Saturday, April 11, 2015
Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester with a low melting point of around 60 °C and a glass transition temperature of about −60 °C. The most common use of polycaprolactone is in the manufacture of speciality polyurethanes. Polycaprolactones impart good water, oil, solvent and chlorine resistance to the polyurethane produced. Polycaprolactone (PCL) is an important polymer due to its mechanical properties, miscibility with a large range of other polymers and biodegradability. Two main pathways to produce polycaprolactone have been described in the literature: the polycondensation of a hydroxycarboxylic acid: 6-hydroxyhexanoic acid, and the ring-opening polymerisation (ROP) of a lactone: epsilon-caprolactone (epsilon-CL).
GLOBAL MANUFACTURERS
1. Perstrop, Warrington site UK
Brand name Capa
Perstorp acquired the caprolactone business at Warrington in UK from Solvay in February 2008.Solvay originally set up 15,000 metric tonne per year caprolactone monomer plant that was commissioned in1998. Perstorp doubled the capacity of the caprolactone plant in 2011 Perstorp’s range of caprolactones, marketed as Capa™ has over 50 grades
2. Daicel,Japan
Brand name Polycaprolactone-F
Polycaprolacton-H is a macro monomers having a (meth) acrylic double bond, which can be radical-polymerized. It also has a primary hydroxyl group with high reactivity when curing agents are introduced into a polycaprolactone oligomer. Polycaprolacton-H (Placcel® H1P molecular weight 10,000) is a highly crystalline thermoplastic aliphatic polyester resin with melting point of 60 degree
Indian scenario
Caprolactone/Polycaprolactone is not presently produced in India
Source: NPCS Team