BASF
Light stabiliser extends life of agricultural film / Ability to withstand high chemical concentrations
BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) has developed a new light stabiliser for agricultural plastic film that will be launched at “K 2010” (www.k-online.de) in Düsseldorf / Germany in late October – see Plasteurope.com of 22.06.2010. “Tinuvin” XT 200 helps extend the life of agricultural film and protects against degradation from UV light exposure and the presence of high concentrations of agricultural chemicals such as elemental sulphur, Victor Pacheco, Marketing Plastic Additives for Agriculture at BASF Switzerlandtold at a pre-K press conference.
In 2009, around 900,000 t of plastic film for greenhouses was produced worldwide, covering about 800,000 ha of arable land and the demand for agricultural film for use in greenhouses is forecast to grow at around 4% annually, the company said. The most important markets are the Mediterranean region, Asia, South America and Eastern Africa.
In 2009, around 900,000 t of plastic film for greenhouses was produced worldwide, covering about 800,000 ha of arable land and the demand for agricultural film for use in greenhouses is forecast to grow at around 4% annually, the company said. The most important markets are the Mediterranean region, Asia, South America and Eastern Africa.
 Tinuvin XT 200 protects film made from thermoplastic resins against overly fast degradation when exposed to UV light. (Photo: BASF) |
BASF says the use of “Tinuvin” XT 200 allows the economical production of LDPE films that withstand severe agricultural chemicals levels with an assured service life of two and more years under intense sunlight. Without a light stabilizer they would not last even one growing cycle, the company said.
The capabilities of the new UV stabilizer were verified by extensive testing over several years at BASF and Ciba, which was acquired by BASF in April 2009. The testing involved specialised laboratory work and operation in experimental greenhouses at the BASF development centre for light stabilisers for agricultural plastics in Bologna / Italy. This was followed by extended field tests in Italy and Spain.
The use of elemental sulphur and other agricultural chemicals places special demands on the film used in greenhouses due to the sensitivity of thermoplastic films to UV light. This causes plastics to become brittle over the course of time through a complex, multi-step chemical mechanism. Low cost, thin film in particular, can become useless after only a few weeks of exposure to daylight as a result of this effect. Halogen-containing chemicals can also contribute to the deactivation of common UV stabilisers.
e-Service:
The chart presentation given by Victor Pacheco at BASF´s pre-K press conference can be obtained on the following webpage as a PDF document
The capabilities of the new UV stabilizer were verified by extensive testing over several years at BASF and Ciba, which was acquired by BASF in April 2009. The testing involved specialised laboratory work and operation in experimental greenhouses at the BASF development centre for light stabilisers for agricultural plastics in Bologna / Italy. This was followed by extended field tests in Italy and Spain.
The use of elemental sulphur and other agricultural chemicals places special demands on the film used in greenhouses due to the sensitivity of thermoplastic films to UV light. This causes plastics to become brittle over the course of time through a complex, multi-step chemical mechanism. Low cost, thin film in particular, can become useless after only a few weeks of exposure to daylight as a result of this effect. Halogen-containing chemicals can also contribute to the deactivation of common UV stabilisers.
e-Service:
The chart presentation given by Victor Pacheco at BASF´s pre-K press conference can be obtained on the following webpage as a PDF document
06.08.2010 Plasteurope.com [216788]
Published on 06.08.2010
German version of this article...