Since 2004, when the prices of energy and raw materials have risen sharply, the supply of raw materials for additives has become a major problem in the plastic additive industry. Additive manufacturers have been raising their prices since the second quarter of 2004. Gastock believes that the price of additives increases with the price of raw materials companies, but the final profit does not increase. Some companies increase their profits by reducing costs. Additive suppliers have been looking for ways to raise prices through products and after-sales services. One way to solve sales is to develop products with customers to solve some problems arising from special uses. Many companies are looking for new ways to develop new and valuable products; The manager of the global plastic additive marketing department of Dow Corning reported that they are looking for important characteristics and additive supply methods. Jay Ghosh, market research manager of plastic additives department of Ciba Specialty Chemicals in Basel, Switzerland, believes that to improve the competitiveness of products, from the application of Asian final products to product needs, additive suppliers should carry out quality innovation, such as durability, beauty, durability and biodegradation. Additive buyers pay attention to cost, and most of them consider the total cost of additives rather than the unit cost. For example, additives are used to reduce the cost of polymers such as polypropylene, and they are expected to compete with high-cost engineering resins; Processors are interested in additives to improve processing efficiency, and hope that they have more output than existing equipment; Industry experts believe that the solution of cost-effective additives can include high efficiency additives or mixtures of additives with specific objectives of customers to avoid exceeding the characteristics of the project. High-growth additives can be used in wood chips plastic blends (WPC) and long fiber reinforced thermoplastics (LFRT).

Gastock believes that the merger and globalization of additive customers can improve global competitiveness by building customer purchasing power; Richard Simpson, Manager of the Manufacturing Department of Akcross Chemical Company, believes that customer mergers cause localization and customer-centric challenges, and require globalization for suppliers; The global OEM industry, such as automobile and electrical industry, has made contributions to the globalization of polymer additive industry; Penny L. Perry, the global market director of industrial goods of DuPont, believes that the simplest way is to provide the same products and eliminate the restrictions of additives worldwide; Industry experts believe that resin suppliers will continue to simplify their grading system and promote the corresponding mixing and transformation of additive users.

The rapid growth of plastics in the Chinese market drives the consumption and production of additives in the Far East. Although China is an exporter of consumer goods, Gastock believes that the region is still a pure importer of plastics and plastic additives, and low-cost suppliers in China and the Asia-Pacific region have begun to meet China's requirements; Moreover, global additive companies are adjusting to adapt to China's rapid growth, mainly through joint ventures. For example, Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Albemarle have a joint venture of antioxidant company, a joint venture of PVC additives with Chemson, and a joint venture of flame retardant with ICL industrial products. Some joint ventures are wholly owned by global companies, such as Arkema's PVC stabilizer company in Beijing. At first, the joint venture company turned into a sole proprietorship company; Some other multinational companies have test laboratories and technology centers in China, or are investing.

Due to laws, regulations and environmental issues, the change and development of the polymer additive market is being promoted. Simpson believes that because the development of products is always at the forefront of existing laws, we should focus on the development requirements of future products; Comply with the European Union's RoHS [Restriction of Dangerous Goods] requirements, which came into force in 2006. RoHS limits lead as a stabilizer for PVC and polybromine as a flame retardant. Other European policies, such as WEEE [waste electronic and electrical equipment] laws and regulations and ELV, also limit the application of heavy metals and halogen-containing materials. Especially in Europe, we are looking forward to lead substitutes and halogen-free flame retardants. Plasticizer, Europe is using other phthalate [PBDE] plasticizers to replace di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate [DEHP]. In order to protect human health and improve the competitiveness of the European chemical industry, the industry is formulating the EU's contractual requirements and chemical assessment authorization procedures. European industrial members believe that the latter will face special challenges, mainly from the improvement of China's competitiveness. Simpson believes that European industrial associations, such as the European Stabiliser Production Association, play a very important role in helping member companies deal with the challenges of the REACH agreement. Dr. Ghosh predicted that due to the strict legal treatment of plastic waste, recycling and biodegradation of additives will be promoted; In the agricultural market, the reduction of pesticides and the prohibition of methyl bromide fumigants promote the solution and use of agricultural plastic solvents.

stabilizer

The change of stabilizer is driven by the change of rules and regulations. The manufacturers of PVC heat stabilizers in Europe voluntarily promised to halve the use of lead as an ethylene stabilizer by 2010 and completely eliminate lead as a stabilizer by 2015. In Europe, lead stabilizer is mainly replaced by metal mixture of calcium and zinc. Organic stabilizer is another option. It is expected that the use of lead stabilizer will also be reduced in the Asia-Pacific region. The stabilizer for PVC in the North American market is mainly tin stabilizer.

The volatilization limit of volatile organic compounds is becoming more and more strict. Simpson believes that there is a trend now, and volatilization should be reduced in the application of vinyl flooring and automotive interior parts. Akcrstab new product Akcrosstab, barium zinc mixture and calcium zinc mixed metal stabilizer products have 100% activity, so lower grade application and volatilization reduction are allowed. Ciba Specialty Chemicals Co., Ltd. has launched a liquid IRGASTAB stabilizer, which is specially designed to meet the requirements of the volatility of polyurethane as an automobile interior trim; In order to meet the application requirements of PVC and polyurethane, alkyl phosphite gradually replaces aryl phosphite.

Ghosh reported that in consideration of the impact on environment, health and safety (EHS), additives should minimize powder and solvent, such as IRGASTAB, a new product produced by Ciba Specialty Chemicals, which is used as solvent-free latex on PVC, MBS and ABS.

Flame retardant

With the strengthening of the global safety and fire protection standards, the use of flame retardants has been increasing, and manufacturers have set up their company's brand image due to government regulations or voluntarily. Especially in Europe, the demand for halogen-free flame retardants to replace halogen-containing flame retardants is increasing. Although brominated flame retardants have certain benefits in some applications, octa-BDE and penta-BDE have been excluded from the RoHS contract, and the application expectation of deca-BDE ranks last in RoHS. The REACH procedure in Europe is used to evaluate whether new products comply with OEM. Luc van Muylem, vice president of flame retardants of Albemarle Company, studied that macromolecular polymers or brominated flame retardants that are prone to chemical reactions have small micropore absorption and have little toxicity in REACH estimation.

Flame retardants require high fluidity, processability and ultimately high use temperature. Small and thin electronic devices require materials with high fluidity and use at high temperature. In addition, according to RoHS, lead-free welding requires high fluidity. These factors require that polymer materials have high temperature and high-temperature resistant additives, such as brominated styrene and high-temperature resistant aluminum hydroxide.

The traditional use of octa - or penta DBE flame retardant polyurethane foam materials, such as melamine resin or Albemarle's Saytex reaction bromine or a mixture of phosphorus and bromine flame retardant; The research of other polyurethane foam materials focuses on reducing the scorch and broadening the temperature range during the foaming process.

Nanomaterials began to be used as synergists of flame retardants, and Albemarle recommended the nano-clay mixed with 55% - 60% of magnesium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide. Nano-clay reduces the amount of mineral flame retardant and maintains the properties of polymer materials. The next step is to increase the amount of nano-clay and reduce the amount of mineral flame retardant; At the same time, nano clay is used as synergist of brominated flame retardant.

Coupling agent and dispersant

Coupling agents include titanate coupling agents and silane coupling agents, which are used as modifiers of incompatible substances, such as polymers and fillers. Silane is also used as filler dispersant. The coupling agent increases with the increase of long fibers and other fillers in low-cost high-performance polymers. Derry reported that with the growth of inorganic flame retardants and the filling content greater than halogen-containing flame retardants, coupling agents must be used to maintain the physical and mechanical properties of materials, and new reinforcing agents such as glass fiber and nanocomposites need coupling agents. Uchida reported that flame retardancy and filler dispersion are very important and continue to be the research direction.

Impact modifier

In addition to coupling agents, impact modifiers are widely used in polymer materials. Stephen Hulme, manager of the Additives Department of Arkema Company, believes that the newly developed impact modifier is the impact modifier with low filling and high efficiency, such as Durastangth produced by Arkema. DuPont has also launched a new impact modifier for colleges and universities as a modifier for PET. Nanomaterials are used as impact modifiers, and do not reduce other properties of polymer materials, such as stiffness and transparency. The self-made block copolymer Nanostrength produced by Arkema Company is in the pilot stage, and Hulme also believes that Nanostrength can be used to improve the image adhesive and epoxy resin.