Vistamaxx™ PBE Improves Impact Strength

05 Jun 2013

LH Plus Sdn. Bhd., a leading manufacturer of high-quality, consumer plastic products based in Malaysia, has turned to Vistamaxx™ propylene-based elastomer (PBE) from ExxonMobil Chemical to improve the impact strength of its new sports drink bottles made with random copolymer polypropylene (RCP).

Vistamaxx PBE also maintains the clarity of the bottles.

LH Plus transitioned from using 100 percent RCP to manufacture drink bottles after some product testing failures. With the enhanced benefits provided by the addition of Vistamaxx PBE to the formulation, the USA brand owner now expects zero bottle failure in these tests.

RCP strength issue
While there was no breakage during manufacturing, some occurred during end-use simulation testing. As part of the quality control (QC) process, bottles are randomly selected and filled with varying levels of water. They are then dropped from different heights to simulate use by consumers.

LH Plus was exploring the addition of an impact modifier to strengthen the bottle, so that the breakage issue could be resolved without modifying the tooling.

New possibilities with Vistamaxx PBE
LH Plus turned to Drex-Chem (M) Sdn. Bhd., a distributor of ExxonMobil Chemical’s polymers, with whom it had a long-standing relationship. Drex-Chem recommended Vistamaxx PBE as a modifier to tailor, enhance and balance the properties of the RCP to meet the needs of the application.

Drex-Chem and ExxonMobil Chemical provided technical information and support on impact strength improvement levels with different grades and concentrations of Vistamaxx PBE. This helped reduce product development time. Also, Vistamaxx PBE is internationally approved in food packaging materials and does not require product prequalification.

LH Plus ultimately selected 5 percent Vistamaxx 3000 PBE for bottles larger than 590ml. The impact drop tests met the customer’s requirements. The bottles are stronger and clarity is maintained. Clear bottles allow users to see the volume and quality of the liquid inside the bottle.

“Using Vistamaxx™ propylene-based elastomer (PBE) has increased the impact strength of the sports drink bottles compared to RCP,” said Mr. Callum Chen, chief executive officer, LH Plus. “We are now able to confidently manufacture them to our customer’s highest standards.”

To help maintain quality standards, LH Plus records the raw material batch, the machine number and the operator for each production day. Every bottle has a date code molded on the base which indicates the month/year of manufacture to allow traceability, if needed.

“Vistamaxx PBE is easy to process. We dry blend the Vistamaxx PBE with the RCP before we injection mold and then blow mold the bottles,” said Mr. Chen. “There has been no change to our tooling or molding process and we are manufacturing an excellent product.”

Source: ExxonMobil Chemical