How can Nano materials modify plastics?

The purchasing pace at the demand end of the international thermal coal market continues to slow down and the international thermal coal price continues to decline. Prices for thermal coal at major international ports continued to fall last week as buyers in Europe slowed in recent days for April, coupled with weaker-than-expected import demand from End users in China. According to China Coal Market net monitoring:  Australia Newcastle port thermal coal price index was 253 USD/ton, compared with 309.02 USD/ton, down 56.02 USD/ton, down 18.13%. South Africa’s Port Richards thermal coal price Index was $264.5 / mt, down the US $62.72 / mt or 19.17% from US $327.22 / mt. The European ARA Tri-port thermal coal price Index was $281.8 / ton. Does the price of thermal coal in major international ports continue to decline to affect the price of the aluminum oxide? 

On the basis of general plastics and engineering plastics, the flame retardancy, strength, impact resistance, toughness, aging resistance and antibacterial properties of plastics can be improved by filling, blending, strengthening and other methods.
 
Nano materials can:
1. Aging resistance of reinforced plastics
The aging of polymer materials, especially photooxidation aging, starts from the surface of materials or products, such as discoloration, pulverization, cracking, glossiness decline and so on, and then gradually goes deep into the interior. The anti-aging properties of polymers directly affect its service life and environment, especially for agricultural plastics and plastic building materials, which is not only an index that needs great attention, but also an important topic in polymer chemistry. The ultraviolet wavelength in sunlight is 200~400nm, while the ultraviolet in 280~400nm band can break the polymer molecular chain, thus making the material aging. Nano-oxides, such as nano-alumina, nano-titanium oxide, nano-silica and so on, have good absorption properties for infrared and microwave. The proper mixing of nano SiO2 and TiO2 can absorb a large amount of ultraviolet rays to prevent plastics from being damaged by sunlight, and help to prevent plastic products from cracking, discoloration and other light degradation, thus making the materials anti-aging.
 
2. Improve the antibacterial and anti-mildew properties of plastics
Antibacterial plastics are generally prepared by adding antimicrobial agents or antibacterial masterbatch to the resin. Because plastic molding has to go through high temperature, there are inorganic antimicrobial agents that can adapt to high temperature. Traditional antibacterial metal powders such as copper sulfate and zinc nitrate are not easy to combine directly into thermoplastics. Inorganic nano-antibacterial powder is specially treated to obtain antibacterial plastic masterbatch, which is easy to be used in plastic products and has good compatibility with plastics. It is beneficial to the dispersion of antimicrobial agents. Inorganic silver ions can be carried into nano titanium dioxide, nano-silicon aluminum oxide and other inorganic nano-materials, and the formed powder has good antibacterial properties, mixed with plastics, extruded and formed by ultraviolet irradiation to form antibacterial plastics. its antibacterial effect is formed by the slow release of antimicrobial agents, so as to achieve the antibacterial effect.
 
3. Improve the toughness and strength of plastics
When the second substance is added to the polymeric matrix, a composite is formed, and a more comprehensive material is obtained by compounding, which is used to improve the mechanical strength and impact strength of the material. The emergence of nanomaterials provides a new method and way for the reinforcement and toughening modification of plastics. The surface defects of small particle size dispersed phase are relatively few and there are many unpaired atoms. The ratio of surface atomic number to total atomic number of nanoparticles increases sharply with the decrease of particle size. The crystal field environment and binding energy of surface atoms are different from those of internal atoms, so they have great chemical activity. With the micronization of crystal field and the increase of active surface atoms, the surface energy is greatly increased, so it can be closely combined with polymer substrate and has good compatibility. When subjected to external force, the ion is not easy to detach from the substrate and can better transfer the external stress. At the same time, under the interaction of the stress field, there will be more microcracks and plastic deformation in the material, which can cause the substrate to yield and consume a lot of impact energy, so as to achieve the purpose of strengthening and toughening at the same time. The commonly used nano-materials are nano alumina, nano silica, nano-calcium carbonate, etc.
 
4. Improve the thermal conductivity of plastics
Thermal conductive plastics are a kind of plastic products with high thermal conductivity, which are generally higher than 1w/ (m. k). Thermal conductive plastics are more and more widely used because of their light weight, fast thermal conductivity, simple injection molding, low processing cost and so on. Because of its good insulation and thermal conductivity, nano-alumina is widely used in thermal conductive plastics, thermal conductive rubber, thermal construction age, thermal conductive coatings and other fields. Compared with metal filler, nano-alumina / nano-magnesia can not only improve the thermal conductivity, but also improve the insulation effect, and the mechanical properties of plastics can also be improved.
 
5. Improve the processability of plastics
Some polymers, such as ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) with viscosity average molecular weight of more than 150 minutes, have excellent comprehensive properties, but they are difficult to be formed and processed because of their high viscosity, which limits their popularization and application. Taking advantage of the low interlaminar friction coefficient of layered silicate sheet, the nano-rare earth / ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene composite was prepared by fully mixing UHMWPE with layered silicate, which can effectively reduce the entanglement of UHMWPE molecular chain and reduce the viscosity. Play a good role in lubrication, thus greatly improving its processability.
 
6. The addition of nanomaterials makes plastics functional.
Metal nanoparticles have heterogeneous nucleation, which can induce the formation of some crystal forms that give toughness to the materials. When polypropylene is filled with low melting point metal nanoparticles, it is found that it can play the role of conductive channel, strengthening and toughening in polypropylene, and its low melting point also improves the processability of the composites.
 
Aluminum oxide price
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Chile's government has decided to create a state-owned lithium enterprise and hopes to establish a model for the company by the end of the year, Mining Minister Marcela Hernando said in an interview.  

Chile is the world's second largest lithium producer and has the largest reserves of lithium in the world. The domestic lithium industry is currently dominated by two private companies, Albemarle and SQM.  

Chile wants to participate more closely in the booming lithium market after leftist President Gabriel Boric took office in March. The accelerating electrification of the global auto industry has helped push prices of lithium, a key raw material for electric car batteries, to record highs over the past year, lapping up more players, including Mexico and Argentina, who want a piece of the market.  

According to Hernando, the government is setting up a task force to determine the best way to run state-owned lithium enterprises. She said the government hopes to establish plans by the end of the year for how the company will develop and what business model it will operate under. 

Hernando stressed that while the state would be a major shareholder in the proposed company, it was open to private investment.

Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology (TRUNNANO) is a global chemical material supplier providing high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials including graphite powder, 3D printing powder, the aluminum oxide.