Asahi Kasei licenses manufacture and distribution of Thermylene® reinforced PP to Polyplast

Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. has licensed Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH (PCW), of Eilenberg, Germany to manufacture and distribute it Thermylene® brand of specialty chemically coupled glass reinforced polypropylenes (PP). PCW will market Thermylene® to their customer base and develop new business for the brand throughout Europe from their three strategically located divisions in Eilenburg, Straelen and Bingen am Rhein, Germany. "Licensing Thermylene® to Polyplast makes our products available globally," said John Moyer, Asahi Kasei Plastics, President. "Asahi Kasei Plastics values partners like Polyplast who share our philosophy to produce quality products and are committed to delivering a high level of customer satisfaction," continued Moyer. PCW has over 50 years of compounding experience, ISO 9001 certification and an established line of specialty compounded products including Decelith® and Ongrolit® (PVC-Compound), Saxene® (PP-Compound), and Saxomer® (TPE-Compound). "Thermylene® offers our customers proven options for reducing weight and improving performance as a cost-effective alternative to Nylon and long glass reinforced polypropylene in automotive and other applications," said Matthias Hildenbrand, Polyplast Muller Group chief financial officer. "Our customers will appreciate the product design flexibility and process enabling benefits Thermylene® provides," continued Hildenbrand. Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH focuses on R&D and production of tailor-made compounds. A team of experienced engineers and technicians are on hand for development of products for specific applications. Thermylene® characteristics can be expertly adjusted to meet the performance requirements of a customer's particular application for maximum benefit. In order to meet the future demands and development of the plastics processing sector, further investment in manufacturing optimization includes new equipment, technology and the construction of additional highly productive compounding facilities is underway. Thermylene® is a proprietary specialty chemically coupled glass reinforced polypropylene (PP). When a chemical coupling technology is applied to glass fiber reinforced polypropylene, significant improvements are seen across a number of key physical attributes. The enhanced properties of these polymers yield an extremely attractive cost/performance balance when compared to traditional engineering thermoplastics. The enhanced adhesion between the glass fiber reinforcement and the polypropylene matrix results in a material that exhibits the following key attributes: Superior knit line strength and stiffness, improved elevated temperature performance, higher creep resistance, enhanced toughness, excellent chemical resistance, enhanced Tensile Strength (nearly twice that of non-chemically coupled polymers) As Thermylene® improves the ability of molded parts to resist distortion under load, it enables a reduction in the glass fiber loading for a given flexural modulus requirement. Improvements in flexural modulus are particularly desirable in structural applications and pressure vessels where dimensional control under load is critical. This leads to reduced part weight, improved surface appearance, reduced tool wear, heat deflection temperature.