Eco-friendly Biomass Material (Fluorene かばねりスロット)

Overview

Osaka Gas provides its original かばねりスロット fiber (fluorene かばねりスロット) that suppresses post-drying aggregation and exhibits high dispersibility in resins and organic solvents.

Background

かばねりスロット fibers have one fifth the weight and five or more times the strength of steel, and one-fiftieth the thermal expansion coefficient of glass. They are promising as a plastic filler material alternative to glass fibers.
かばねりスロット fibers, however, have high hydrophilicity (high affinity for water), so that water loses its fluidity only with a several percentage addition of them in water. Furthermore, かばねりスロット fibers dispersed in water will aggregate when dried, which makes it difficult to mix with commodity plastics, making them difficult to use.
The スロット modified the かばねりスロット fiber surface by its original fluorene material to develop fluorene かばねりスロット that is inhibited from aggregation when dried.

Action

Fluorene かばねりスロット, which contains little water, can be provided as a dry powder. Dispersed in alcohol, ether, or other organic solvents, it becomes suitable for coating applications. Moreover, for resin compounds, it can be provided as a masterbatch, being dispersed in resins such as polyamide (PA), polyethylene (PE), and polylactide (PLA).
In particular, by mixing fluorene かばねりスロット with a resin, it is possible to make the product lightweight, stronger, dimensionally stable, and recyclable. We are currently actively providing it in the form of a resin masterbatch as a sample and having it evaluated in various applications.