antistatic performance, the company has intro-duced PE8746 – for a fast, long-acting effectduring production of film, sheet and mouldings– and PE8747, which provides rapid antistaticperformance for extrusions and mouldings aswell as efficient mould release, Cabot says.

PE8847 is a highly concentrated antioxidantmasterbatch claimed to provide a high degree ofthermal protection during production of filmand pipe extrusions, as well as compoundingoperations. It also improves long-term thermalstability. L8809 is a highly concentrated pro-cessing aid masterbatch developed to eliminatemelt fracture, reduce die deposit, increase out-put rates and improve surface smoothness andgloss for polyolefin films, sheets, mouldingsand pipes. For styrenic sheet and mouldingsthere is a second new processing aid, PS8772,which reduces build-up and smoke during pro-duction to give an improved surface finish. Andfinally, in response to the growing use of recy-cled and reclaimed materials of unknown mois-ture content, Cabot has introduced PS8774, ahighly concentrated desiccant for styrenics. Thecompany reports that at 1% addition rate thisgrade typically absorbs 1500 ppm moisture,reducing surface defects, porosity and die build-up during processing.

In other product news, Cabot has also developeda new P-type carbon black for pressure pipeapplications. Elftex P100® is said to provideimportant improvements over existing grades forboth compounders and end-users. Particle size,compound moisture absorption, microscopicdispersion, dispersability and chemical impuritylevels all show significant improvement.

Like Cabot’s two existing O-type grades, Elftex254 and TP, the fine primary particle size pro-duces a higher UV adsorption and better weath-ering performance than a conventional carbonblack. Carbon blacks can absorb moisture duringcompounding, causing processing problems,surface defects and internal cavities in the fin-ished part. However, the company says thispotential problem is significantly reduced withElftex P100 because of its exceptional purity andprocessing technology. It also has an improvedmicroscopic dispersion rating compared withexisting products, which reduces the risk of

premature failure in the pipe wall and improvesflow performance. P100 contains very low levelsof impurities such as sulphur, ash and tolueneextract to minimize tainting the taste or odour ofdrinking water in the pipe. For example, the sul-phur content is below 1000 ppm in P100 com-pared to around 10 000 ppm in a conventionalblack. Cabot also says that in developing P100 ithas made a particular effort to optimize dis-persability, and as a result the new grade exhibitsimproved dispersability over Elftex 254 and TP.

Contact: Gérard Romainville, Cabot Corp,Interleuvenlaan 5, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium;tel: +32-1639-2400; fax: +32-1639-2444; e-mail: gerard_romainville@cabot-corp.com;URL: www.cabot-corp.com

Shepherd unveils special effectpigment technologyPigment producer Shepherd Color Co used therecent NPE2003 show to introduce its newStarLight™ special effect pigment. The pigmenttechnology is based on a silver coating on aglass substrate and, according to the company,provides superior brilliance, sparkle and lustrecompared to currently available pigments.

The glass flake substrate is perfectly flat,Shepherd says, which maximizes reflection andprovides a solid base for the metallic appear-ance, yielding brilliance at lower loadings thanrequired by other effect pigments. StarLightpigments, which are available in several grades,can be combined with many other pigments toachieve the desired appearance. They alsoimpart a degree of conductivity to the productsin which they are incorporated.

The company also recently launched a range ofinfrared-reflective Arctic™ pigments designed toreduce the amount of heat absorbed by colouredplastic products. According to Shepherd, the pig-ments can reduce and even eliminate warping andtwisting due to heat build-up in plastic products.Lower heat build-up also reduces thermal degra-dation of polymer products, and allows darkercolours to be used in exterior applications.

Contact: Shepherd Color Co, 4539 Dues Drive,Cincinnati, OH 45246, USA; tel: +1-513-874-0714; fax: +1-513-874-5061

September 2003 Additives for Polymers

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