Turning Greenhouse Gases Into Ingeo™ PLA for Your 3D Filaments NatureWorks RAPID + TCT Booth #144

Rapid TCT NatureWorks 3D printing

MINNETONKA, Minn., May 20, 2019 — NatureWorks is the leading supplier of high-performance PLA to the 3D filament manufacturing industry. An advanced materials company offering a broad portfolio of renewably sourced polymers from coffee capsules to food serviceware and appliances to 3D printing, NatureWorks has been leading applications innovation for biomaterials since 1989. Our 3D series of Ingeo™ PLA biopolymer grades are made by taking plants to capture and sequester CO2 transforming it into long-chain sugar molecules. We ferment those sugars to make lactic acid, the same chemical produced by our muscles after some hard exercise. This lactic acid is the building block of the whole range of advanced, low-carbon materials we call Ingeo.

At RAPID + TCT 2019, NatureWorks and our partners will showcase new, innovative Ingeo PLA biomaterials that demonstrate how Ingeo can be tailored to enhance performance attributes critical to the 3D market like heat and impact resistance or clean incineration for foundry applications all while retaining the ease of use and printability expected from PLA-based materials.

NatureWorks recently released the new Ingeo 3D printing grade 3D450, a breakaway formulation for use in dual extrusion 3D printers, that is designed to work with the Ingeo 3D series grades 3D850 and 3D870, and developed for the professional printing market. Ingeo 3D450 prints and cools without warping even across large sections of support structures. The clean, fast mechanical break-away of Ingeo 3D450 support structures results in parts with high finish quality, reducing post-processing time and improving overall productivity.

Applications for Ingeo 3D450 support material include complex industrial parts such as jigs and fixtures, patterns for investment metal casting, and architectural and retail models. Ingeo 3D series grades 3D850 and 3D870 take quality filament to a new, higher level of performance, increasing heat and impact resistance while extending into new industrial applications from foundry to medical device prototyping. Partnerships in this industry are important to NatureWorks for developing future materials innovation for this fast-growing market, and materials expertise is at the forefront of their partner collaborations. To name a few:

Partners

  • Adaptiiv Medical Technologies Inc. (Adaptiiv) offers an advanced 3D printing software solution for use in photon, electron, and surface brachytherapy radiation treatments. As the world's first FDA 510(k) cleared 3D printing software solution intended for use in radiation oncology, Adaptiiv has verified and validated Ingeo-based filament for use with its solution. Samples on display in NatureWorks Booth#144.
  • Titan Robotics, Ltd. (Booth# 527) is a leader in advanced, production ready AM machines and technology with expertise continually growing in both pellet extrusion 3D printing and high flow filament extrusion 3D printing. As a solution provider to industrial customers, Titan continues to partner with global materials companies like NatureWorks to offer high performance materials to make functional parts. The NatureWorks booth will feature investment casting parts printed by Titan that use both Ingeo 3D450 and our new proof-of-concept recycled Ingeo PLA.
  • MatterHackers (Booth# 2156) is one of the largest 3D printing retailers in the world with mission is to make 3D printing easier and more accessible for everyone by providing unbiased guidance and recommendations to help schools, businesses, and individuals get started (or stay current) with 3D printing. MatterHackers was recently a beta-tester of our new Ingeo 3D450 break-away support grade providing valuable feedback on material properties. They also sell filament made with the Ingeo 3D series at www.matterhackers.com.

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About NatureWorks

NatureWorks is an advanced materials company offering a broad portfolio of renewably sourced polymers and chemicals. With performance and economics that compete with oil-based materials, naturally advanced Ingeo™ polymers are valued for their unique functional properties and used in products from coffee capsules and appliances to tea bags and 3D printing filament. NatureWorks is jointly owned by Thailand’s largest ASEAN leading integrated petrochemical and refining company, PTT Global Chemical, and Cargill, which provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. www.natureworksllc.com; follow NatureWorks on Twitter @natureworks

Contacts

Global Contact:
 Andrea Ziadi

Regional Contacts:
 Pauline Ning 
Asia Pacific

 Daisuke Takabatake
Japan