Hall 05 | Booth E08
Polyscope, a global leading producer of styrene maleic anhydride (SMA) copolymers, has added two new grades to its Xiran product portfolio. Xiran is a series of terpolymers made from styrene, maleic anhydride and N-phenylmaleimide. The two grades, Xiran IZ1018M and Xiran IZ0721M, are designed to increase the high heat performance of many engineering plastics. At the Pre-K press event in Mainz, Patrick Muezers, Managing Director, and Dr Peter Tackx, Director Sales & Business Development at Polyscope Polymers, spoke about the new grades and presented the latest application examples.
Patrick Muezers (left) and Peter Tackx (right), both Polyscope Polymers, holding an automotive door trim made of Xiran IZ grade at the Pre-K event in Mainz
Previously owned by DSM, Polyscope started off as an independent company in 2007 with its headquarters located in Geleen, the Netherlands and logistics, warehousing and sales offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company serves the engineering plastics and speciality chemicals markets with SMA resins, compounds and liquids. In order to develop the new grades Polyscope has upgraded its continuous polymerisation process in Geleen. This enables Polyscope to engineer an exceptional terpolymer with a high thermal stability and good adhesion properties due to the presence of the maleic anhydride groups, resulting in a good balance between thermal improvement, mechanical properties and cost performance.
Material characteristics
Xiran IZ granules for higher heat resistance (photo: Polyscope)
The company is responding to the increasing trend within the plastic industry to create styrenic engineering plastics with high temperature resistance and low volatile residuals. The new Xiran IZ grades exhibit a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 175°C or higher and can be exposed to higher processing temperatures with good miscibility in styrenic polymers like ABS.
Xiran IZ1018M and Xiran IZ0721M have a different ratio of styrene, maleic anhydride and N-phenylmaleimide.The good form stability, low shrinkage, low thermal expansion (CLTE) and high modulus make Xiran suitable for precision moulding of big parts, where stiffness and strength are required. These compounds also provide good creep resistance and thermal stability over a broad temperature range.
Automotive
The Xiran grades are primarily used in the automotive sector (>50%), as they increase the high heat performance of ABS. It is used in instrument panels worldwide. The resins are approved for use in more than 50 automotive programmes and implemented at numerous OEM and Tier customers globally.
The award-winning Ford Explorer uses Xiran SG230 resin for its instrument panel (IP) substrate. The IP is based on a thin-wall injection-moulded IP substrate. The substrate is then foamed and skinned in a secondary operation to achieve the high-quality appearance. Ford chose Xiran SG230 because of the resin’s stiffness and high material flow, which enable it to perform in this first 1.5-mm nominal wall part design. (photo: Polyscope)
One recent example is the sunroof frame of the Citroën DS3 Cabrio which is manufactured from an SMA-ABS-blend with 50% glass fibre. With its complex geometry the frame is injection-moulded in one piece and does not need any subsequent cooling. The Citroën DS3 Cabrio will also be showcased at the K show.
Sunroof frame manufactured from an SMA-ABS-blend with 50% glass fibre and injection-moulded in one part (photo: Polyscope)
Other applications
Xiran co-polymers with a low molecular weight are a good building block for many applications. The solubility, Tg, and hydrophobicity can be adjusted to the end-product needs. As these compounds have good electrical properties and are dimensionally stable, they are also suited for applications in electronics and appliances, such as air supply fans, actuator wheels, camera components, switches and bobbins, junction blocks and connectors.
www.polyscope.eu
