Clarifying Agent
Why use Clarifying agents?
Among the numerous possibilities of material selection in injection molding, blow molding or thermoforming, polypropylene provides a unique balance of benefits such as: low cost, easy processing, high stiffness and low density compared to other polymers. As polypropylene is a semi-crystalline polymer, it is naturally translucent or opaque.
The introduction of additives - called Clarifiers - can make PP highly transparent. The material is then referred to as Clarified PP.
Clarified PP appears today as an outstanding alternative to other transparent polymers. It allows the packaging and medical industries to develop new concepts with a unique combination of properties: transparency, gas barrier, chemical resistance and cost.
- In this PP clarifier Center, we offer you an overview of this technology and its applications. The following items will be presented:
- Benefits of Clarified PP compared with other transparent materials.
- Key properties needed for clarifiers (thermal stability, organoleptic properties...)
- An application gallery showing you numerous example of applications
- Processing and compounding tips in order to help you to formulate, compound or process clarifiers.
- Description and mode of action for those wanting to have a better understanding of the chemistry and how it works.
Benefits of Clarified PP:-
Clarified PP has many benefits compared to other materials - light weight, strength and cost effectiveness, to name a few. A comparison of some of the properties of Clarified PP is summarized below.
This is a matrix format comparing clarified PP versus polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
| Desired Property | PS | PC | PMMA | SAN | PET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Density | + | ++ | + | + | ++ |
| Design Flexibility | + | ++ | ++ | + | + |
| Maximum Operating Temp | ++ | -- | ++ | ++ | + |
| Scratch Resistance | - | - | -- | - | - |
| Relative cost per unit volume | + | ++ | + | o | + |
| Chemical resistance | + | + | ++ | + | + |
| Oxygen Barrier properties | + | + | -- | - | -- |
| H2O Barrier properties | ++ | ++ | + | + | + |
Clarifier Benefits
The most effective clarifiers are S-Orbital derivatives. Astra polymer products are a breakthrough clarifying agent technology for polypropylene (PP). Use of this additive in properly formulated and processed PP gives improved transparency, increased resin throughput, productivity gains and enhanced physical properties.
The key benefits are:
- Clearest PP Possible: - The highest clarity, gloss and surface smoothness available.
- Ideal for Food Contact Applications:- Clarifier in PP does not affect the taste of contained foods or liquids.
- Increased Productivity: - Clarified PP gives higher throughput and productivity.