A weekly look at new products, innovations

Editor's Note: Each week, Rubber & Plastics News will take a look at some of the rubber industry's new products and innovations on www.rubbernews.com. Does your company have a new product or new innovation? To be considered for inclusion in this recurring feature, email [email protected]

TA Instruments has introduced the ACS-2 air chiller system, which the company said provides subambient temperature control for mechanical and rheological testing.

The device, following on the ACS-3, the ACS-2 is a mechanical refrigeration system that paired with a Q800 DMA, Discovery hybrid rheometer, ARES-G2 rheometer or RSA-G2 solids analyzer, will provide temperature control as low as -55°C without the use of liquid nitrogen, TA Instruments claimed.

The ACS-2 which provides similar convenience as the ACS-3,within its range of operation, and at a lower cost, the company said. The device also decreases cool-down time between experiments, according to TA Instruments, resulting in a typical reduction of total test time by more than 20 percent, reducing operator time and increasing laboratory throughput.

For more information, contact Ed Moriarty at 302-427-1033 or [email protected]

Dow Corning Corp. has released several silicone-based additives that the firm said enhances performance and processing in transparent polycarbonate, polyamide and polyoxymethylene compounds, while improving surface quality in automotive interior parts.

The company also is launching Dow Corning MB25-035 Masterbatch, a material designed for reducing friction in form-fill-seal packaging applications.

For thinner-gauge transparent PC compounds, Dow Corning's 40-001 additive improves flame retardancy while retaining high clarity with minimal haze, and has no impact on tensile strength or modulus, the company claimed.

Dow Corning said this liquid siloxane additive delivers non-halogenated flame-resistant performance and achieves an Underwriters Laboratories 94 V-0 rating at 1 mm with synergists, or a UL 94 V-0 rating at 1.5 mm. It enhances the processability of PC, and applications include LED lighting for consumer electronics, automotive headlamp lenses and exterior lighting, the company claimed.

Dow Corning's 31-441 additive is a solid silicone polymer that the company said excels at delivering high slip performance at lower loadings than polytetrafluorethylene, so mechanical properties are maintained. It offers excellent anti-scratch properties and improves extrusion efficiency by decreasing screw torque, according to Dow Corning. Applications include automotive parts, industrial gears and bearings, and moving parts in appliances and peripherals.

Dow Corning said its family of siloxane additives enhances surface properties of POM compounds are used in automotive, consumer, medical and electronics applications. The firm said these solutions improve coefficient of friction more effectively than PTFE at significantly lower dosages and with substantially better short- and long-term performance. These products include HMB-1103 masterbatch, Dow Corning said, a new-generation tribology modifier for polyacetal-based systems and Dow Corning's toray EP-5500 powder for improved slip in POM-C and POM-H systems.

Dow Corning's MB-0221 additive acts as an anti-scratch, anti-abrasion surface agent and reduces dust build-up, according to the company, providing a soft touch and silky feel. It also delivers processing improvements, including reduced COF, lower torque and enhanced dispersion of mineral and inorganic fillers, the company said.

In FFS and lamination operations, Dow Corning said reducing COF is critical to seamless throughput, productivity and quality, and said its MB25-035 masterbatch provides exceptional slip performance for low-density and linear low-density polyethylene films, while overcoming the drawbacks of organics.

For more information, go to www.dowcorning.com.