Monday, November 23, 2020 - Akron, OH - Smithers has invested in upgraded testing instrumentation and equipment at its rubber chemical and physical testing laboratories in Akron, Ohio. With these new instruments, Smithers has expanded its testing capabilities in the area of pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Pyrolysis GC/MS can be used to analyze samples that cannot be analyzed by GC-MS alone due to volatility limitations. “Pyrolysis GC-MS is designed to analyze whole rubber and plastic products quickly and provide a comprehensive composition analysis—plasticizers, additives, polymers—all at once. With our double-shot pyrolyzer, we can also focus in on specific components using techniques such as thermal desorption or heart cutting analysis. Whether you are looking at basic composition or material failure, pyrolysis techniques are highly versatile and provide a huge amount of information quickly. We are delivering a larger portfolio of both qualitative and quantitative analyses to our clients,” said Dr. Dustin Jenkins, Chemistry Supervisor, Materials Science and Engineering, Smithers. “We can analyze silicone rubbers, plastics, polyamides, and virtually any other material, in addition to the materials we can analyze with our existing traditional GC-MS capabilities.” Smithers also invested in an upgraded rubber process analyzer (RPA). The new instrument can be used to measure the dynamic properties of cured and uncured rubber materials and raw polymers as well as polymer compounds. Its capabilities include cure tests, sweep tests, stress relaxation tests, raw polymer characterization, torque measurement, and more. The instrument is qualified to test to a variety of industry specifications, including ASTM D5289, D6048, D6204, D6601, D7050, D8059, and D7605. “This new instrument offers excellent temperature controls and higher resolution within the extended dynamic range (EDR), which allows us to see changes in material properties at lower strains during a strain sweep test, which is especially helpful when testing silica-filled materials, such as tire treads,” said Christine Domer, General Manager, Akron Labs, Smithers. “Ultimately, this investment supports our commitment to precise testing data for our clients.” Earlier this year, Smithers announced an upgrade to an automated low temperature retraction instrument to enhance capabilities in its physical testing laboratory. The new instrument offers improved temperature control for low temperature retraction and, with the automation, is significantly more efficient, which allows for better turnaround times for customers. Located in Akron, the Smithers rubber testing laboratory offers a full suite of material testing, chemical analysis, and sample preparation services for clients across a number of industry segments. The lab shares space with the company’s product testing laboratory and has a sister lab in the United Kingdom. The combination of the two locations and other complementary labs in North America, Europe, and China gives Smithers the capacity, flexibility, and expertise to meet any client’s testing needs worldwide.

Monday, November 23, 2020 - Milan, Italy - Versalis, Eni's chemical company and a leader in the production and marketing of elastomers, and AGR, company that owns technology for the devulcanization of post-consumer elastomers, have signed an agreement to develop technological innovations and new products and applications with recycled rubber. The aim of the agreement is to pool their respective expertise to develop and market a new range of elastomer-based products made from granulated rubber from post-consumer products, thus meeting the growing circular economy needs of manufacturers of tyres and other rubber products. Versalis will make available the laboratories of its research centres in Ravenna and Ferrara, as well as the necessary equipment for development, both in terms of formulation and technology. AGR will make its technological platform available at its plant in Cumiana (Turin). The initiative will be developed in collaboration with the EcoTyre Consortium, which manages a national network for the collection and processing of ELTs (End-of-Life Tyres) from which granulated rubber will be obtained. With this new circular economy initiative, Versalis aims to expand the range of Versalis Revive® products, made of recycled materials. This will include the elastomeric materials segment, in which it is leader in terms of technological and application expertise.

Monday, November 23, 2020 - Pune, India - According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global Silicone in the heavy machinery industry garnered $1.2 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to reach $1.9 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period. Improved properties of liquid silicone rubber and easy processing of LSR boost the growth of the global silicone in heavy machinery market. However, the non-recyclable nature of liquid silicone rubber hinders the growth. Conversely, growth in demand for silicone rubber in wind energy sector is expected to create multiple opportunities in the near future. Based on product type, the elastomers segment contributed to more than two-fifths of the global silicone in heavy machinery market share in 2019 and is anticipated to lead the trail during the study period. This is due to the rising demand for silicone elastomer in insulators and cable. On the other hand, the fluids segment would grow at the fastest CAGR of 6.0% by 2027. This is owing to its high thermal stability, high flash point, and high fire point compared to other fluid or transformer oil. Based on components, the switchgear segment held the largest market share with nearly two-thirds of the global silicone in heavy machinery market revenue in 2019 and is expected to rule the roost during the forecast period. This is attributed to the replacement of aging infrastructure along with investment in new energy projects. Furthermore, the same segment is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 4.7% throughout 2027. This is attributed to rising in energy demand in emerging nations from the industrial, agriculture, residential, commercial, and transportation sectors. Based on geography, the Asia-Pacific and Europe region followed by North America, dominated the market with a major share in 2019, holding nearly one-third of the global silicone in the heavy machinery market. Moreover, the Asia-Pacific region is also anticipated to register the fastest CAGR of 5.8% from 2020 to 2027. This is owing to the growing application of silicone in various power plant projects in emerging nations, such as China, India, andSouth Korea. The key players profiled include Dow inc., Shin-Etsu Silicone, KCC Silicon, Zhejiang Xin, An Chemical Industrial Group Co Ltd, Avantor, Stockwell Elastomerics, Wacker Chemie AG, Elkem Silicones, Momentive Performance Materials Inc.

Monday, November 23, 2020 - Boston, MA - Cabot Corporation announced the launch of PLASBLAK XP6801D black masterbatch, a unique styrene acrylonitrile (SAN)-based formulation that meets the needs of the styrenics market without the usual trade-off between color and mechanical properties. PLASBLAK XP6801D black masterbatch enables excellent color performance, mechanical properties and UV resistance at a lower masterbatch concentration. Using PLASBLAK XP6801D black masterbatch, customers can: Achieve higher color without sacrificing impact properties Lower masterbatch loading in the final compound offering formulation flexibility to meet stricter customer performance requirements Deliver the same performance with up to 50% less material, reducing handling, transport logistics and associated transportation-related GHG emissions "We are excited about this breakthrough solution for styrenics applications, which presents clear performance advantages by delivering differentiated technical performance with a lower masterbatch concentration,” said Santiague Pierre, global application lead, masterbatch and conductive compounds. "We believe PLASBLAK XP6801D black masterbatch will help our customers continue to innovate and provide formulation flexibility to meet evolving performance expectations set by original equipment manufacturers.” Cabot’s PLASBLAK masterbatches are formulated and manufactured to exacting standards to meet application- and polymer-specific needs across a wide range of industries, including automotive, agriculture, infrastructure, packaging and more. To learn more about Cabot’s masterbatch solutions visit cabotcorp.com/masterbatch.

Monday, November 23, 2020 - Tokyo, Japan - -Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. has developed a new low-density type of molding silicone rubber that realizes lighter-weight rubber molded products. Shin-Etsu is the first company in the industry to have developed this type of molding silicone rubber using LIMS (Liquid Injection Molding System) materials. Demand for lighter-weight rubber molded products is growing in many industrial fields such as automobiles and transportation vehicles like airplanes, as well as in other diverse fields such as wearable devices, and with the development of lighter weight products, further expansion of silicone rubber applications are expected. So far, in order to make lighter-weight silicone rubber, a foaming agent was added to millable-type silicone rubber and molded into a sponge-like form. However, our new product does not require the adding of a foaming agent. Furthermore, because it can be molded using our advanced LIMS, it can meet the demand from molding-makers for superior quality and improvements in productivity. This new product is available in two types: a low-density/high strength type *1 and a very low-density type *2. Both can make continuous automatic molding possible through the use of an injection molding machine, and therefore can efficiently produce high-quality rubber molded products, resulting in realizing not only improvements in productivity but also energy saving as well. Shin-Etsu Chemical has a silicone rubber molding technical center. This Shin-Etsu Molding Technical Laboratory, which is located in Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, is carrying out demonstrations of molding using our new products, and at the same time, we are working on molding technology improvements as well as enhancing technical services to our customers. Silicone rubber combines many superior characteristics such as excellent heat resistance, cold resistance, weatherability and stable electrical insulation properties, all of which are not found in ordinary organic rubber. For this reason, it is used in a wide range of applications such as in automobiles, electric-electronics equipment, OA equipment, home appliances and products for daily use. Taking advantage of Shin-Etsu Chemical’s superior product quality and technological strengths as well as our system for detailed response to our customers’ requests, going forward Shin-Etsu will continue to strive to meet the needs of the diversifying market.

Monday, November 23, 2020 - Akron, OH - The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was recognized as a top-performing global supplier at the 22nd annual Ford World Excellence Awards. “Ford’s annual World Excellence Awards recognize our top-performing suppliers for their contributions to our success,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer. “Congratulations to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company for being a recipient of this coveted award. Thank you for all that you do in support of Ford Motor Company.” Ford’s World Excellence Awards recognize companies that exceed expectations and achieve the highest levels of excellence in quality, cost, performance and delivery. Awards span multiple categories, including sustainability, winning portfolio, propulsion choices, autonomous technology, fitness, special recognition and diversity. The Special Recognition award was presented to Goodyear for the company’s performance in the area of delivery. Ford highlighted Goodyear’s exemplary leadership in providing technical and commercial solutions to unique problems and for delivering unprecedented assistance on several high-performance vehicle fitments. “This award is a testament to our dedicated associates who have gone above and beyond to exceed our customers’ expectations,” said Chris Magana, Goodyear's vice president and general manager, OE North America. This is the second consecutive year Goodyear has been recognized by Ford as achieving the highest levels of global excellence as a supplier.