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New York, NY, August 24, 2009 – Global materials consultancy Material ConneXion�, in collaboration with Milliken Chemical, a division of Milliken & Company, will host The Beauty of Transparency, an exhibition showcasing a wide array of designs using polypropylene (PP) clarified with Milliken’s Millad� NX8000 clarifying agent and enhanced with Milliken’s ClearTint� colorants. The exhibition at Material ConneXion’s showroom in New York, N.Y., September 14-25, will feature the latest designs in housewares, food storage, packaging, and personal care and cosmetic containers. Concurrently, Milliken will be featured in the Material ConneXion booth at the HBA Global Exposition at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, September 15-17.
Today, designers of consumer products and packaging are finding a new source of inspiration in transparency. They are turning to the beauty, recyclability and cost-effectiveness of PP elegantly clarified and vibrantly colored with Milliken additive technologies.
“Milliken’s Millad NX8000 clarifier and ClearTint colorants have made polypropylene, which is already a clean, low-cost, low-density and recyclable material, even more attractive and versatile,” said Andrew Dent, Ph.D., Vice President, Library & Materials Research at Material ConneXion. “Millad NX8000 imparts clarity to thicker molded and extruded parts that previously exhibited haze, providing an almost glass-like appearance while preserving the other desirable properties of PP. Because the Milliken additives are FDA approved for food contact, they enable PP to replace traditional resins in many different applications.”
Thanks to their innovation and value in enabling broader use of lighter-weight and easily recycled PP, Millad NX8000 clarifying agent (MC# 6469-01) and ClearTint colorants (MC#6469-02) were accepted into the Material ConneXion Materials Library, the largest library of advanced, innovative, and sustainable materials and processes in the world. Materials are chosen through a strict review process, with 45 to 60 new materials independently juried into the library every month. Following its induction into the Library, Millad NX8000 was featured in Dr. Dent’s “Material Innovation” column for BusinessWeek’s online Innovation page in January 2009.
Revitalizing PP for Inspired Design
By enabling a typical 50-percent reduction in haze compared to the current industry standard, Millad NX8000 clarifier enables PP to provide optimal clarity, even in thicker parts. This step change in haze reduction compared to the industry standard, allows designers to choose PP in place of resins such as polycarbonate (PC) that present performance and environmental drawbacks. Polypropylene clarified with Millad NX8000 also delivers excellent material strength and rigidity, and excellent heat and chemical resistance.
The aesthetics of the resin can be further enhanced with Milliken’s ClearTint colorants, which add dramatic effects and rich color without impacting transparency. ClearTint colorants are engineered to avoid interference with clarity, and provide the brightest, most transparent colors possible. These colorants combine the exceptional aesthetics of dyes with the migration resistance of pigments.
“Polypropylene enhanced with Milliken additive technologies provides a winning combination of beauty and practicality for product designers and manufacturers,” said Brian Burkhart, Milliken global marketing manager. “For example, Millad-clarified PP is compatible with established recycling systems and also requires less resin, thus reducing system costs. But nothing beats the sheer glamour of a container or package made of transparent, vividly tinted PP. This material will be an exciting addition to any designer’s portfolio.”
Exhibition Details
The Milliken exhibition will be located at the Material ConneXion showroom at 60 Madison Avenue, New York, from 9 – 5 pm on weekdays from Sept. 14-25. Milliken will highlight the use of Millad-clarified PP in shampoo bottles, food storage containers, cosmetic jars, water pitchers, storage totes, baby bottles, five-gallon water storage bottles,TWIM packaging containers, drinking cups, bottles for personal care products and small appliances. Information about Milliken additives will be available at the exhibition, and also at the HBA Global Exposition where the company will be highlighted at the Material ConneXion booth (#1907).
Milliad and ClearTint are registered trademarks of Milliken & Company.
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About Milliken Chemical
Based in Spartanburg, S.C., USA, Milliken & Company is one of the world’s largest privately held textile and chemical corporations. Milliken Chemical, a division of Milliken & Company, specializes in developing and producing additives for plastics, textiles, fibers, and other manufacturing processes. Milliken Chemical has application and development centers around the world to support their customers. www.millikenchemical.com
About Material ConneXion
Material ConneXion is a global materials consultancy that helps companies innovate through smart materials thinking. Built on the belief that Every Idea Has A Material Solution™, Material ConneXion is the trusted advisor to Fortune 500s, smaller forward-thinking companies, and government agencies seeking a creative, competitive, or sustainable edge through strategic material selections. With offices in New York, Bangkok, Cologne, Milan and Daegu, Korea, Material ConneXion's international network of specialists provides a global, cross-industry perspective on materials and their potential uses. Material ConneXion maintains the largest subscription-based Materials Library of innovative materials and processes in the world—an indispensable asset to a wide audience of designers and architects and a vital tool for the development of design, industry and economy. www.materialconnexion.com
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