This Polymer Bulletin is a current awareness service from the Polymer Library, the world's largest database dedicated to polymer literature. Each time the abstracts database is updated with new records (approx. every two weeks) you will be sent a bulletin alerting you to any items that relate to blowing agents.

The usage of blowing agents (used to create foamed, cellular and hollow materials) in the rubber and plastics industries was hugely affected by the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which set international targets on the use of ozone-depleting gases such as chlorofluorocarbons. CFC-11 has passed the phase-out date of 1995 in the developed countries and is approaching its phase-out date of 2010 in the developing countries.

As a result common replacements include cyclopentane in Europe and HCFC-141b in the USA, Asia and the Pacific (but with cyclopentane gaining popularity in the latter two). Most interesting, however, is the rapid increase in the use of carbon dioxide in various foaming technologies, primarily due to its low cost and high blowing capacity, but also due the unusual physical properties of the resultant foams. Understanding the legislative requirements for blowing agents is an ongoing necessity for all those involved with foam applications.

A Current Awareness service from Rapra may be just what you need to update your knowledge with ease and accuracy without having to waste time, effort and money finding the information yourself.

If there are many people within your organisation who would benefit from this information then get in touch to talk to us about our multi-recipient bulletin. You can also request samples of this bulletin.