12.08.2014
Kaneka (Osaka, Japan) is stepping up efforts to develop applications for a recently-developed polyolefin-based hot melt resin. Already, the company has found success in applications in the auto sector, including bonding of interior and exterior components molded from PP with other materials, and the new focus will be on sectors such as appliances and household fittings.
Kaneka notes that PP does not readily bond to a variety of material such as metals, other plastics, and fabrics, and often needs to be primed, or surface-modified via plasma or corona treatment. The new hot melt resin, which can be employed in coinjection-insert injection molding processes or in sheet form in thermoforming processes, reportedly renders such treatment unnecessary. Further, processing temperatures and pressures are lower than for conventional hot melt adhesives. Kaneka says that this reduces the possibility of part deformation in thermoforming processes, while the design window is also reportedly widened.