NatureWorks grades

The main types of NatureWorks PLA that are available for packaging applications include general purpose film grades, extrusion coating, extrusion and thermoforming grades and injection stretch blow moulding. 

The general purpose film grade is biaxially oriented , a property that gives it stability at temperatures up to 130 °C. They also offer a biaxially oriented film for high temperature applications (150 °C). According to NatureWorks, these resins offer excellent optical properties, good machinability and excellent twist and dead fold characteristics. These polymers are offered in common pellet form, which should allow for rapid adoption with conventional extruders. 

Clear extrusion sheet grades are designed for extrusion and thermoforming applications, and like other NatureWorks PLA polymers, use conventional processing techniques and equipment. Potential uses include dairy containers, food service ware, transparent food containers, blister packs, and cold drink cups. 

NatureWorks LLC is also developing grades for microwavable packaging and bottles for packaging oxygen sensitive food and beverages using barrier-enhanced PLA. 

In November 2005, BASF announced that it was expanding its Ecoflex-brand natural plastic line with Ecovio, a blend of NatureWorks PLA and Ecoflex, which is polyester-based. Ecovio production began in October 2005 at an undisclosed location in Germany. The first Ecovio LBX 8145 grade contains 45% by weight of PLA that is chemically bound to the Ecoflex. BASF said the first application will be in flexible films used for shopping bags. 

Typical Resin Properties for Extrusion Grade Natureworks LLC 2003 D PLA... 

A general purpose single screw extruder can extrude PLA into sheet. Typical processing conditions of extrusion grade PLA are listed in Table 4.11 (NatureWorks LLC 2013). 

Polylactic acid can be blow molded into bottles with an injection stretch blow molding process (NatureWorks LLC 2012). The mechanical properties of blow molding grade are listed in Table 4.12 (NatureWorks LLC 2013). 

Typical Processing Conditions for Extrusion Grade NatureWorks LLC PLA... 

Table 1.6 NatureWorks PLA Grades for Thermoform and Injection Molding... 

Table 1.7 NatureWorks PLA Grades for Films and Bottles—cont d... 

Table 1.8 NatureWorks PLA Grades for Fiber Application—cont d... 

Table 3.8 Thermal Conductivity of NatureWorks PLA Grade MAT2238...

NatureWorks s injection moldable grade of Ingeo in the capillary rheometer test has shown a good fit into the Cross-WLF viscosity model (see Table 6.2). There are seven coefficients in the model and it is readily embedded into Moldflow software for injection molding simulation (Moldflow Plastic Labs 2007). Moldflow is computer software that is widely used across the plastic injection molding industry to predict and optimize the... 

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA commercial grade 4042D Mw 390,000 Da) used in this research was obtained from NatureWorks LLC. Cellulose acetate (CA white powder Mw = 30,000 Da acetyl content = 39.7 wt% degree of acetyl substitution 2.4) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Switzerland). Polyethylene glycol (PEG Mw 1,500 Da) was supplied from Scharlau Chemie S.A. Gentamicin sulfate (GS) was purchased from T.P. Drug Laboratories (1969) Co., Ltd. The solvents used in this work were dichloromethane (DCM) and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) from Lab scan (Asia) (Thailand). 

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA, 4042D) and poly(s-caprolactone) (PCL, CAPA 6500) of commercial grade were supplied by NatureWorks and SOLVAY S.A. respectively. Commercial modified montmorillonites were supplied by Southern Clay (USA) (CLOISITE 30B) and Siid-Chemie (Germany) (NANOFIL 804). The characteristics of the clays are listed in Table 5.1. 

PLA pellets 3001D were supplied by Natureworks LLC, l-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone (Aldrich) was purified by vacuum distillation before using. The photoinitiator benzophenone (BP) was analytical grade used without fiuther purification,... 

Materials. Extrusion grade PLA 2002D supplied by NatureWorks was used. It was dried at 65oC for a minimum of 8 hr prior to use in a desiccating dryer. Wheat starch. Supergel 1203 from ADM -Ogilvy, was used as the standard starch source in most blends. For comparison... 

The PLA, grade 2002D, is an extrusion material comprising approximately 4.5% Zf-Lh, supplied by NatureWorks. Talc was Mistron Vapor R supplied by Luzenac America. The Montmorillonite (MMT) was Closite Na+ supplied by Southern Clay. 

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