conductive, flame retardant, low-smoke, anti-abrasion, chemical and heat resistant

With one of the largest production capacity in Europe for carbon black masterbatches and compounds, Mesgo show a broad range of conductive, extrusion grade Altair® PE, Avior® PP, Izar® PS and ABS, Mizar® PA, Rigel® PBT and Mirach® PVC compounds.

Together with dissipative properties, Lotte and Mesgo also have a very strong focus on halo and non-halo flame retardant extrusion compounds based on PE, PP, PS, PVC, ABS, ASA, SAN, PC, PBT and their alloys. Flame retardant compounds are also available with Poliblend Polimid® and Secomid® PA, Politer® PBT and Polipom® POM.

Lotte also recently developed a focused portfolio of Starex® and Infino® PP and PC low-smoke sheet extrusion grades.

Tip

Need to comply with ATEX?

Mesgo has a specific focus on conductive compounds and masterbatches

Flexible sheets, foams and profiles

Flexible sheets, foams and profiles may be obtained with SK Evatane® EVA or Lotryl® EMA, EBA or Sipol Sipolprene® TPC-ET thermoplastic elastomers.

Evatane® EVA is used for the extrusion of foams for construction (wall, stationery, toys, sport equipment (baby-toys, sport mattresses, etc.).

Evatane® is also an elective choice for the replacement of plasticized PVC in flexible profiles and foams.

Flexibilization and impact increase in rigid insulation materials (PS, ABS, PVC) is obtained by direct addition of SK Evatane® EVA or Lotryl® EMA, or Sipol Sipolprene® thermoplastic block copolyesters. Ambra Impact PO may be used for recycled styrenics.

SK Evatane®, Lotryl® may be also be added to GPPS, ABS or PVC directly during extrusion to increase flexibility, elasticity, elongation and impact properties.

Sipolprene® may be used when flexible sheets or profiles are required together with good resistance to abrasion, mechanical stress, chemicals and heat. To the same extent, it may be added to PBT or PET to improve the same properties.

Tip

Wanna replace your flexible PVC profile?

Evatane® EVA is the most straightforward solution

Multi-layer sheets and profiles

SK Evatane® EVA shows strong adhesion on all PE, PS or PVC sheets or profiles, while Lotryl® or Lotryl® T copolymers guarantee very strong adhesion onto PP.

SK Orevac® and Lotader® reactive polyolefins are the first option for sheet or foam extrusion with grafting properties and for extrusion coating and sandwich extrusion lamination on rigid supports, such as wood profiles, metal plates, glasses, rigid plastics sheets for a huge number of applications in construction, interiors furnishing, technical and industrial products, consumer goods, toys, etc. One very important application is in aluminum-plastic or aluminum-glass sandwich panels for exteriors and interiors.

Gas-tight PP, PS or PET sheets will require multi-layer structures with SK Evasin® EVOH gas barrier plus Orevac® tie polymers.

Tip

Heavily filled compounds for aluminum sandwich panels

Use SK Orevac® reactive polyolefin for strong adhesion

Recycled plastics

Although the recent EU proposal for new regulations on the reduction of plastics to reduce marine littering regards mainly single-use plastics, the international protocols against global climate change and the raising public awarEness push to both increase the quantity and to upgrade the quality of recycled plastics – a challenging target.

Lotte Advanced Materials is posing a big focus on the development of recycled compounds for their range of cosmetic Starex® rABS and rPP compounds. Mepol has an existing range of Eco recycled compounds, EcoMeplen® rPP, EcoMeplac® rABS and EcoMepron® PS.

Ambra TPC Regrind Black 1 was specifically designed for 100% sustainable plastics. It was developed by Ambra starting from copolyester regrinds of post-industrial automotive production, showing perfect quality and supply consistency, great resistance to chemical and thermal degradation, easy processing, and very appealing esthetic properties for matt black flexible sheets and profiles.

Recycled polymers, either from post-industrial or post-consumer source, pose important technical challenges, including poor mechanical performance, poor esthetics, bad smell caused by inhomogeneity and contaminations. Effective compatibilization, flexibilization and impact increase of virtually all recycled plastics may be obtained by the direct addition during extrusion of SK Evatane® EVA or Lotryl® EMA.

Ambra Impact and Upgrade polymer blends and compounds are used for the same purpose, at very affordable prices.

Residual water content may be removed with Mesgo SwingAdd® PE desiccant masterbatch. Esthetic properties maybe significantly improved with Mesgo Jazzwhite®, Tangoblack® and color masterbatches.

Issues on smell on any reprocessed plastic can be overcome by Ambra Upgrade MBF fragrance masterbatches with very high perfuming power - based on Pollena Aroma® huge know-how on fragrances with a library of thousands of scents, and SK Evatane®, Lotryl® or Sipol Sipolprene® highly impregnating resins. Tailor-made Ambra Upgrade MBF masterbatches with the desired fragrance matching are suitable.

Also, fully biodegradable perfumed compounds can be obtained by combining Pollena Aroma® fragrances with Sipol Technipol® biopolymers.

Case Study

Manufacturing a protective rigid sheet with rABS plus rPO

Opportunity: A difficult case. We had to improve the homogenization and impact properties of an extruded protective rigid sheet made of a mixture of regrinds containing undefined quantities of ABS and Polyolefins, showing very poor physical and mechanical properties.

Tip

Smelly recycled plastics?

Pollena Aroma® plus SK Evatane® = Ambra Upgrade MBF fragrance masterbatch, a all-in-one full package to solve smell issues.

Gaskets & seals

Short and long chain polyamides are also often used for their good combination of chemical and thermal resistance. Specific PA6 and PA6.6 compounds for chemical resistance are available with Poliblend Polimid® and Mesgo Mizar® portfolios. Specific tailor-made Ambramid® PA6 and PA6.6 can also be developed.

Long-chain polyamides are available with Nexis Fibers PA6.10 and 6.12, bridging the gap between PA6, PA6.6 and PA11, PA12, with intermediate properties in terms of flexibility, heat and chemical resistance, water adsorption and dimensional stability.

Flexible, soft and anti-scratch seals, showing at the same time very high thermal, chemical, corrosion and microbial resistance can be obtained with Sipol Sipolprene® TPC-ET.

Ambra TPC Regrind Black 1 is a 100% post-industrial TPC-ET block copolyester regrind from a single-source automotive application with very high mechanical, chemical and thermal resistance, with similar properties and very attractive price and environmental footprint.

PVC or PE extruded gaskets and seals may be produced with TPV Compound PVC or Mesgo Altair® PE compounds, also with perfect color matching.

Flexible thermoplastic seals may be obtained with SK Evatane® EVA or Lotryl® EMA, EBA. Evatane® EVA is also an advantageous Solution for flexible PVC replacement.

Multi-layer seals may be obtained with the aid of SK Orevac® or Lotader® reactive tie-resins.

Solutions for the injection moulding and 2k-moulding of gasket components include compounds by Mepol Meplen® and ecoMeplen® PP, Poliblend Polimid® and Secomid® PA6 and PA6.6, Lotte Starex® ABS and may be find at the Sections “E+E, HOME, OFFICE, INDUSTRIAL, CONSUMER” and “TRANSPORTS”.

Shoes: Shoe soles and adhesion

SK Evatane® EVA and Lotryl® EMA and EBA are standard choices for foam extrusion (e.g. for slippers and clogs) and expanded shoe soles.

SK Evatane® and Lotryl®, and the Orevac® and Lotader® reactive polyolefins are the first option when looking for high adhesion between the different shoe components (e.g., the different layers of outsoles and insoles, toe puff caps and buttress, upper shoe, esthetic components, etc.), obtained by different technologies – extrusion coating, extrusion lamination, thermoadhesive films, hot-melt calendaring or dot gluing, etc.

Arkema Platamid® crystalline copolyamide (COPA) hot melt adhesives are used for durable adhesion on various shoe components with fast setting time (thus, fast lamination speed). Platamid® has a high bio-source content, due to its origin from castor oil. Specific grades are also available for the extrusion of thermoadhesive films with very thin thickness.

Sipol® Polybutylenesebacate is used in the footwear industry as a hot-melt adhesive during the manufacture of toecaps and buttresses, allowing very low reactivation temperatures.

For dot gluing, Ambra also offers its tailor-made micronized powders based on the above materials under the brand Ambra Powder, with the desired particle size distribution and color matching.

Case Study

Increase adhesion of shoe soles

Opportunity: Customer needed to improve adhesion for top-segment footwear.

Tip

Strong adhesion for your footwear components?

Arkema Platamid® is a Copolyamide (COPA) with high content of renewable carbon. It is the elective choice for the production of thermoadhesive films, rods, sticks for adhesion onto natural fibers (cotton, wool, etc.), synthetic fibers (nylon, polyester, etc.), leather, wood, aluminum, NBR. Washing and high temperature resistant grades available.

Shoes: Engineering polymers for shoe heels and sport shoes

Lotte Starex® ABS and Infino® PC and PC/ABS are used for the production (injection moulding) of standard and luxury shoe heels. For similar applications, Mepol ecoMeplac® recycled ABS guarantees very good technical and environmental performance at affordable price. Colortech Teclan® ABS is employed in colored small tailor-made batches.

Sipol Sipolprene® - copolyesters - are top-segment thermoplastic elastomers where one desires toughness and flexibility, energy and elastic return, shock absorption, lightweight, pleasant touch and appearance, thermal and chemical resistance, colorability and weldability – at both room and freeze temperatures.

They are used in sport shoes and safety boots for the extrusion, extrusion-foaming or injection moulding of 1k or 2k-flexible and soft-touch components; insoles, midsoles and outsole plates; heel counters, shanks, plates and stabilizers.

Tip

Toughness, shock absorption, lightweight

Searching for significantly higher performance of standard higher performance than standard TPU for your sport shoes? Test Sipol Sipolprene®

Purging the screw

4cleanpure® and 4cleanmix® by 4clean are non-abrasive, highly efficient and versatile purging compounds, for perfect sheets, foams and profiles, even in very demanding transparent applications.

Tip

Is cleaning PVC extruders a nightmare?

Just as all polymers, PVC is prone to degradation during extrusion, yielding awful specks which are released during precious sheet extrusion. 4cleanmix® CS is a specific solution even for the trickiest cleaning in PVC extrusion.