The international conference on fillers for polymers.

Fillers are playing an increasingly important role in polymer applications, a trend that will increase with the rise in the cost of oil and hence polymer feedstocks. Increasingly though, fillers are seen as high performance additives, not just cost lowering diluents, and this is the focus of the conference, which has papers from both users and producers of performance enhancing fillers. Prominent among the topics covered are important growth areas such as; nanofillers, fire retardant fillers and natural fibre based composites. Papers dealing with the latest developments in additives to control the crucial area of filler to polymer adhesion are also featured prominently.

List of Papers
SESSION 1: MARKETS AND ECONOMICS

Paper 1 Performance fillers: Markets and trends
Professor Roger Rothon, Rothon Consultants, UK
Paper 2 High performance fillers: A performance/cost evaluation - what do you get for your money
Dr Chris DeArmitt, BASF AG, Germany

SESSION 2: FLAME RETARDANT FILLERS
Professor Giovanni Camino, Politechnico di Torino Sede di Alessandria, Italy
Paper 4 Mineral flame retardants: market outlook and latest developments
Dr Rene Herbiet, Martinswerk GmbH, Germany
Paper 5 Nanocomposites as a new material for flame retardancy of polymers
Dr Gnter Beyer, Kabelwerk Eupen AG, Belgium
Paper 6 Tin-coated inorganic fillers with enhanced fire retardant activity
Dr Paul Cusack, Tin Technology Ltd, UK

Paper 3 New perspectives in fire retardant polymer materials

SESSION 3: NANOFILLERS
Dr Joseph D Lichtenhan, Hybrid Plastics Inc, USA
Paper 8 Reinforcing epoxy resins with silica nanoparticles
Dr Christian Eger & Dr Philip Schultz, hanse chemie AG, Germany
Paper 9 Carbon nanotubes: A new multi-functional additive for polymers
Olivier Decroly & Dr Christophe Pirlot, Nanocyl SA, Belgium

Paper 7 The identification of value and markets for nanostructured chemicals

SESSION 4: APPLICATIONS
Werner Posch, Borealis GmbH, Austria
Paper 11 Tailor-made PCCs for sealant applications
Dr Wolfgang Dilla, Dr D Harrison & Dr C Nover, Solvay Chemicals GmbH, Germany

Paper 10 Shaping the future with filled plastics - innovative products made of polypropylene compounds

SESSION 5: COUPLING AGENTS AND SURFACE MODIFICATION OF FILLERS
Shawn K Mealey, Dow Corning Corporation & Bryan Thomas, Associate Industry Specialist, UK, USA
Paper 13 A new filler treatment for HFFR systems
Dr Keith J Weller & Philbert E Ramdatt, GE Advanced Materials - GE Silicones, USA
Paper 14 Effects of CA- stearate and surface treatment on processing properties and yellowing of calcium carbonate filled polypropylene
Kevin Breese & F Spizzo, Electrolux Home Products Italy SpA, Italy

Paper 12 An overview of the past, present and future of organosilane treatments for fillers

SESSION 6: SPECIAL LIGHTWEIGHT FILLERS
Dr Anna Kron, Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry, Sweden

Paper 15 Low weight filler - thermally expandable hollow polymer microspheres

SESSION 7: NATURAL FIBRES AND WASTE RECYCLATE FILLERS
Brian Hackwell & Geoff Pritchard, Hackwell Group, UK
Paper 17 Functional fillers derived from fibre-reinforced thermosetting plastics waste
Professor Peter Hornsby, Queens University Belfast, UK

Paper 16 WPC: Wood and plastics combined to produce high performance materials

SESSION 8: SILICATES
Julian Danvers, World Minerals, France & Professor Roger Rothon, Rothon Consultants, UK
Paper 19 Silicates: High performance fillers for modern plastics
Dr Bettina Nolte-Ernsting & Dr Jrg-Ulrich Zilles, Quarzwerke GmbH, Germany
Paper 20 Glass Flake - Not just an additive but an extraordinary performance improver
Charles Watkinson, Glassflake Ltd, UK

Paper 18 New developments in siliceous mineral technology for polymer applications