As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic moves into its fourth month in Europe, plastics industry companies here continue to support the fight against the novel coronavirus. Efforts are focused mainly on production of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. Major plastics producers and processors are supporting the manufacture of masks and face shields with materials and technology.

Milliken Chemical (Spartanburg, South Carolina / USA; www.millikenchemical.com) is leveraging its know-how for clarification of polypropylene to help alleviate the shortage of protective products for healthcare workers, in particular face shields. While the company notes that PP producers are offering to donate material, the polymer product must go through a clarification process first. In its unclarified state, the material is naturally hazy, but leveraging Milliken’s NX “UltraClear” PP concentrate allows production of shield material with clarity levels suitable for medical applications, the company says.

Milliken has collaborated recently with a number of manufacturers to evaluate NX UltraClear in this new application. Impact Plastics (Putnam, Connecticut / USA; http://www.impactplastics-ct.com) is among the company’s customers producing clarified material for use in face shields, along with PP sheet maker Plascony (São Paulo / Brazil; www.plascony.com.br) and Mezger Verpackungen (Eilwangen / Germany; www.mezger-verpackungen.de).

In April, Sigma Engineering (Aachen / Germany; www.sigmasoft.de/en), joined forces with injection moulding machinery manufacturer Arburg (Lossburg / Germany; www.arburg.com) and other partners to produce moulded masks made of liquid silicone rubber (LSR). The “Sigmasoft” virtual moulding process-driven simulation tool was used to determine and optimise injection points, pressure requirements, temperature distribution, air entrapment and the cross-linking of the LSR material needed to mass produce the masks. The process combines the 3D geometry of the parts and runners with the complete mould assembly and temperature control system, and it incorporates the actual production process to develop a turnkey injection mould.

Spanish ABS producer Elix Polymers (Tarragona; www.elix-polymers.com) is collaborating with a large group of companies within “ClusterMAV”, Spain’s advanced materials cluster in Catalonia, in the fight against the virus. The participants are working in collaboration with the country’s National Federation of Innovative Business Groups and Clusters (Fenaeic; www.clustercollaboration.eu) network, which focuses on promoting collaboration between federations, groups and their partners within the “European Cluster” platform.

The plastics producer is donating its “Elix ABS 3D-FC” medical-grade material to meet demand from hospitals for medical masks, valves for ventilators and other medical devices. The ABS grade developed for conversion into filaments for fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing is now also being used by Ford Motor Company – which has switched some of its production from automobiles to medical equipment – along with plastics technology centre Aimplas (Valencia / Spain; www.aimplas.net – see Plasteurope.com of 07.04.2020) and two Spanish plastics processors, Pesl (Huesca; www.peslplastics.com) and Siim (Viladecans; www.siim.com).

“Many companies with 3D printing capability are putting their equipment at the disposal of the community to produce medical parts,” says Luca Chiochia, business development manager at Elix Polymers. For example, demand for 3D printing filaments in Spain is being channelled through the “3Dcovid19.tech” digital platform, an initiative linking hospitals’ needs and 3D printing production resources as well as ClusterMAV and Fenaeic.

Ford is using 15 3D printers at its facility in Valencia to manufacture protective face shields at a rate of 300 units per day. Filaments, produced on extruders operated by volunteer employees, are used to print head supports for protective face shields. The assembled shields are then shipped to an ozone disinfection centre coordinated by the Ministry of Health in the Spanish city and distributed to hospitals and care homes.

Logistical support of the 3Dcovid19.tech initiative is being coordinated by the subsidiary of leading plastics distributor Nexeo Plastics (The Woodlands, Texas / USA; www.nexeoplastics.com) in Barcelona / Spain, which is supplying the Elix ABS 3D-FC filaments to several 3D printing companies in the network. These in turn manufacture various parts that are in high demand, including ventilator adaptors and manifolds. Multidisciplinary tech company Noumena (Barcelona; www.noumena.io), which specialises in additives, is one of them.

Elix touts the performance characteristics of ABS, together with the fact that it can be adapted and customised to meet each specific need in its final use, along with the safety and reliability of the different types of ABS. This, the company says, has made the polymer an essential material for many medical equipment manufacturers.

Plastic sheet manufacturer Cipasi (Valencia / Spain; www.hinojosacipasi.com), part of the Hinojosa packaging group, has been producing dividers made from polypropylene. The plastic partitions are being used to protect neighbouring workers on factory floors as well as in customers and employees in offices, shops and restaurants.

To support Covid-19 efforts in Spain, plastics group Armando Alvarez (Torrelavega / Spain; www.armandoalvarez.com) has donated bottles for disinfectants in addition to partnering with producers Dow, ExxonMobil, Repsol and Sabic to provide personal protective gear made from plastic film. Collaborations appear to be a repetitive and welcome theme during the coronavirus crisis.