Since the beginnings of the plastics industry plasticisers are of considerable importance for the manufacture of numerous technical products as well as of end products for areas such as "Fashion – Sports – Living – Home". To this day they are essential for setting up the product-specific mechanical properties of some polymers. Above all the example of plasticised PVC demonstrates that a large number of goods can be produced cost-efficiently using this method of polymer modification.
Plasticisers should not be generally frowned upon only because today a few substances have been proven to cause damage to health. The thing is to substitute such substances by substances which are harmless to humans and ecologically acceptable, and to develop and apply alternatives suitable for this purpose.
To this effect, FILK scientists research on bio-based "alternative plasticisers" for polymers such as PVC, PLA or PBS (phthalate substitution) for 20 years already. Current works focus on the chemical modification of fatty acid esters in a way that the molecule combines a flame-retardant as well as a plasticising effect, and that the migration tendency is clearly reduced.