to help uae lead the international plastics industry
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Masdar Institute partners with Borouge

To help UAE lead the international plastics industry

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice To help UAE lead the international plastics industry

Masdar Institute
Abu Dhabi - Arab Today

Researchers at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology have worked on a technology in an attempt to improve the ability of certain plastics to delay oxidation – the natural process that causes food to spoil. 

The research supports the UAE's position as a regional leader in the international plastics industry. 

Masdar Institute Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Dr. Kumar Shanmugam led the research project in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) – a petrochemical company that provides innovative, value creating plastics solutions and a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austria's Borealis. The resulting plastic provides a better barrier for the preservation, safety and transportation of food, while also being aesthetically pleasing and offering a wide range of uses due to its transparency. 

"With the right combination of nano-materials, dosing levels and process parameters, a significant improvement in oxygen barrier performance can be achieved. Therefore, this study is a step toward the development of a commercially viable solution," said Wim Roels, Chief Executive Officer of Borouge Pte Ltd. 

"Partnering with regional industry leaders like Borouge to address their technology challenges is critically important to Masdar Institute's mission of positioning Abu Dhabi as a knowledge hub and engine for socio-economic growth," said Dr. Steve Griffiths, Vice President for Research, Masdar Institute. 

"The research by Masdar Institute scientists has been aimed at strengthening the UAE's petrochemical industry, and in turn, boosting the UAE industrial sector's share of GDP from the current 10% to the targeted 25% by 2025." 

Dr. Kumar's research enhances the ability of packaging polymers to prevent oxygen diffusion – when oxygen seeps into sealed food containers and speeds up the food spoilage process – in addition to creating high-quality food containers that retain the freshness of foods for longer. 

Borouge provided the polyethylene and polypropylene resins, while the blending materials were fabricated in the labs of Masdar Institute. Permeation tests to measure oxygen barrier resistance took place at Borouge's facilities. 

"We developed different nano-composite blends for polymers made out of three different materials – silicate nano-clays, carbon nanotubes and graphene," Dr. Kumar explained. 

The silicate nano-clays, graphene and carbon nanotubes essentially create an obstacle for the oxygen, making it difficult to pass through. Without such a special design, oxygen would permeate straight through the plastic. 

With this new solution, oxygen's path is obstructed, making the diffusion path more difficult, which significantly reduces the amount of oxygen that passes through the plastic. The research, which recently came to a close, is explained in a paper published in the journal Carbon, co-authored by Dr. Kumar, Masdar Institute's Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Dr. Yanbin Cui, and Dr. Shailesh Kundalwal, Banting Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Toronto. 

"Each material increased the plastic's barrier performance, with nanoclay reducing oxygen diffusion by 15%, graphene by 25%, and carbon nanotubes by 40%," Dr. Kumar added. 

Not only do these coatings make it more difficult for oxygen to pass through the plastic and spoil food, they also increase the plastic's longevity by preventing the plastic layers from splitting apart. Thus, the nano-coatings could help to produce long-lasting containers, which would in turn reduce the number of containers that end up in dust bins and landfills, resulting in both financial and environmental savings. 

While graphene and carbon nanotubes have a higher barrier performance, they made the plastic less transparent and dark. Nanoparticles offered the best of both worlds – transparency and improved barrier performance. 

Dr. Kumar believes that graphene- and carbon nanotube composite polymers could be very well suited in other applications, where oxygen diffusion is undesirable and transparency is not required, such as in underground pipes, including oil and gas pipelines. 

Masdar Institute's research and development efforts to enhance the plastics produced by local petrochemical manufactures such as Borouge ultimately are intended to give the country a significant competitive advantage in the plastics market.

Source: WAM

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

to help uae lead the international plastics industry to help uae lead the international plastics industry

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

to help uae lead the international plastics industry to help uae lead the international plastics industry

 



GMT 05:06 2024 Tuesday ,06 February

New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way

GMT 06:15 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Volkswagen clinches record sales

GMT 20:35 2014 Monday ,08 December

CFP crucial for refining industry in Kuwait

GMT 13:25 2011 Tuesday ,13 December

Latest Call Of Duty Breaks $1bn Sales Record

GMT 06:47 2017 Sunday ,12 February

Fresh whale stranding on notorious New Zealand beach

GMT 10:48 2017 Sunday ,19 November

Industry minister receives Turkish ambassador

GMT 12:35 2015 Saturday ,06 June

Bindi Irwin is all grown up in new Instagram photo

GMT 14:08 2012 Tuesday ,28 August

600 Afghan soldiers killed over last 2 months

GMT 05:27 2011 Wednesday ,21 September

Facebook revenue estimated at $4.27 billion

GMT 20:06 2017 Wednesday ,22 February

Senior Yemeni general killed in Houthi missile attack

GMT 23:18 2016 Sunday ,12 June

Daesh kills 18 civilians trying

GMT 00:47 2017 Tuesday ,10 January

6 policemen killed, 9 injured in Arish attack
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice