Materials

Researchers in China and Wisconsin have collaborated on research showing that a compound of commonly used medical plastics can be injection molded into shape memory polymers.

The new blends have the advantage of better shaping ability.

In an effort to address the growing global plastic pollution issue, ENSO Plastics, an environmental plastic solution provider, announced two new technologies, ENSO Renew and ENSO Restore that company President Danny Clark hopes will change the way plastics are used around the globe.
   

Increasing polymer production in Brazil and a growing automotive market there have prompted Japanese plastic additives supplier Adeka Corp. (Tokyo) to establish a sales and marketing office in Sao Paulo. Adeka supplies antioxidants, light stabilizers, lubricants and nucleating agents among other additive products.

Guangzhou, China - The Solar Impulse aircraft safely reached Phoenix May 5 after a 20-hour flight from San Francisco. Next up: the leg from Phoenix to Dallas which will take off the week of May 20. Traveling at an average ground speed of just 40 mph, the Solar Impulse carried its sole occupant and pilot, adventurer Bertrand Piccard, on the 650-nautical mile first leg solely utilizing the power of the sun.

Elixir Medical Corp. (Sunnyvale, CA) has received CE (Conformité Européenne) Mark approval for a coronary scaffold system designed to degrade in about one year, returning the patients' coronary vessels to a normal condition. The DESSolve scaffold combines a proprietary poly-L Lactide (PLLA) plastic with an anti-proliferative drug called Novolimus.

Leading polyamide supplier Invista (Wichita, KS) has signed a Land Reservation Agreement with the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Development Company for a polyamide 6,6 resin site at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP).

A nucleating agent has helped push homopolymer polypropylene (PP) into thermoformed packaging applications with the promise of better haze and less yellowing compared to conventional nucleated PP homopolymers.

The drive to reduce medical costs in the United States is triggering more patient care in their homes, where costs are lower and there are reduced risks to acquire potentially deadly infections, such as MRSA and other penicillin-resistant bacteria.

A new "smart catheter" senses the start of an infection and automatically releases an anti-bacterial substance. It is being tested at the University of Michigan in an effort to stop catheter-related blood and urinary tract infections.

Dipankar Koley, the principal researcher on the project, said the technology can be applied to catheters inserted into blood vessels and the urinary tract.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly in the spotlight in trouble spots throughout the world, but they are also finding increased use in civilian applications. In parallel, suppliers of advanced thermoplastics such as Sabic are addressing demands for aerospace grade materials that meet a number of stringent operational requirements.