KUALA LUMPUR – A Malaysian Palm Oil Board researcher, who developed a palm-based plasticiser agent, has won the main award in the Research Entrepreneur category in the Malaysia Commercialisation Year 2020 (MCY 2020) Award recently.
According to a statement by the board, the technology developed by Zulina Abdul Maurad uses palm oleochemistry – a renewable source for the production of plasticiser agent – and is able to reduce the effects of chemicals on plastics used in food and beverage packaging.
“The plasticiser agent is an additive substance to increase the elasticity and flexibility of plastic materials. It is a highly sought-after chemical product used in various industries, such as automotive, medicine and consumer goods,” Zulina said in the statement.
She said the technological process in the production of the palm-based plasticiser agent, which has been patented, can increase the use of palm oil and value-added methyl oleate as a non-toxic plastic agent to replace dioctyl phthalate (DOP), which has carcinogenic properties and is prohibited in certain countries.
“Plasticiser agent products developed by MPOB adhere to the industry’s quality standards. Palm-based plasticiser agent can be used in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) formulation to produce food plastic packaging, plastic toys, plastic tubes, tyres, synthetic leather products, laminate flooring, among others.”
Zulina said plastic films that use palm-based plasticiser agent show higher film transparency, reduction in static effect and better mechanical characteristics than DOP-based film.
“The technology has been commercialised by Magnechem Sdn Bhd, with a total palm-based plasticiser agent production capacity of 100 tonnes per month,” she added. – Bernama, December 23, 2020
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