TRIBIO Achieves Improved Heat Resistance for Polylactic Acid (PLA), Adopted by Sangyo Lacquerware Shop

Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Kyoto City, Minami Ward; President and CEO: Naotaka Yamaji) has achieved improvements in moldability and heat resistance by adding its "TRIBIO®" resin modifier to polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable resin. This development makes it possible to expand PLA's applications to heat-resistant uses, which were previously difficult.

This time, the technology was adopted for heat-resistant glasses manufactured by Sangyo Lacquerware Shop Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Aizu Wakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture; President and CEO: Yoshihiro Sone), confirming that the heat resistance of PLA products has been improved to a practically usable level. We will continue to contribute to the expansion of applications for sustainable materials through high-performance technology.

Heat-resistant glasses manufactured using TRIBIO (Provided by Sangyo Lacquerware Shop)

In recent years, interest in materials derived from renewable resources has been growing against the backdrop of rising prices and supply instability for petroleum-derived resins. While polylactic acid (PLA) is expected to be a biodegradable resin with low environmental impact, challenges in heat resistance and processability have limited its application expansion.

By adding our "TRIBIO" modifier for polylactic acid (PLA) to Sangyo Lacquerware Shop's heat-resistant glasses, the crystallization speed has been improved, enhancing moldability and heat resistance, and its practical application in heat-resistant uses has been confirmed.

The PLA market is expected to expand to approximately 600,000 tons in 2025 and about 1.2 million tons in 2030. Moving forward, we will utilize "TRIBIO" to promote its application in the fields of heat-resistant tableware and daily necessities.

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About Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku's "TRIBIO" Series Modifier for Polylactic Acid (PLA)

This technology improves the crystallization speed of PLA, enhancing moldability, heat resistance, and impact resistance. We offer "T-310MB" for improved transparency and "S-920MB" for improved impact resistance, enabling applications that were previously difficult.

In recent years, a crystallization acceleration effect has also been confirmed not only for PLA but also for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), another type of biomass plastic.

Figure 1: Appearance evaluation photos after heating test (Right: 10% TRIBIO T-310MB added) *Confirmed that deformation and whitening are suppressed even after heat treatment.

Figure 2: Appearance evaluation photos after drop impact test (Drop weight: 300g, Drop height: 1,000mm) (Right: 10% TRIBIO S-920MB added)

[Comments from Research Personnel]

Hoshi Ginga, Functional Materials Research Department, Flame Retardant & Resin Additives Group

At our company, we have been working on the development of crystallization control technology to address the challenges of "heat resistance" and "moldability" for the practical application of polylactic acid (PLA). The "TRIBIO" series has been established as a method to simultaneously improve these properties by adding it to PLA.

In this adoption, performance that establishes it as a practical product has been confirmed for Sangyo Lacquerware Shop's heat-resistant glasses. This result demonstrates that the addition of modifiers enables the expansion of PLA applications.

We will continue to provide solutions from both material and process perspectives through proposals tailored to applications and molding conditions.

[Contact Information for this Release]

Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd. Management Headquarters Strategy Division Public Relations & IR Department

TEL.075-276-3027 E-mail: d-kouhou@dks-web.co.jp

48-2 Higashi Kujo Kaminodonocho, Minami Ward, Kyoto City, 601-8002