Page 52 - Plastics News February 2023

TECHNOLOGY

Acrylic-Based Compounds for Medical Devices

drugs, antibiotic, and antifungal and ductility/toughness making it
agents that require superior UV- ideal for applications like dialysis
light protection. It is designed for cassettes, test packs, filter hous-
UV-light transmission applications ings, microfluidics, lenses, tube
like dialysis cassettes, lenses, test connectors, IV catheter hubs, and
packs, filter housings, microfluid- Y sites. High light transmission
ics, tube connectors, IV catheter with little haze is claimed. MD
hubs, and Y sites. Moreover, it zk6 polymer can be processed in
boasts five times the impact re- injection molding machines and
wo acrylic-based copolymer sistance of unmodified acrylics. extrusion lines with three-zone
Tcompounds that reportedly offer Excellent dimensional stability general purpose screws.
a superior balance of properties for and processability, improved ten-
medical devices have been developed sile elongations, as well as bond- Available in 1500-lb gaylord boxes,
by Roehm. Showcased at the 2023 ing to PVC tubing are claimed. It with other packaging available on
MD&M West trade show, they are can be thermally bonded, ultra- request, both materials meet U.S.
the latest additions to the company’s sonic, and laser welded, and is re- Pharmacopeia Class VI; ISO 10993-1
Cyrolite portfolio of advanced medi- portedly resistant to EtO, gamma and FDA for food contact for all use
cal actylics: and E-beam sterilization. conditions up to and including hot-
filled or pasteurized above 150°F
• Cyrolite G20CP is a PMMA- • Cyrolite MD zk6 is an amor- (e.g., Condition 21 CFR 176.170) for
based copolymer that is said to phous, impact modified com- all food types except those containing
ensure integrity of photosensi- pound based on PMMA that more than 8% alcohol.
tive substances such as oncology boasts high-impact resistance

Degradation of plastic waste using newly developed biocatalysts

he plastic materials polyurethane Plastics are currently indispensable thermore, less of the greenhouse gas
Tand polyvinyl alcohol can now be for the production of construction CO2 would be emitted by garbage
degraded under mild conditions with materials, electric insulation, drinks incineration plants that currently burn
the help of enzymes as biocatalysts. and food packaging, textiles and many plastic waste.
more applications. Unfortunately, the
Scientists from the University of Greif- Polyurethanes (PUR) are used for the
swald have developed correspond- mass production of synthetic poly- production of mattresses, insulating
ing methods together with the Ger- mers, especially for packaging mate- materials, thermoplasts (i.e. for sport
man company Covestro and teams rials, has led to an enormous waste shoes) and for coatings (sealants,
from Leipzig and Dublin, as recently problem for the environment. The painting, glues). Chemical methods
published in the journal Angewandte polymers polyurethane and polyvinyl have been developed for the degra-
Chemie International Edition in two alcohol contribute to approximately 8 dation of these compounds, but they
separate articles. It has thus been percent of the European plastic pro- require high amounts of energy as
possible to establish a sustainable and duction. high temperatures and pressures are
environmentally-friendly process to For several years methods to achieve required.
recycle these polymers. an environmentally-friendly recycling Biotechnological methods using mi-
of plastics have been the subject of
This helps to address the worldwide croorganisms or enzymes as natural
problem of plastic waste based on the intense investigations. This would not biocatalysts represent an alternative
example of these two synthetic poly- only relieve the environment, but also as they enable the degradation and
mers, which are produced industrially reduce the amount of petrol required especially recycling—the isolation of
at large scale. to make new plastics chemically. Fur- the building blocks to make new plas-

54 PLASTICS NEWS February 2023