New Polystyrene Grade for Refrigerator Linings from BASF

BASF has developed a new polystyrene (PS) grade that is particularly suitable for manufacturing refrigerator linings. The product, called PS ESCRimoTM, is much more resistant to stress crack formation than its predecessor on the market, the PS 2710 grade, and its notched impact strength (Charpy) is almost 50 percent higher. Sampling quantities of the new polystyrene are already available; the predecessor variant will be dropped from the product line in July of 2007.

“Even a mature product class like polystyrene remains the focus of our ongoing upgrading efforts,” explains Hans-Dieter Schwaben, polystyrene product manager at BASF in Ludwigshafen. BASF’s polystyrene product line is very lean nowadays, but every single grade is constantly being adapted to the customers’ requirements so that the products always achieve an optimal cost-benefit ratio. ESCRimo™ lends itself for food packaging as well, thanks to its resistance to fats and oils.