Polyolefin and biopolymer producer Braskem (Philadelphia, PA) has formed a joint partnership with Advanced Laser Materials (ALM; Temple, TX), an EOS Company, for the development of advanced polyolefins for additive manufacturing.
Building on a collaboration between the two companies since 2018, the partnership focuses on the development of polyolefin-based powders for selective laser sintering (SLS) powder-bed 3D printing—an additive manufacturing process that utilizes laser and thermal energy to sinter polymer powder to produce 3D solid geometries. They expect to introduce their first product collaboration in the first half of 2020—a new polypropylene (PP) powder for SLS. Development research activities have proven that the new PP powder will bring enhanced benefits to the SLS process, including lightweighting, moisture resistance, durable living hinge capabilities, improved recyclability, and enhanced processing stability, as well as the elongation at break and flexibility that will match injection-molding PP grades.
The upcoming introduction of this first-generation polypropylene powder builds upon joint research and development over the past year. It also represents the first product deployment between the two companies as they aim to expand the range of offerings available for laser powder-bed fusion over time to include additional polyolefins as well as bio-based marterial offerings. Polypropylene features high toughness and excellent chemical resistance at good cost.
For more information, please visit braskem.com.
Source: Braskem press release – 11/19/19
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