The Milliken product portfolio

Chemical major Milliken & Company, has a range of products designed for the automotive sector.

Its Hyperform HPN family of nucleating agents enhances processes for producers and converters of polypropylene and polyethylene. The range includes products for almost every PP process. It resolves many of the production issues that occur when using traditional nucleators, including shrinkage, warpage, and stiffness/impact balance.

Hyperform HPN-715 was recently added to the Hyperform range. This product addresses the demand for improved stiffness/ impact balance in ICP (impact copolymer polypropylene), hPP (polypropylene homopolymer), and HcPP (high crystalline polypropylene) resins used in rigid automotive applications, household appliances, and PS replacement. Adding Hyperform HPN-715 to polypropylene (PP) allows for downgauging, material savings, and material replacement, enhancing the physical and thermal properties of PP. It is an addition to Milliken’s Hyperform HPN family of nucleating agents for polypropylene and polyethylene. The range includes products for almost every PP and PE (polyethylene) process.

“The Hyperform HPN family also offers a convenient way to boost production speed. Converters report a 10-15% reduction in cycle times when replacing resins nucleated with a conventional agent. By offering easy dispersion, these additives answer the growing demand for improved performance of high Melt Flow Rate (MFR) reactor grade homo and impact copolymers for packaging applications. Hyperform HPN nucleating agents require low loading and have no reported health and safety issues. HPN controls the crystallization of polymers after melting, which is when complex macro-structures known as spherulites form.

These are responsible for scattering light and their size and orientation can dictate the polymer’s optical and physical characteristics,” says the company. Hyperform HPN-20E gives PP unique physical properties that balance bi-directional stiffness and impact resistance, while allowing for highly tuned resin systems that meet high shrinkage and thermal performance tolerances. It is ideal for demanding automotive exterior parts, such as zero gap bumpers.

DeltaMax™ Performance Modifiers are a family of masterbatch products designed for use in injection molded applications of virgin polypropylene impact copolymers and recycled polypropylene resins. While polypropylene is a cost-effective material, it is limited with respect to providing a balance of high impact with stiffness and melt flow making it difficult to cost-effectively formulate, design, and process parts. This is particularly the case for recycled polypropylene resins, which typically lack high melt flow and impact properties required for many injection molded applications within consumer, industrial, and automotive markets. DeltaMax Performance Modifiers maximize the physical properties and processability of polypropylene using both virgin and recycled PP markets.

The technology enables converters to enhance the impact and melt flow of their ICP or rPP (recycled PP) resins by adding a masterbatch at injection molding machineside. The net effect is the ability to design parts with higher impact and thinner profiles, run machines with faster cycle times or lower temperatures, reduce the use of costly impact modifiers, and reduce inventory of multiple ICP resins. Milliguard AOX antioxidant protects polyurethane (PU) and other thermoset polymers from oxidation and degradation. Specially designed to support polyol suppliers, polyurethane flexible foamers, mattress converters and other PU producers, it improves the quality and durability of final PU parts by preventing physical deterioration and discoloration caused by exposure to light, heat and exposure to light, heat and nitrogen oxides (NOx). This polymeric additive also helps producers to meet high environmental and air quality targets by reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) and outgassing condensation (FOG) emissions.

The company’s Milliguard UVX UV absorbers protect PU from yellowing and degradation caused by exposure to UV light. Supplied in liquid form for easy handling and metering for PU producers and converters to deliver fresh, long-lasting PU products with lower volatile organic compound (VOC) and outgassing condensation (FOG) emissions. These absorbers are reactive in nature and eliminate bloom with competing materials. Milliguard UVX is widely used to protect PU foams for automotive applications.