Additives That Enhance Polymer Properties

Invisible UV radiation breaks down polymer molecules in plastics. This leads to deterioration in physical strength, color and other integral properties of plastics. You must have seen the effects of UV on polymers in stadium seats or in plastic garden chairs. The surface usually turns yellow after prolonged exposure and after a while, big chunks start breaking apart, imparting a really ugly look to it. Something has to be done to arrest deterioration in plastics; thankfully there are products that have been designed exactly for that.

UV Absorbers
Hydroxybenzophenone & hydroxyphenylbenzotriazole are two commonly used Polymer Additives that react with UV rays and prevent it from damaging polymer molecules. After application, it converts UV into harmless infrared rays which keep the plastic protected from the symptoms of UV degradation.

Anti-Microbial Additives
Did you know that untreated polymers can lead microbes to thrive in nooks and corners of plastic furniture at your home? The risk was assessed quite a long time ago and Anti-Microbial Additives were designed to prevent that from happening. Anti-Microbial Additives are commonly applied in all kitchens as well as garden plastic products you will find in market today.

Optical brighteners
The paper we use to write on would have had a yellowish tinge to it had it not been for Polymer Additives that add brightness and whiteness to the final product.  How an optical brightener works is by absorbing invisible ultraviolet light and re-emitting it as visible light in the blue range of the spectrum. Optical brighteners, or fluorescent whitening agents, are used to make plastics, fibers, coatings, inks, and detergents appear whiter and brighter.

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Odor Absorbers – Making Plastics Smell Better

Plastics have an inherent odor that is quite unpleasant. This happens because during the manufacturing process, several chemicals are used to make the final product more appealing and long lasting. There are plasticizers and artificial colors that are basically chemicals and in the past, most of these released smelly gases. In recent days, the problem has been largely solved with improved ingredients in Masterbatches. The main ingredient that makes plastic less smelly is known as odor absorbers and we will get more into that later,  but first let’s begin by understanding what the industry did to counter malodor in plastic products.

 Use of fragrant masks
Malodor in plastics is caused primarily by two things.  The first which is more common is bacteria and microbial organisms that emit gases during respiration. Though this seems not much of a problem but when you consider the fact that there could be millions of them on the surface of a plastic product and you have a big problem on your hands.

Masterbatches which contain anti-microbial agents can control the problem to a great extent, but it is only part of the solution because there is another reason behind smelly plastics – VOC.

Volatile organic compounds contain harmful chemicals that smell bad and are detrimental to human health. There is double interest among masterbatch makers therefore, to provide solution to this problem. Until now this was dealt with the help of masks that tried its best to keep the odor under control but was not very efficient at doing that. Sooner or later when the masks wore off, smell would return, making this a rather very ineffective solution. That was the past recent masterbatches come laced with something that is better at doing what it is supposed to do – keep odors out.

Use of odor absorbers
Quite early into application processors found that masks were failing in being effective. This gave rise to the need for something that went beyond the surface and did more than just mask the smell away with fragrance. The need was for: odor absorbers. This additive trapped VOC molecules and dealt with the issue at the very core. To make sure that smell was completely eliminated, Color masterbatches makers never did away with using masks. Now you will observe that plastics do not smell at all and that is because of these recent developments. 

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How to find a reliable masterbatch supplier online?

With the onset of plastic, things have got changed drastically. Be it packaging or product manufacturing, plastic has changed the way people used to carry out various things. From our mobile phones to medical devices, today almost everything is making heavy usage of plastic. Its high durability and affordability makes it the most sought after material in a range of industries. One such plastic product is masterbatch that can be defined as solid or liquid additives that are added to the polymer to impart color and specific properties to plastic.

Masterbatches are widely being used in plastic industry due to their specific physical and chemical properties to plastic. They are made using a concentrated mixture of additives and pigments that are compressed under extreme heat and then the carrier resin. The primary purpose of these Masterbatches is to add colour to other plastic products. 

With the increasing demand for plastics all across the world, there has been a strong need for new chemical and manufacturing process for various materials. Their excellent property for adding colours makes them the most sought after material for manufacturing plastic products. Due to the heavy usage of plastics everywhere in the form of food plastic bags, shopper plastic bags, luxurious plastic bags for famous brand names as soft loop plastic handle bags, rigid plastic handle bags, drawstring plastic handle bags, trifold plastic handle bags, wave top plastic handle bags, it becomes difficult for a plastic products manufacturer to find a good masterbatch supplier. As plastic can’t be in single colour for all, these Masterbatches help the manufacturers to changed their transparent colour to various colours depending upon the need of the brand. On the other hand, customers also require other colours of plastic bags (blue, orange, red, yellow, green etc.) to make the look varied and impressive.

When it comes to type of masterbatches, there are of different types such as white masterbatch, black masterbatch, color masterbatch, UV masterbatch, antioxidant masterbatch, metallic masterbatch etc. Titanium oxide is considered as the best whitener and with highest coloring power it is preferably used by masterbatch manufacturers for making white masterbatch. However, there are other cheap alternatives as well such as barium sulphate, lithopone and calcium carbonate are also employed at times. White Masterbatch delivers brightness, whiteness, undertone and tinning strength to the final product.

When it comes to choose a masterbatch supplier, the best way is to make your search online and look for a range of options that is otherwise not possible. 

Looking for a reliable masterbatch supplier? Alok Masterbatches, a global entity of esteem renowned for its enviable fusion of quality and service in masterbatches is today multiplying possibilities with every discerning clientele's trust.

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