Polymer & Plastics Processing Articles
Concept explainers, comparisons, and how-tos.
Articles
Antioxidants — Primary, Secondary and Why You Need Both
Polymer degradation during processing is a radical chain reaction, and it takes two different molecules to stop it. A primary antioxidant — usually a hindered phenolic — donates hydrogen to terminate radicals and protects the polymer in service over long…
ReadCompatibilizers — Making Incompatible Polymers and Fillers Work Together
Most polymer pairs are immiscible: blended without help, they form coarse domains with no adhesion across the interface, and the compound fails at the domain boundary under impact. A compatibilizer is a molecule with affinity for both phases — most…
ReadLubricants and Processing Aids — Internal, External and Fluoropolymer
Internal and external lubricants solve opposite problems and are routinely confused. An internal lubricant is compatible with the polymer, lowers melt viscosity and internal friction, and reduces torque and frictional heat — it changes how the melt flows.…
ReadMould Care — Cleaning, Release and Corrosion Protection
A mould fails for three reasons that mould-care chemistry can prevent: deposit on the cavity surface, blocked vents, and corrosion during storage. Treat them as three different products. Mould cleaners remove plasticiser bloom, additive plate-out and…
ReadPurging Compound Selection — Mechanical, Chemical and Abrasive Grades
Choose the purge by the contamination you are removing, not by the machine. Mechanical purges rely on high viscosity and shear to push melt out — they are the safest choice for routine colour changes on injection moulding and are the only sensible option…
ReadScrew and Barrel Cleaning — When Purging Is No Longer Enough
Purging removes melt; cleaning removes deposit. Once a purge cycle stops clearing black specks after two full sequences, the carbon is baked onto the screw root or a barrel dead zone, and no further purge will remove it — you are now paying for purge…
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