Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-08-02 Origin: Site
The need for safe and efficient processing has never been more critical in today’s competitive plastics industry.Manufacturers face constant challenges such as polymer degradation, equipment wear, and the need to comply with strict environmental and workplace safety standards. One key factor often overlooked is the role of chemical stability during melt processing. Moisture-induced hydrolysis can cause unexpected viscosity changes, corrosion, and defects, jeopardizing product quality and operational safety. Incorporating effective anti-hydrolysis additives into polymer formulations has become an essential strategy to overcome these challenges, enabling smoother processing, longer equipment life, and consistent product performance.
Processing safety is a critical concern in the plastic manufacturing industry, encompassing stable melt flow, low risk of unexpected polymer degradation, and reduced formation of hazardous by-products. Manufacturers today face increasing demands to improve workplace safety, minimize emissions, and maintain consistent product quality to comply with strict industry standards and regulatory requirements. This has made the concept of processing safety more essential than ever.
In practice, processing safety means more than just avoiding machine malfunctions or spills. It also involves ensuring that polymers behave predictably under heat and shear during processes like extrusion, injection molding, or compounding. Unexpected issues such as sudden viscosity drops or uncontrolled foaming can lead not only to defective products but also to dangerous situations, including over-pressurization or hot material surges that put workers and equipment at risk.
One often overlooked but vital aspect of processing safety is controlling hydrolysis during melt processing. Hydrolysis—a chemical reaction where moisture attacks sensitive chemical bonds in polymers, such as esters, amides, or urethanes—causes chains to break apart. This can result in unstable viscosity, surface defects, gas formation leading to bubbles or foam, and even the generation of acidic by-products that corrode metal parts of extruders or molds.
Incorporating anti-hydrolysis additives into polymer systems effectively addresses these risks. These specialized additives stabilize the molecular structure against moisture-induced degradation, maintaining predictable melt behavior and preventing chain scission. As a result, manufacturers benefit from safer, cleaner processing conditions across a wide range of plastic materials, from polyesters (like PET and PBT) to polyamides and polyurethanes. By managing hydrolysis proactively, companies not only protect their workforce and equipment but also achieve higher throughput and better product consistency.
Plastic processing—whether through extrusion, injection molding, or compounding—subjects polymers to intense heat and shear forces. These demanding conditions introduce several critical risks that manufacturers must carefully manage to maintain both product quality and operational safety.
Thermal Degradation: When polymers are exposed to temperatures beyond their thermal stability limits, their molecular chains can break down. This decomposition not only leads to discoloration and unpleasant odors but can also release hazardous fumes. In severe situations, it may even trigger fires, endangering workers and facilities.
Moisture-Triggered Hydrolysis: Many widely used polymers, such as those containing ester, amide, or urethane bonds, are highly susceptible to hydrolysis in the presence of moisture. During processing, this water-driven reaction generates gases that cause foaming or bubbling in the melt. It also disrupts viscosity stability, making precise control of flow and molding difficult. Worse yet, the acidic by-products formed during hydrolysis can corrode key processing equipment, including extruders, dies, and injection mold cavities.
Equipment Corrosion: The acids generated by hydrolysis don’t just harm the polymers—they attack metal surfaces inside processing machinery. Over time, this corrosion weakens equipment integrity, increases maintenance costs, and can lead to unplanned shutdowns that disrupt production schedules.
These risks are especially pronounced in popular engineering plastics like polyesters (PET, PBT), polyamides (PA6, PA66), and polyurethanes (PU, TPU), which are extensively used across automotive, packaging, electronics, and consumer goods sectors. Managing these hazards effectively is essential to ensure smooth production, high-quality end products, and a safe working environment.
By integrating anti-hydrolysis additives into polymer formulations, manufacturers can achieve significant improvements that help improve processing safety, product consistency, and operational reliability:
Molecular Weight Stability: These additives maintain the polymer’s molecular weight during melt processing, preventing sudden drops or surges in viscosity. Stable melt viscosity is essential for consistent extrusion or molding and helps avoid defects.
Reduced Hydrolysis Reactions: Anti-hydrolysis agents inhibit runaway hydrolysis that can release gases, leading to foaming, die drool, or fouling in equipment.
Protection of Processing Equipment: Acidic degradation products are neutralized, reducing corrosion risks on extruder screws, barrels, injection mold gates, and hot runners, extending equipment life and reducing maintenance costs.
Polyesters are widely used in fibers, films, automotive connectors, and electronic housings. However, they are particularly sensitive to hydrolysis because their ester linkages readily react with moisture, especially under the high temperatures of melt processing. This reaction breaks polymer chains, leading to a significant reduction in intrinsic viscosity (IV). The consequences include unstable flow characteristics, uneven extrusion, and compromised mechanical properties such as impact and tensile strength in the final product. By incorporating anti-hydrolysis agents, manufacturers can protect these ester bonds, helping to maintain IV throughout processing. This ensures stable extrusion or molding, minimizes defects like brittleness or warping, and results in more reliable finished products with lower scrap rates.
Polyamides are favored for applications like gears, bearings, and textile fibers due to their excellent strength and abrasion resistance. However, their strong affinity for water makes them prone to hydrolytic degradation. During melt processing, absorbed moisture reacts with amide bonds, causing molecular weight reduction. This leads to variations in viscosity, negatively affecting fiber spinning or injection molding and reducing end-use mechanical strength. Anti-hydrolysis additives effectively stabilize polyamide chains, safeguarding them from moisture-triggered breakdown. This promotes consistent melt behavior and ensures that molded or extruded parts meet stringent performance specifications.
Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) and other polyurethane systems are popular for applications requiring flexibility and toughness, such as footwear soles, hoses, and industrial seals. Yet, they are vulnerable to hydrolysis during compounding and molding. Moisture reacting with urethane groups can cause defects like blow holes, surface pitting, and a drop in tensile or tear strength. By incorporating anti-hydrolysis agents, manufacturers can process these materials with greater confidence, producing smooth, defect-free parts that maintain their mechanical integrity and appearance even after exposure to demanding environments.
Beyond immediate processing improvements, anti-hydrolysis additives contribute to:
Long-Term Hydrolysis Resistance: Final plastic parts remain more durable and retain their mechanical properties longer in service, especially in humid or wet conditions.
Color Stability: By preventing acid-catalyzed side reactions, these additives help reduce yellowing and discoloration, enhancing product aesthetics.
Improved Plant Throughput: Fewer rejected parts, less downtime, and smoother processing cycles increase overall manufacturing efficiency.
Improving processing safety in plastic manufacturing goes beyond simply managing temperature and equipment settings. Chemical stabilization of polymers with effective anti-hydrolysis additives plays a vital role in preventing degradation, maintaining stable melt flow, protecting machinery from corrosion, and ensuring consistent production of high-quality products. These additives help manufacturers achieve safer and cleaner operations while meeting stringent workplace safety and environmental regulations.
For manufacturers seeking reliable solutions to enhance processing safety, Suzhou Ke Sheng Tong New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. offers advanced anti-hydrolysis additives tailored to various polymer systems. Their expertise and high-quality products can help you improve production stability, reduce downtime, and extend equipment life. To learn more about how these innovative additives can benefit your manufacturing process, consider reaching out to Suzhou Ke Sheng Tong New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. for professional consultation and product support.
