Seattle, WA, USA--(Jobwerx News)--High melt strength polypropylene from Borealis plastics solutions overcomes stiffness for producing soft foams.

Borealis has introduced Daploy™ WB260HMS, high melt strength polypropylene (HMS-PP), that is designed to meet consumer demands for higher performance in soft foam applications in the protective packaging, shoe construction and automotive seating segments.

Daploy WB260HMS, processed on standard foam extrusion machinery, demonstrates a breakthrough in high melt strength PP (polypropylene) development. It has been designed to capitalize on the excellent temperature and chemical resistance, and strength of polypropylene, while overcoming the stiffness of HMS PP that has previously excluded their use for the production of soft foams. In addition, it has a considerably wider foaming temperature window than conventional HMS grades of PP.

These advances in PP technology will position Daploy* as a highly competitive material in applications currently dominated by polyurethane, polyethylene and PVC foams. This will give plastics designers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive, sports and leisure, furnishing and packaging industries a wider choice in tailoring a new level of softness for foam properties to meet specific end user requirements.

According to Rick Folland, Borealis Application Marketing Manager- Daploy HMS/Thermoforming: “Many existing PP foam applications are based on blends of standard HMS-PP with metallocene polyethylenes, thermoplastic olefin elastomers and ethylvinyl acetates. These can now be replaced by Daploy WB260HMS as a single material, or in blends with other grades of PP to make an all-PP product. Daploy WB260HMS makes it possible to economically produce soft PP closed cell foams with densities as low as 30kg/m³, with properties that cannot be achieved by other polymers serving that market.”

The Borealis proprietary technology in Daploy HMS-PP uses a chemical modification to incorporate long chain branching into the basic plastics polymer backbone. This has the effect of creating a PP with both high melt strength and extensibility which are important for foam quality. All products in this family of foamable materials are recyclable and benefit from the other environmentally positive characteristics of PP.

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Borealis is a leading, innovative provider of plastics solutions with more than 40 years of experience in polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). Borealis products are converted by its customers into daily life products such as food packaging, medical devices, diapers, distribution pipes, automotive parts and power cables.

*Daploy is a trademark of Borealis A/S, Denmark.