Univ. of South Carolina Developing Technology to P
Columbia, SC, April 6—-Scientists at the University of South Carolina say they are developing the technology to keep South Carolina’s plastics industry from going to Asia.
Polymer nanocomposites can improve food and beverage packaging, as well as help the state’s plastics industry fend off increasing foreign competition, said Michael Myrick, associate director of the USC Nanocenter.
Industry leaders are working with the university to create a center on USC’s new research campus devoted to the new technology.
The university will hold a major conference on polymer nanocomposites later this week for many of the nation’s top scientists and industry leaders. The conference will be Thursday and Friday at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
"The symposium will look at the impact of the plastics industry on the economic development of South Carolina and underscore the need for the state’s research universities and industry to collaborate on polymer nanocomposite research and development," Myrick said.
The symposium is seen as the next step in a significant collaboration between USC researchers and the state’s plastics sector.
Plastics is South Carolina’s largest manufacturing industry, accounting for 6 percent of the gross state product with products valued at $5.7 billion a year, according to the Society of the Plastics Industry.
South Carolina also is among the top 10 states in per capita production of plastics. Much of it involves commodity polymers, known as PET. PET plastics are used in packaging soft drinks, water, salad dressing, household cleaners and cosmetics.
Commodity plastic production is increasingly under pressure from foreign manufacturers, especially those in Asia, Myrick said.
Developing polymer nanocomposites is viewed as a way to avoid the kind of commoditization that befell the state’s textile industry, he said.
USC researchers are studying the competitive advantage that such composites might give to bottles, tires, film and other products, Myrick said.
The technology involves putting nanoscale particles into plastic films and bottles to slow the movement of gases such as carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapor through the materials.
To do their job, the clay nanoparticles must be extremely thin, about one nanometer thick, and broken into separate sheets with a length and width of about 500 nanometers. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.
USC received a gift of intellectual property in polymer composites from the Voridian Co. in 2002. The donation included patents worth millions of dollars, according to USC.
That led the university to seek a Polymer Nanocomposite Research Center of Economic Excellence through the state’s endowed chairs program.
USC was granted $3.5 million for the center that must be matched from private funds. Half the match has been raised, Myrick said.
The university wants to recruit a top researcher to the endowed chair. Several candidates are expected to attend the conference.
Eight companies in the state have joined USC to create an industry-university consortium. They are Wellman, Voridian, EMS Grivory, Michelin, Mitsubishi, Milliken, Invista and Honeywell.
The program is similar to USC’s industry-university cooperative research center for fuel cells.
Consortium members have recommended hiring 12 new faculty members, in addition to the new chair, as well as building a shared facility on the new research campus.
The building would house university and industry researchers.
