PRODUCTS AND PROCESS Styraloy Styraloy. a new chemical compound which is a cross between plastics, rubber, and wood. has been developed by Dow Chemical Co., and a new million-dollar plant to manufacture the material on a mass production basis is announced. The compound is made from styrene and butadiene. So light that it floats on water, Styraloy has exceptional electrical properties, can be worked like wood, and as a molding powder lends itself to all common forms of plastic fabrication. According to Willard H. Dow, president of the company, it can be used to make everything from insulation in electric cables to water pipes that will not burst when frozen, unbreakable cigaret cases, shot gun shells, toys, and door knobs. It is manufactured in the form of a dark, blue-gray powder which forms products with varying degrees of hardness, from nearly as soft as rubber to very hard and tough. Its electrical properties definitely place it in the field of low loss, low capacitance, high dielectric strength insulating materials. Among its other features are abrasion resistance better than shoe leather, low moisture absorption, and ability to remain flexible in a temperature range of —90° to well over 212°. It shows marked advantages as a compounding ingredient with many synthetic rubbers and some thermoplastics. It confers
good electrical properties, better moisture resistance, arid improved low-temperature flexibility on such materials. This composition of properties i s particularly advantageous for certain types of military communication cables, and other military needs.
Rayon Dekinking An electronic dekinking process is being employed to rid rayon cord of its tendency to curl, thus combining the nonheat-generating qualities of the weftless construction with the greater bruise resistance and strength of rayon, and permitting its use (without crosswoven cords) in the carcasses of heavy-duty truck tires. Spools of the rayon cord are put through an electronic oven where heat, applied internally by electrical agitation of the molecules, gives the rayon the opposite of a permanent wave. Even though the spools of cord are covered with wax paper, the new process does not affect the wax wrapping in any way.
Cellulose Seals for Plasma Cellulose brands, developed by Sylvania Industrial Co>rp., 4406 Channin Bldg., New Y*ork, N. Y., are being used to guard against waste of blood in transfusion bottles. They chanjre color when subjected to heat, turning
Equipment for electronic vulcanization of rubber and other plastic materials is shown at B. F. Goodrich plant by C. W . Leguillon, manager of the machine and process development division, and W m . Jenkins, electronics engineer. Vulcanization has always been a slow process, since the materials, which were heated from the outside, insulated against rather than conducted heat- In electronic vulcanization oscillations of high-frequency electric waves shake the molecules of material and the vulcanizing agent millions of times a second, creating uniform heat throughout and requiring only a fraction of the former amount of time
from dark green to orange, or other color combinations, depending on the particular shade used in their unheated state. Placed around the necks of transfusion bottles as a protective seal, they enable nurses to tell at a glance whether or not the units have been sterilized. This guards against mixups and prevents use of unsterile bottles with consequent waste of blood.
Wood Adhesives Two new resin-glues have been added, to the complete line of wood adhesives manufactured by Synvar Corp., Wilmington, Del. Both of the phenol-formaldehyde type, they are called Synvaren CP-5 and Synvarite PCP. Synvaren CP-5 is a liquid, watersoluble resin; Synvarite PCP has the same characteristics, but is in powder form, easily soluble in water or alcohol. The resin in liquid form has the advantage of a ready-touse glue; the powder resin has the advantage of a longer storage life. Both are claimed to be so compounded that they fit into any wood bonding problems, and can serve as a universal-purpose resin-glue. They can be used for soft or hard plywood bonding at high temperatures when a very short curing cycle is required, without addition of any hardener. They can be used with a special hardener, LS, for an intermediate temperature bonding of plywood, and for lamination work. A temperature as low as 150° F. can be used with these two resins. The panels, glued with Synvaren CP-5 or Synvarite PCP, meet the following specifications: Commercial Standard CS-35-42, Type 1, and CS-45-45 Army-Navy Aeronautical Spec. AN-NNP-511b Canadian Spec. C-28-33A and C-28-33B The resins can be used straight, or extended with walnut shell flour with a resulting lower-priced glue line. The resin bond is extremely strong and durable and shows an average of 90 to 100% wood failure.
New Allays The "Wyndale Manufacturing Corp., 1203 Cornell Ave., Indianapolis, announces the availability of Wyndaloy-Chace 720 forgings. The alloy is a nonferrous, nonmagnetic alloy of high strength, high wear resistance, high electrical resistivity, and good corrosion resistance. Special heat treatments will produce forgings with a hardness of 400 to 500 Brinell, tensile strength values exceeding 200,000 p.s.i. The elastic properties and ductility are superior to heat-treated beryllium bronze forgings. It can be supplied in the form of drop forgings or open frame hammer forgings.
Salp An insecticide said to be highly successful for destroying thrips, leaf rollers, and other chewing insects infesting ornamental crops and miscellaneous vegetables, is being produced by the Apex Chemical Co., Inc., 200 South 1st St., Elizabeth, N. J. The active ingredients of Salp are antimony and phenol. It is poisonous, but will not affect water soluble chlorophyll. Among the advantages claimed for it are that it is in liquid form and needs no special preparation, it does not discolor the foliage, and does not lose its effectiveness with age. 656
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