It joins the Renycle ® range of recycled polyamides and includes innovative engineering polymers made with raw materials from renewable sources: RadiciGroup launched Bionside, a series of bio-based grades, belonging to the Radilon ® family, which are either already marketed under the Radilon ® D brand( PA610) or currently being tested( PA56 – PA510 – PA1012). The choice to use organic sources reflects a major effort to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and mitigates the environmental impact of products and also CO₂ emissions. Thanks to their chemical structure, polyamides from renewable sources have excellent technical properties which make them suitable for many applications. In line with the sustainability strategy of the parent company, Radici- Group High Performance Polymers aims to offer innovative proposals to customers who are most committed to reducing the environmental impact of their value chains. The new products meet high technical requirements while respecting the environment and people. Radici- Group compounds are produced in state-of-the-art plants powered with renewable energy sources, are the result of significant R & D work and many years of experience in the market, are measured according to the LCA method, do not generate any type of waste and, like all Radici products, can be recycled at the end of their lifecycle.“ We are speeding up the development of proposals that guarantee high technical performance but at the same time ensure the sustainability of projects carried out together with our customers,” underlines Erico Spini, Global Marketing Director of RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers.“ At Fakuma, we |
displayed commercial applications based on our Radilon ® D( PA610), but we also took the opportunity to unveil some new experimental grades and discuss with our partners new ways for the concrete sustainability of the application sectors in which we operate: considering the polyamide 610, whose renewable content is 64 %, we calculated a reduction in CO2 emissions close to 70 % compared to a polyamide from fossil sources, a result that certainly encourages us to continue on this path.” Produced from an oil extracted from the castor plant, the PA 610 is very resistant to hydrolysis and contact with water, therefore ideal for numerous applications in the automotive sector such as connectors for cooling lines, ducts, pump parts, thermostat cases, etc.: applications where the technical content is really high and where safety plays a central role. Another sector in which bio-based materials can make a difference, not only from an environmental point of view but also thanks to their performance, is that of water management, because of their excellent resistance to hydrolysis and greater dimensional stability thanks to lower moisture absorption – approximately one-third compared to PA 6 or PA66.“ Our R & D activity is focusing on the study and testing of new products, including 100 % bio-based resins or obtained from additional renewable sources, with the aim of expanding our range of sustainable materials and enhancing specific technical performance”- Spini concludes.
NEW FLAME RETARDANTS The company also introduced a new family of halogen-free flame retardant materials based on PBT( Radiflam B). This will complement
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The stand of RadiciGroup at the last Fakuma
the current range for E & E and e-mobility applications, allowing customers an even more targeted and also more sustainable choice for a large number of applications. For the e-mobility sector, the Group presented three new orange, nonhalogenated materials, based on Radiflam ® B( PBT), Radiflam ® Aestus( PPA) and Radilon ® D( PA610 for extrusion applications): also in this case, the expansion of the range will allow an even more targeted choice when the need is for grades able to withstand high electrical voltages. The operating conditions( such as the expected temperature) and also the processing technology will determine the most correct choice. The Radilon ® D solution also allows the use of a polymer from a partially renewable source with a lower environmental impact.
APPLICATIONS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES As far as vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines are concerned, RadiciGroup is already ready to offer solutions with a lower environmental impact that can also be used in traditional applications
: an example is the air intake manifold made of 100 % Renycle,® which was awarded by the Society of Plastics Engineers( SPE) last June: an application with a high technical content typical of the automotive sector, where the use of glassfibre filled nylon has, over the years, almost completely replaced metals. In this case, however, the challenge was to use a totally recycled material, the result of a careful process of selection, cleaning and control of raw materials to ensure very high quality consistency. Finally, RadiciGroup presented a number of polyamide-based products for the hydrogen and fuel cell industry: a very high growth rate is expected in these sectors in the coming years. In particular, the company unveiled a high-purity material for fuel cell components based on Radilon ® Aestus( PPA) as well as two materials from the Radilon ® S family for hydrogen tanks( special blow moulding and injection moulding PA6 grades). Technical properties: high impact resistance at very low temperatures, low hydrogen permeability, easy processability.
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Italian technology plast / April 2025 |
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