Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Leading the world inessentials for a better life.

Leading the world inessentials for a better life.

Ryan McEneany, Vasily Topolkaraev, Neil Scholl, Tom Eby & Antonio Carrillo

Kimberly‐Clark Corporation

ITR 2014February 17‐19, 2014

Development of Nanocellular PLA Composites

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Outline• Introduction to Kimberly‐Clark • K‐C & PLA• Journey to Nanocellular Composites • Property Benefits and Opportunity• Question and answer

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Kimberly-Clark: Known by its Products• A Global Fortune 500 company

– 57,000 Employees– 2012: $21 billion sales with target of $25 Billion by 2015– Manufacturing in 35 countries with sales in 150 countries.

Personal Care($9.6 Billion)

Consumer Tissue($6.5 Billion)

Health Care($1.6 Billion)

K-C Professional($3.3 Billion)

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

A Long History of Innovation• Founded in 1872 in Fox

River Valley, WI• Invented five of the eight

categories in which we compete

• Over 600 world-wide patents for innovative materials and products

& the Innovation Journey continued over the decades….

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PLA Success Story Enabled by Material Innovations

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Huggies® Gold Naturemade Diaper

Natural MaterialsPolylactic Acid (PLA)

Spunlace Liner & Surge with botanical

lotion

Biodegradable Outer Cover FilmHighly breathable filled Polyester Film

Bicomponent PLA/PP linerHuggies® Pure & Natural Diaper

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

History of K-C PLA Development

Development of low cost modified PLA and PLA blends to replace polypropylene in nonwoven applications

• Process Modifications to address process challenges– PLA polymer deficiencies (more brittle and no ductility),

Bonding and physical properties

• PLA polymer modification with low molecular weight plasticizers to reduce brittleness– Migration/separation (ductility loss over time)

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Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

History of K-C PLA Development• PLA polymer blends with high molecular

weight polymers for reduced brittleness and to eliminate separation – Polymer compatibility and variability

• Reactive extrusion PLA hybrid compatibilization – High uniformity in blend, low property variability– Not sufficient ductility/toughness

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Discovery of Novel PLA StructuresEngineered Nano-Reinforced

PLA Fibers• High Toughness • High Ductility

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Cryo-fractured PLA fibers

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Scanning Electron Micrographs @ 1,500x magnificationSource: Kimberly-Clark

PLA Nanocellular PLA

Discovery of Novel PLA StructuresNanocellular PLA• Light weighting without foaming• High impact strength• Improved sustainability

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Toughened PLA Development ProcessCompound Engineering

TWIN SCREW EXTRUSION

STAPLEFIBRE

Product Applications

MELT SPUN FIBRES

UNIAXIAL

BIAXIAL

CONTINUOUSFIBRE

RAW MATERIALS

FILM / SHEET

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Engineered Toughened PLA- Engineered multi

component polymer composite

- Enhanced Toughness on par with polypropylene at higher stiffness

- Higher Impact strength on par with impact modified polypropylene

- Strength and stiffness on par with PET with improved toughness

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Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Engineered Toughened PLA Spunbond

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• Increased bonding: MD Tensile strength increased by 57% over PLA and 100% over plasticized PLA

• Increased Ductility: MD Elongation increased by of 5x over neat PLA and 1.4x over plasticized PLA

• Bonding temperature window of 40°F (260-300°F)

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Cellular Composite Development ProcessCompound engineering

Controlled Drawing During Extrusion

TWIN SCREW EXTRUSION

STAPLEFIBRE

Product Applications

MELT SPUN FIBRES

UNIAXIAL

BIAXIAL

CONTINUOUSFIBRE

RAW MATERIALS

FILM / SHEET

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Nanocellular Structure Provides Increased Toughness and Ductility

Unmodified PLA50 micron cast film

Nanocellular PLA50 micron cast film

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

PLA materials that are:• lighter than

Polypropylene• modulus of

Polyethylene• new level of

Impact strength for polyesters

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Nanocellular Structures Create New PLA Performance Profile

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Nanocellular Structure Key Benefits

UNIFORMITY OF STRUCTURE

HIGH VOID CONTENT >50%

COMBINATION OF MICRO AND NANO

VOIDS

REPEATABLE STRUCTURE AT MULTIPLE SCALE

STRUCTURE TUNABLE TO DELIVER TARGETED

PROPERTIES & PORE SIZE

CLOSED CELLULAR STRUCTURE

Kimberly-Clark SEM: Surface Plasma Etched to show underlying void structure

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Nanocellular PLA Fibers:

30 µm Nanocellular PLA Fiber175% draw

3,000x magnification

Nanocellular PLA FiberCross-section view

175% draw15,000x magnification

1 µm

Source: Kimberly-Clark

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Toughened Nanocellular PLA Fibers Lighter than Polypropylene

Fibre density reduction withincreasing strain

40-50%density

reduction during pilot trials

Controlled drawing process results in a significant weight reduction in the fiber

Up to 60% density reduction in lab testing

40-50% density reduction in pilot scale trials

Creation of the nanocellular structure results in superior performance-to-weight properties

ISO 15901-1Source: Kimberly-Clark

PP @ 0% strain

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Novel PLA Structures:A revolution in polymer composite engineering

Creation of engineered PLA composite blends and unique nanocellular structures enhance PLA performance attributes A strong and light material A tough and flexible material A high impact material An improvement to PLA’s sustainability While being affordable and easy to produce

Kimberly-Clark has partnered with Irrigo Ventures to investigate opportunities external to K-C core markets.

Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

References• US Granted Patent 7,989,062 Chakravarty , et al. • US Granted Patent 7,780,903 Topolkaraev, et al.• US Granted Patent 8,461,262 McEneany, et al.• US Patent Publication, US20060273495A1, Kimberly-Clark • US Patent Publication US20080287024 , Kimberly-Clark• Topolkaraev, V., et al., 239th ACS Meeting, March 21-25, 2010• US Patent publication, US20120040185, Kimberly-Clark• US Patent Publication, US20120040582, Kimberly-Clark• US Patent Publication, US20130210308, Kimberly-Clark • US Patent Publication, US20130210949, Kimberly-Clark

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Leading the world in essentials for a better life.

Contact Information

• Ryan McEneany– Kimberly-Clark Corporation– ryan.mceneany@kcc.com– +1 920 721 6930

• James Gibson– Irrigo Ventures– jgibson@irrigopartners.com– +44 7736 453 838

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