Dow licenses olefin block copolymer technology to GLS

01-Nov-07

GLS Corp., a global leader in the development, manufacture, and supply of high-performance, custom-formulated thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), through a licensed agreement with The Dow Chemical Company, has been granted rights to provide processors with TPEs incorporating the benefits of OBCs. GLS will globally market the new co-branded OBC-based TPEs under the GLS brand, DYNALLOY® OBC Compounds, and with The Dow Chemical Company's tag line "Powered by INFUSE™ olefin block copolymers." In addition to six standard grades of DYNALLOY® OBC Compounds, launched here today at Kunstoffe 2007 (K 2007), GLS will offer customers the ability to customize OBC-based TPEs to achieve specific performance properties. Luis Cirihal, global business development manager, The Dow Chemical Company, said, "We chose to grant this non-exclusive license to GLS because of their global leadership in innovative TPE technologies and the broad adoption of their products across key market sectors. Working together, we can provide customers with the elastomeric materials they need to meet current and future regulatory requirements, performance demands and aesthetic preferences." Walter Ripple, vice president of global sales and marketing stated, "Our relationship with The Dow Chemical Company will expand the application range of their newly introduced INFUSE™ olefin block copolymers and enable more customers to benefit from the performance advantages of this platform. GLS's extensive customization capabilities enable manufacturers of consumer, food packaging, medical applications and other products to achieve new performance and aesthetic enhancements with OBC technology." The five standard injection-molding grades of DYNALLOY® OBC Compounds include opaque and translucent materials and provide Shore A hardnesses ranging from 60 down to 5. They offer a non-tacky, smooth feel that avoids dust pick-up as well as excellent colorability. Target markets include consumer, hardware, office products, cosmetics, and food packaging applications. The unique block architecture of INFUSE™ OBCs delivers enhanced performance and processing properties beyond current olefin elastomers, including high temperature performance, faster set-up in processing (reduced cycle times), improved abrasion resistance, and excellent elasticity and compression set properties at both room and elevated temperatures.