Many polypropylene products on the market today offer customers a wide range of characteristics for blown film applications. Typical attributes include strength, softness, good bubble stability and throughput. But when customers began demanding transparency, there was no specific product to address their requirements.
Researchers at LyondellBasell’s R&D laboratory in Ferrara, Italy, set out to fill the existing gaps in the market, and to offer customers a competitive alternative to other polymer products available. After pilot plant development, successful field trials and comprehensive product classification, the verdict is clear: Experimental grade Adflex 7492 XCP has set a new performance standard for polypropylene used in transparent film applications.
With a film thickness of 50 µm, and a haze value of 13%, Adflex 7492 XCP represents a new benchmark for other highly-modified polypropylene grades. Produced using LyondellBasell’s proprietary Catalloy process, the new polypropylene resin is also characterized by high-rubber content and superior resistance to impact, puncture and tear propagation. In addition, the grade displays an exceptional balance among softness, processing performance, film clarity and mechanical performance.
In co-extruded blown film applications, where the new Adflex grade was used in the core layer, the results were outstanding: Throughput close to fractional MFR LDPE was achieved, and the end product displayed excellent clarity when clarified PP skin layers were used. Should superior mechanical properties of the final film be required, customers may consider the use of mLLDPE skin layers in combination with a core layer of Adflex 7492 XCP grade.
The new product can be considered for use in a very broad range of blown film applications, offering an outstanding balance of stiffness, superior toughness and excellent clarity. The product also offers downgauging opportunities, while maintaining similar rigidity of the final product using newly-designed blends and coex film structures. Cost reductions can also be realized through raw material optimization.