Castor oil-derived nylon reintroduced by BASF.(biopolymers)

THE quest for bio-sourcing of plastics has brought back a castor oil-sourced polyamide from BASF's old chemistry notebooks. BASF produced a nylon 6.10 about 50 years ago but the product was discontinued. Now, with growing interest in producing plastics from renewable resources, the company has reintroduced the material.

Ultramid Balance contains about 60 per cent sebacic acid--derived from castor oil. It has a relatively low density for a polyamide, with good low temperature impact strength and good dimensional stability because of its low water absorption, and BASF says it is suitable for typical nylon 6 applications, and those where nylon 6 has shown limitations. …