Advances in engineering plastics

New polymers are being commercialized in record numbers, offering the product designer a new realm of possibilities, and promising tough competition to the traditional engineering resins. Most of the growth is in single-site catalyzed resins. Metallocene (and non-metallocene) single-site catalysts enhance polymer architecture to generate highly uniform molecules, and even permit tailoring new categories of polymers. These new materials include the truly unique aliphatic polyketone, syndiotactic polystyrene (SPS); polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) resins; and novel variations of established polymers. This article provides a closer look at these newcomers to the plastics marketplace, with an emphasis on their properties and potential applications.