BASF stabilizer ensures UV light protection

BASF’s light stabilizer Tinuvin® has been adopted by Suiko Co. Ltd., Japan, to make rotationally-molded low-density polyethylene (LDPE) slides, complete with UV stabilized and antistatic properties, for children’s playgrounds.

 

LDPE playground slides are prone to UV degradation, which causes discoloration and deterioration of physical properties. To overcome this, Suiko added Tinuvin® to the polymer resin in the slide to provide UV stabilization and to ensure that the color of the playground slide will remain bright and colorful for years to come.

 

"Safety is a very important factor to consider when creating anything used by children. Playground equipment is no exception,” said Hermann Althoff, BASF’s Senior Vice President, Performance Chemicals Asia Pacific. “Our light stabilizers enable manufacturers of outdoor playground equipment to build with standard UV inhibitors that increase the lifespan of the product and protect it from cracks and deterioration.”

 

 

Suiko’s strength is in rotational molding technology, and it also has the technology for diagnosing UV degradation on the outer surface of molded products. By using this deterioration diagnosis technology, they can recommend an appropriate time to replace the slide and thereby increase the safety of playground equipment.

 

Hiroyuki Sakaki, head of R&D at Suiko, said, “Slides are usually placed outdoors and need to be resistant to weather conditions. Our big challenge was to maintain not only the physical properties of polyethylene but also the antistatic performance under such severe conditions. BASF’s proposal for an accurate product selection and dosage based on their abundant UV absorbers, light stabilizers, and weathering test data enabled us to develop the antistatic slide.”

 

Various kinds of materials are used for playground equipment. Metal slides cannot be used in summer because of high temperature. Slides made with fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) and iron require regular repainting and it is also difficult to predict cracks on FRP products. Polyethylene slides, on the other hand, can be easily maintained and are increasingly being used owing to its recyclability as single-material plastics.