UV Masterbatches- Uses and Benefits

I am a chemical engineering student studying plastics and its color imparting component called masterbatches. Now plastic is everywhere around us but we have never thought how much sophistication and precision is involved in making masterbatches. For a clearer understanding of Ultra Violet masterbatches, my college sent me and a group of

four students to a masterbatch manufacturing company to see how UV masterbatches are made and what are their benefits.

UV masterbatch find their use in food grade applications, agriculture films, auto plastic applications, synthetic fibres like PP, PET and Nylon. They are considered superior in quality for food grade applications as they prevent loss of moisture, taste and color of food when they are exposed to sunlight. Their main advantages are their low volatility, extraction resistance, excellent performance alone as well as in combination with other stabilizers. They provide a longer service life.

The demand for UV masterbatches is high and growing. Companies like RP industries www.RPIndustries.net are in the top race to manufacture highest quality UV masterbatches.

It was really interesting studying plastics. It fetched me the highest grade in entire college. So much so that I am thinking of making a career out of them. If you have any comments or want to share your knowledge, pls do write. I would welcome your feedback.

Masterbatches…The Current Buzzword in Plastic Industry

I find this masterbatches thing quite fascinating. Have you ever thought how the plastic which we use in our day to day life gets its color from? It is masterbatches which imparts color to the plastics. As a result of exploding demand for plastic, the demand for color masterbatches is sky rocketing.

My research and the people at RPIndustries (the leading masterbatch exporting and manufacturing company where I dug info for my school magazine article) are telling me that there is a huge growing potential of masterbatch business in Asia. The demand has grown from just under 90,000 tons in 1990 to nearly half a million tons in 2004.

There are many factors responsible for its growing use. Many plastics processors in Asia are supplying to Western or Japanese OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or the export markets in West who have a very specific requirement and demand in terms of color match and performance. They manufacture and supply masterbatches keeping in mind the standards and quality that these markets demand.

Nowadays there is a wide variety of colors to choose from. The color masterbatches manufacturers keep a record of every tiny little detail of the compositions of masterbatches and processing conditions. This helps in reproducing the same masterbatches at anytime in future without any deviation in color shades or other properties.

Not just color masterbatches but demand for UV Masterbatch is also on the rise. This is mainly due to increasing use of color and special effects to differentiate products. Plus, the requirement for improving performance criteria from polymer materials in terms of features such as UV stabilization, flame retardancy, etc., has also been growing rapidly.

This brings us to the end of the series. I hope it is of any use to you people. At least it gave me a chance to revise and share with you all the amazing stuff I learnt about this technology, about which honestly, I had no clue earlier..

Additive Masterbatches..The Color in Plastics

Hi all. I am an Indian student studying in 12^th standard in a New Delhi based school. I am also the editor of our school magazine. Last month I was writing for the article based on plastic industry. The focus of the article was on the environmental impact of the plastic.

During research for that article I got intrigued by the coloration process of the plastic. I then decided to give a new dimension to my article, about the coloration process and technologies involved. It made sense because harmful or not we can’t wish away the plastic from our lives, it is so damn useful, but we can make ourselves aware of the basics of manufacturing process so as to make use of the plastics more carefully.

With this objective in mind I decided to approach my principal with request to visit a manufacturer of international repute which can give me an idea of best practices in the industry. We decided upon visiting RPindustries R.P Industries the manufacturer and exporter of the additive masterbatches, the basic ingredient to color raw polymer economically during the plastics manufacturing process for all kinds of polymers.

Due to space crunch we could not squeeze the article in our magazine, but it would have been a terrible waste not to do anything with the research. Therefore through this series of postings I would like to make my work see the light of the day, and may be help some of you curious souls understand the plastic especially colored one.

Let’s start with description of masterbatch and its types.

Masterbatches are used to add colors and impart special properties to plastic products. Cost of masterbatch is hardly 1-2%in final plastic product but its quality is very important for durability and functional properties of the product. A Masterbatch contains polymers, additives and colorants specifically formulated together to provide either a general or specific function.

Master batch products are divided into two major types.

• The pigment master batch to color the plastic.
• The functional additive master batches make the plastic capable of certain performances like making them heat resistant, weather resistant etc. Some of the functional master batches are UV light stabilizers, antifog agents, antiblock agents, antistatic agents, etc.Interesting? Well read my next postings for more information on masterbatches, coloration process and UV Masterbatch.