June 18, 2003 / PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL) will feature several new technologies at next month's National Plastics Expo (NPE), including advancements in color technology, nanocomposites and inherently conductive polymers (ICPs). PolyOne will be in Booth 1832, South Building at Chicago's McCormick Place for the show, which runs June 23-27, 2003.

PolyOne will introduce a new family of nanoclay-based polymer concentrates at NPE. This new nanocomposite capability is a result of a previously announced strategic alliance with Nanocor. The technology, which uses very fine nanoclays that are roughly 1/10,000th the diameter of a human hair, principally improves stiffness, fire resistance and gas barrier at lower weight than traditional additives. Nanocomposites also promote greater heat stability and electrical dissipation. Primary markets include automotive, appliance and film.

In addition, PolyOne will introduce its new color technology capabilities with special live demonstrations in a dedicated viewing theater at the booth. The new color technology offering is designed to shorten the color matching process and allow color standard data to be stored electronically compared to a traditional plastic chip. The technology will also allow customers to model a three-dimensional product in a variety of virtual environments, for example a shampoo bottle in a pharmacy, and then see with a high degree of realism what the color will actually look like.

Also featured are inherently conductive polymers (ICPs), which have similar electrical conductivity properties to metals and inorganic semiconductors, but are lighter, easier to process and more environmentally friendly. ICPs can be used in corrosion-resistant coatings, anti-static fabrics and packaging, EMI/RFI shielding, and electronic products.

"NPE is a great opportunity to talk with our customers about the breadth of our core capabilities as well as showcase many of our new technologies -- platforms that are important to our future growth," said Thomas A. Waltermire, chairman and chief executive officer of PolyOne. "Our new products will be especially important to global customers because of PolyOne's unique capability to help them reach their customers around the world."

PolyOne will also highlight several products and technologies from its Engineered Materials group including:

- Ecomass(R) high-gravity thermoplastic compounds
- Therma-Tech(TM) compounds, which readily conduct heat at levels more than 100 times that of standard plastics Electrostatic dissipative (ESD) compounds
- Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE)-based products, which are used in a variety of markets including automotive interiors, consumer products, seals and gaskets, and recreational products.