Tungsten Sulfide Makes Better Glues

Israeli researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Schenkar Engineering have enhanced the structure of epoxy glue with nanotechnology to generate a product with double the binding strength of conventional adhesives for aerospace industry applications.

The scientists added minuscule particles of tungsten sulfide (WS2) to conventional glue at concentrations of 0.5 percent. Thus far, nanostructured WS2 has been used for the chemical storage of hydrogen and the metal lithium, material for solid-state secondary lithium battery cathodes, as well as a dry lubricant and as catalyst in hydrodesulfurization of crude oil.

The research team projects that the nano-glue will be helpful to aviation and space engineers in the development of new vehicles in the atmosphere and beyond. They say the material also can be useful to engineers in numerous other industries. (Jerusalem Post - Siegel-Itzkovich, Judy)

Natural Rubber Making a Serious Comeback in The Region

Long perceived as a smallholder's crop, natural rubber has transcended into a hot commodity among the major world plantation players. In the past five-to-seven years, many players are making serious investment in the cultivation and also acquisitions of rubber plantations in South-East Asia and Africa.

The latest is Olam International Ltd, a commodity supplier partly-owned by Singapore's Temasek Holdings, which will initially invest about US$183mil in 28,000ha rubber plantations via a joint venture with the Gabon government, with the possibility of expanding to 50,000ha in the future.....Click HERE to read the whole article.

Leaching Process Affecting Vulcanisation of Latex Thread

Manufacturer:  We manufacture latex thread using the extrusion process. We recently encountered vulcanisation problem and as a result our threads are not sufficiently cured.

Our technical team and an external consultant had been working very hard to overcome the problem by ensuring better oven drying and also reformulation. Thanks to their effort, the situation has now improved. However it still left a lot to be desired because the quality, though improved,  is still not as good as that produced at the time before the problem hit us.


What else could we do?


John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant):  Very interesting!

I believe your team and the consultant had probably overlooked one area which usually does not get the attention it deserves - your leaching or washing tank! You must ensure that the thread is fully leached to get rid of the residual acetic acid otherwise the acid would retard the cure.

Examining your samples which you reported to also have discolouration problem further confirms my deduction that your problem could most probably be due to the leaching process being not efficient enough.

Why is Borax used In Adhesives?

Manufacturer: We are using Polyvinyl acetate and Polyvinyl alcohol emulsion in combination with starch as bonding agents for paper and textile materials. In view of our concern over toxicity level of our compounding ingredients, we've removed borax from our formulations.

However we encountered a drop in the quality of our products in our lab evaluation due to delamination where the adhesives are being applied. Can you help us?

 John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant):  I'm not surprised at all by your findings.

Borax, also known as sodium borate or sodium tetraborate is often added to water-based adhesives especially those containing starch and Polyvinyl alcohol to enhance the tack and "body" (i.e. green strength) of the adhesive by crosslinking conjugated hydroxyl groups. Such cross-links are formed through the borate anion structure leading to a more highly branched polymer with higher molecular weight which accounts for the increased in viscosity, tack, and rheology properties of the resulted adhesives.

I don’t see why you should be unduly worried about the toxicity of borax because it is one of FDA's (USA) approved materials used in the manufacture of paper and paperboard products for food packaging as long as you don’t add borax directly into the food.

If you still insisted in removing borax from your formulation, you should have replaced it with other tackifiers and latex thickeners.

It might interest you to know that "Flubber Slime" that is popular among children is actually made by mixing Polyvinyl acetate or Polyvinyl alcohol emulsion with borax.

Bridgestone Plans U.S. Guayule Research Project

Friday, March 9, 2012 Rubber World

Tokyo - Bridgestone plans for an extensive research project in the United States dedicated to developing guayule as a commercially viable, renewable source of high-quality natural rubber and as an alternative to the Hevea tree.

Natural rubber from guayule has almost identical qualities compared to natural rubber harvested from Hevea trees, which is currently the primary source for the natural rubber used in tires. This project is being done by Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) in collaboration with BSJ. BSJ is providing the funding and strategic input for the effort, while BATO will be responsible for finding the suitable location and operating the pilot farm and process research facility.

BATO will also leverage the resources of the Bridgestone Americas Center for Research and Technology and its Akron Technical Center to provide technical and research expertise. BATO is currently seeking land to establish the pilot farm and construct the rubber process research center in the southwestern United States. Research and development will be conducted by a dedicated research team of agricultural scientists, engineers and process technicians focused on optimizing the agronomic and processing technologies necessary to produce world-class, tire-grade rubber in adequate quantities appropriate for manufacturing.

The company expects to finalize a location, establish the research farm and begin construction on the process research center later in 2012. The facility is expected to be fully operational in 2014. Trial rubber production should start in 2015. The Bridgestone Group will leverage the knowledge and experience it gained through its participation in a Guayule research project with the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1988 to 1991, which focused on extracting rubber for tires from the biomass of guayule, in this new project

Genomatica Produces Bio-based Butadiene from Renewable Feedstocks

Genomatica announced its successful production of pound quantities of butadiene made from renewable feedstocks. This achievement confirms the technical viability of Genomatica’s bio-based manufacturing process for the dedicated, on-purpose production of butadiene. Butadiene is one of the seven basic chemicals at the core of the chemical industry and is an important ingredient used to make products such as tires, engineering polymers and latex products. Global demand is forecasted to be over 20 billion pounds in 2011, or approximately $40 billion based on June 2011 prices.

Potential answer to worldwide butadiene shortage

Genomatica’s accomplishment comes at a time of increasing scarcity and rising costs of “C3” and “C4” chemical products worldwide – major chemicals with three or four carbon atoms, respectively, such as propylene and butadiene. Butadiene is primarily produced today as a by-product of ethylene cracking. Increased availability of natural gas, especially in North America, has contributed to a growing spread between the price of crude oil and natural gas. This dynamic has made lighter feedstocks derived from natural gas a more attractive input for ethylene cracking operations, compared to heavier feedstocks derived from crude oil. The shift toward greater use of these lighter feedstocks has resulted in the production of significantly less C3 and C4 chemicals. Decreasing supplies and the lack of current options for on-purpose butadiene production have resulted in a many-fold increase in the price of butadiene, which affects consumers downstream with rising prices of butadiene-based products.

Genomatica’s processes enable the production of the exact same chemicals, like butadiene, that are used in worldwide supply chains, but made using renewable feedstocks and with the potential for better economics and a smaller environmental footprint. In the case of butadiene, this new technology and process design offers a renewable option for the dedicated on-purpose production of this important supply-constrained chemical with what we expect should be significantly reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emissions relative to petroleum-based processes.

Butadiene to be Genomatica’s second process after butanediol (BDO)

Genomatica’s first process is for commercial production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO), also a C4 chemical. We are currently producing BDO at demonstration scale. We expect the first commercial-scale BDO plant using Genomatica’s process to begin production by the end of 2012, with one of our partners, Novamont.

Genomatica’s second planned commercial process will be for the production of butadiene from renewable feedstocks. The company plans to use its proprietary technology platform to continue to improve process performance and economics. Our platform’s capabilities and the company’s progress were recently recognized by winning a U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award and being named #1 Hottest Company in Renewable Chemicals in a Biofuels Digest poll.

About Genomatica

Genomatica is a technology leader for the chemical industry. It delivers new, transformative manufacturing processes that enable its partners to produce intermediate and basic chemicals from renewable feedstocks. These chemicals serve as the basis for making substantially all of the products that make modern life possible. Genomatica’s processes achieve better economics with enhanced sustainability and a smaller environmental footprint than conventional, petroleum-based manufacturing processes. Genomatica is developing a pipeline of manufacturing processes for the production of these chemicals, and expects the first commercial BDO plant that utilizes its processes to begin production by the end of 2012.

Alternative to Thiourea Based Accelerators - SafeRubber Research Consortium Reaches Midway Point

By Rubber News
Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Milan, Italy - The European SafeRubber research consortium has reached the midway point. Since June 2010, the SafeRubber (this is the name of the European Community funded project) consortium, has been working on a suitable and safer alternative to ETU. Thiourea based accelerators, of which ETU is the most common, are used for more than 80 years in the vulcanization of polychloroprene rubber as they facilitate the rubber cure system by speeding up the creation of molecular crosslinks, decreasing process duration and increasing physical properties.

However, ETU is classed toxic to reproduction, and thereby a CMR within Europe. Therefore, its use could be forbidden or drastically reduced at some time in the future under the REACH regulations.

The initial work concentrated on research into the chemical mechanism of the vulcanization of polychloroprene using ETU, a mechanism which has never been fully understood or proven. This enabled the consortium to design and synthesize several alternative molecules which it is hoped will be safer than ETU. These molecules are now being optimized in polychloroprene compounds before being scaled up to an industrial process.

The mid-point results of the three-year research based project are available on the project’s web site: www.saferubber.eu, and through the dissemination activities of all the consortium’s partners. Raw materials suppliers, distributors, compounders, converters and users of polychloroprene rubber who wish to stay informed of further progress on the research are asked to fill out a reply form on the SafeRubber web site.

The SafeRubber research project has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program managed by REA -Research Executive Agency.