Comparing End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) and Packaging-Based Recyclates as Components in Polypropylene-Based Compounds for Automotive Applications.

Increasing recycled plastic content in cars to 25% by 2030 is one of the key measures for decarbonizing the automotive industry defined by the European Commission. This should include the recovery of plastics from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), but such materials are hardly used in compounds today. To close the knowledge gap, two ELV recyclate grades largely based on bumper recycling were analyzed in comparison to a packaging-based post-consumer recyclate (PCR).

Polymerization in the Borstar Polypropylene Hybrid Process: Combining Technology and Catalyst for Optimized Product Performance.

Producing isotactic polypropylene (iPP) homo- and copolymers in a wide composition and property range according to customer demand requires perfect alignment between the process technology, catalyst system and polymer structure. The present review shows this for the Borstar PP process, a hybrid process employing liquid bulk and gas phase stages, in an exemplary way. It starts with the process design and continues through two generations of Ziegler-Natta catalyst development history to the design of advanced multimodal random and multiphase copolymers.

Crystallization of Random Metallocene-Catalyzed Propylene-Based Copolymers with Ethylene and 1-Hexene on Rapid Cooling.

Propylene-based random copolymers with either ethylene or 1-hexene as comonomer, produced using a metallocene catalyst, were studied regarding their crystallization behaviors, with a focus on rapid cooling. To get an impression of processing effects, fast scanning chip calorimetry (FSC) was used in addition to the characterization of the mechanical performance. When comparing the comonomer type and the relation to commercial grades based on Ziegler-Natta-type catalysts, both an interaction with the catalyst-related regio-defects and a significant difference between ethylene and 1-hexene was observed.

New Insights into Crystallization of Heterophasic Isotactic Polypropylene by Fast Scanning Chip Calorimetry.

The crystallization kinetics of metallocene-catalyzed heterophasic isotactic polypropylene composed of a matrix of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and rubbery particles made of random ethylene-propylene copolymers (EPC), often denoted as heterophasic iPP copolymers, was analyzed as a function of the cooling rate and supercooling in nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization experiments, respectively. Fast scanning chip calorimetry (FSC) allowed assessing crystallization at processing-relevant conditions, and variation of the content (0-39 wt %) and composition (0-35 wt % propylene counits) of the EPC particles revealed qualitatively new insight about mechanisms of heterogeneous crystal nucleation. For neat iPP homopolymer, the characteristic bimodal temperature dependence of the crystallization rate due to predominance of heterogeneous and homogeneous crystal nucleation at high and low temperatures, respectively, is reconfirmed.

Cross-Cultural Validation of the Definition of Multimorbidity in the Bulgarian Language.

Introduction: Multimorbidity is a health issue with growing importance. During the last few decades the populations of most countries in the world have been ageing rapidly. Bulgaria is affected by the issue because of the high prevalence of ageing population in the country with multiple chronic conditions.

Mesophase-Mediated Crystallization of Poly(butylene-2,6-naphthalate): An Example of Ostwald's Rule of Stages.

The investigation of poly(butylene-2,6-naphthalate) crystallization by means of chip-calorimetry and ultrafast wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) revealed the existence of two possible mechanisms. The formation of the stable triclinic α-phase occurs directly from the undercooled melt at low cooling rates/high crystallization temperature. At higher cooling rates a two-stage route is observed: crystallization is preceded by the formation of a mesomorphic phase from the isotropic melt.