March 21, 2007

New ABS and ASA soft touch alloys for the sheet extrusion market

LANXESS is launching two new soft touch materials called Lustran® ST 4566 and Centrex® ST 4766 onto the European market. Both materials have been primarily designed to be used in applications where they are co-extruded or laminated over an ABS substrate, with the purpose of providing a low gloss look and soft touch feel.

Lustran® ST 4566 is an ABS-based alloy (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer), which boasts excellent durability and chemical resistance as well as improved sound dampening when used as a cap over Lustran ABS. Centrex® ST 4766 is a thermoplastic alloy based on ASA (acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate copolymer), which provides a range of unique properties. In addition to soft touch, low gloss, chemical resistance and durability, Centrex® ST 4766 offers excellent UV-stability, which makes this product particularly suited for use in exterior applications or interior parts that will be exposed to direct UV light. Both products have established themselves very quickly in the US market. “We are targeting soft touch applications, for example in interior parts of trucks, buses, cars as well as exterior areas of boats, farm equipment and construction vehicles,” explains Fernando Antonio Ribeiro, an expert from the Lustran Polymers business unit at LANXESS.

The new soft touch materials adhere very well to ABS substrates such as the proven grade Lustran® ABS E401 used for extrusion purposes. Other benefits include the fact that they can be easily and cheaply processed. One key point is that the scrap produced in the manufacture of co-extruded systems with both soft touch materials can be reused as a single-sort recycled material in the ABS substrate – up to a specific amount without adversely affecting the original property profile. “Both new materials are primarily a low-cost alternative to coextrusion systems with polyvinyl or TPU surfaces,” explains Ribeiro.

Lustran® ST 4566 and Centrex® ST 4766 are available in a natural color or customized colors, just like all the other thermoplastics from Lustran Polymers.