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BYK: fresh Look with an innovative Additive
Freshness is a mega trend in the food sector, even with con-
venience products. Consequently, refrigerated food units
take up an increasingly greater part of the supermarket. That’s
because consumers favor products that contribute to a heal-
thy diet and that ensure their shelf life by refrigerating instead
of adding preservatives. Modern packaging must therefore
meet the growing demands for freshness and the call for eco-
logical friendliness more and more.
BYK, a leading manufacturer of additives and measuring in-
struments for the plastics and coatings industry, is joining the
packaging industry in this consumer trend for fresh foods and
sustainable packaging with its new barrier additive
BYKO2BLOCK-1200. This unique barrier additive has been
specially developed for use in PLA-based food packaging. Due
to the even distribution of the layered silicate platelets in the
polymer matrix, a very effective barrier layer is built up, which
brings about a significant reduction in gas and water vapor
permeability. Hence, the food stays fresh longer in the packa-
ging. Another trade fair highlight will be the extended pro-
duct portfolio for thermoplastic applications due to the
acquisition of Addcomp B.V. Additives with different functio-
nalities such as flame retardancy, thermal and UV stabilization,
anti-fogging action, and nucleation will be part of the product
range from now on.
Packaging example of PLA-based food packaging
involving a BYK barrier additive
Hall 5, Booth E17
Riverdale Global: liquid Blowing Agents
Anew series of liquid blowing agents for use with a wide
range of resins provides improved dispersion and more
controlled foaming action than pellet masterbatches while
being used at lower addition levels, it was announced today by
Riverdale Global. The company will introduce the additives at
K 2016 (Hall 10, Stand A 26).
The chemical blowing agent (CBA) formulations available in
the new +Foam™ series of liquid additives include the stan-
dard exothermic azodicarbonamide CBA, an endothermic
CBA, and a combination of the two. All are used at 0.5 to
1.5% letdown ratios, which are lower than levels typically re-
quired for pellet masterbatch. Among the resins with which
they can be used are polyolefins, polystyrene, ABS, PPO, and
other polymers.
“Because +Foam liquid blowing agents avoid the heat history
required for manufacturing pellet masterbatches and are more
gently mixed into the base resin, pre-decomposition of the
CBA is less of a concern,” said Charles B. Irish, vice president
of product development. “For users of +Foam products based
on an endothermic CBA, there is the added benefit of shorter
cycle times, since the CBA adds less heat to the process.”
Because liquid additives can be metered into the process with
precision and disperse more uniformly in the melt than ma-
sterbatch, processors are better able to achieve the target level
of density reduction, noted Mr. Irish. “Use of Riverdale Glo-
bal’s gravimetric metering system provides an additional level
of precision, allowing for controlled conditions over the entire
production run.”
By reducing the density of a molded or extruded product, blo-
wing agents make possible savings on raw material, contri-
bute to light-weighting in transportation applications, and
help processors to meet sustainability goals. Added at lower le-
vels, blowing agents can also be used to prevent sink marks
and warpage.
The new additives are available in pails or drums, in custom
blends with liquid colors, or as one of the GlobalPlus™ range
of liquid additives. In the GlobalPlus system, each additive is
supplied in a drum with a built-in pump that stay sealed
throughout shipping, handling, and processing.
Hall 10, Booth A26
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