Additive helps enable a wider use of homopolymer PP in various applications
Thermoformers and brand owners have been demanding polypropylene (PP) that delivers better clarity and higher rigidity to enable downgauging when molding products such as drink cups and lids, trays and food packaging.
Milliken & Company responded by developing Hyperform® HPN® 500ei performance additive for use in homopolymer PP. This additive—which is now available in India—reduces the haze and the yellowness index, yielding final parts that are cleaner, clearer and more transparent. This can allow for more inter-material replacement using lightweight, highly recyclable PP.
“Traditional nucleating agents require customers to sacrifice impact to gain greater stiffness,” notes Bhavesh Gandhi, Milliken’s global product line manager for Hyperform HPN. “This additive delivers improved stiffness, or flexural modulus, while maintaining the impact performance.” This, in turn, serves to enhance part design and downgauging possibilities, which can improve sustainability by reducing both polymer use and product weight.
Hyperform HPN 500ei also provides a higher heat deflection temperature (HDT), which allows for a higher crystallization temperature and a reduced cycle time for thermoformers.
Leveraging its extensive experience in polymer chemistry, Milliken developed Hyperform HPN 500ei in conjunction with resin producers, brand owners, converters and end users. The resulting product can be used by resin producers to create a polypropylene grade for a target application or by converters machine-side to improve the performance of their existing PP grades.
Bhavesh Gandhi is Global Productline Manager – Hyperform®, for the Plastics Additives business of Milliken's Chemical Division of Milliken & Company. He has 19 years of experience in clarification & nucleation technologies for polyolefins. Mr. Bhavesh Gandhi began his career with Milliken as a Technical Development Associate in 2002 following Master Degree in Chemical Engineering at University Of Missouri – Rolla. He earned a B. E. in Chemical Engineering from Maharaja Sayajirao (M. S.) Gayakwad University in India and completed MBA in International Business from Indian Institute of Management – Calcutta.
