{"id":3523,"date":"2015-12-11T16:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T21:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ulprospector.com\/knowledge\/?p=3523"},"modified":"2018-05-08T15:02:34","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T21:02:34","slug":"pe-conductive-plastics-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics"},"content":{"rendered":"

About five years ago, independent chemist Ralph Locke and some fellow inventors were trying to help a beverage-container client figure out how to create a higher-density acrylic resin. They eventually achieved their aim \u2013 but also got a lot more than they bargained for.<\/p>\n

\"L-R)-Bill-Cowell-&-Ralph-Locke_M\"
From left to right: Lab Technician Bill Cowell with Chief Development Chemist Ralph Locke working on a polyester product that has been laid out over cotton for an attenuation development project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the process of that research, in one of those happenstance occasions in the laboratory, Locke and his team ended up finding a way to make plastics conductive to heat and electricity while sidestepping the usual compounding of conductive additives with a polymer in an extruder. The high temperatures and high pressures needed during such compounding often negatively impact the polymer\u2019s properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stumbled into it \u2013 that\u2019s an honest and good assessment,\u201d said the Fort Myers, Fla.-based Locke, now chief development chemist of\u00a0Mackinac Polymers LLC<\/a>, in a Dec. 2 telephone interview.<\/p>\n

To add density to the\u00a0acrylic<\/a>, the inventors decided to try adding bismuth salts. They wanted to find a way to insert the bismuth into the\u00a0methacrylic acid polymer<\/a>\u00a0without adding it as a filler or \u201cdoping it,\u201d Locke said, because the latter approach would not have led to a homogeneous blend of the ingredients.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I decided to try to react the bismuth in place, using bismuth chloride, and reacted it with the monomer itself. And as we were making the addition, we picked up that we were generating a tremendous amount of exotherm, or heat. We had started a reaction without polymerizing the methacrylic acid, and that reaction put the bismuth right into the polymer chain itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Locke said he\u2019s had recent meetings with NASA. Researchers there were very knowledgeable about the science, expressed great interest, and came up ‘with a whole pile of applications for us to work with them on.'”<\/h3>\n

The result was indeed a higher-density acrylic that the client wanted, but Locke and his team realized there may be much more potential to this discovery. They thought that if it was possible to react a nano-sized particle of a transitional metal to the backbone, then perhaps it might be possible to put silver, gold, iron, or some other such metal<\/a> particle on the backbone, and create something that was either stronger or conductive, or had capacitive properties.<\/p>\n

And so in 2011 Locke started getting his funding together, established Mackinac Polymers (pronounced \u201cMackinaw,\u201d after the island in northern Michigan), and began exploring these possibilities further. (He created Mackinac Polymers as the investment vehicle and holding company for the intellectual property that his previously existing entity called Mackinac Group manages and will commercialize.)<\/p>\n

Locke and several other chemists and contributors then worked for the next several years to refine a synthesis process for integrating nanoparticles and graphene into various polymers. This summer they got their reward: The tiny, independent contract research company on July 7 was awarded U.S. Patent 9,074,053, titled \u201cPolymeric Composition with Electroactive Characteristics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got all excited about it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can make it conduct electricity, and we can modulate the current or amplify the current with different salts.\u201d The real trick to it, he explained, is the size and composition of the nanoparticles and where they are placed on the backbone. \u201cThe particles we\u2019re using range between 30-50 nanometers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The typical method for making a polymer conductive is to \u201cput a slug of carbon in it \u2013 usually 30 percent or more,\u201d but the compounding process tends to degrade the polymer\u2019s properties and the additives also are not homogeneous. \u201cNormally, we need to add only 3-7 percent [of nanoparticles], based on the polymer weight \u2013 so we\u2019re not talking about changing the polymer much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Don
Donald W. Phillips, President of the Mackinaw Group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mackinaw Group President Donald W. Phillips summarized the benefits of their process by saying, \u201cIt\u2019s repeatable, it\u2019s controllable, and it\u2019s consistent, because it\u2019s homogeneous.\u201d That means, for example, that electricity can be conducted evenly across the entire length of, say, a large, flat panel made from such material.<\/p>\n

Detroit-based Phillips \u2013 who previously worked during his 25-year career at foam products makers FXI and Foamex Corp., and at Advanced Materials Group and Petoskey Plastics Inc. \u2013 joined Mackinac in June to help commercialize this process.<\/p>\n

He maintains that, even though the cost of the nanoparticle itself is typically more expensive than a competitive material such as carbon, the system cost when using the Mackinac process is likely to work out less expensive. This is because only a small amount of the nanoparticles is needed, and the costly, time-consuming compounding phase can be eliminated entirely.<\/p>\n

Locke and Phillips see likely end-use applications in medical, aerospace and electronic devices and components, such as brand new capacitors or diodes that could include features not before possible with other metals or polymers. The researchers also are working on applications related to EMI shielding, thermal conduction, antistatic packaging film, and more. Antimicrobial medical uses are another possibility, since when silver is attached to the polymer backbone, it can kill bacteria on contact, while not leaching out from the polymer.<\/p>\n

Locke said he\u2019s had recent meetings with NASA. Researchers there were very knowledgeable about the science, expressed great interest, and came up \u201cwith a whole pile of applications for us to work with them on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The proof is in the poly urea…<\/h2>\n

Mackinaw Polymers scientists developed this poly urea pipe coating using their conductive plastics science. But how did they test it?<\/p>\n

First, they sprayed alligator clips into the coating and connected them to\u00a0an electricity meter.\u00a0The strips were plugged into a wall socket and readings from the e-meter\u00a0proved the material was\u00a0conductive at 120v AC.<\/p>\n

They left the material connected to\u00a0the wall socket for a couple of hours. After it was unplugged, it held a 10v charge. When plugged back into the outlet, the material jumped back to 120v. The material was conductive and also functioned as a capacitor.<\/p>\n

 
\n <\/p>\n

\n

Additionally, the Mackinac process can yield transparent materials \u2013 in contrast to most of the current, traditionally compounded conductive materials, which tend to all be gray or black (because of the carbon). The Mackinac-created materials also can be processed using all the major plastics processes \u2013\u00a0injection molding<\/a>, extrusion, blow molding, blown film, and the like. Due to the low loadings and fine particle sizes involved, such material also will be less abrasive on the processing machinery, according to Phillips.<\/p>\n

Mackinac has done significant work so far on thermoset polymers such as\u00a0polyurethanes\u00a0<\/a>and copolyesters, but they haven\u2019t stopped there. Locke said his team has already \u201cincluded nanoparticles on the backbones of\u00a0polyolefins<\/a>.\u201d He further noted that other thermoplastics, such as\u00a0polyamides<\/a>,\u00a0polyimides<\/a>\u00a0and other exotic TPs \u201care doable \u2026 because all we\u2019re doing is including the reactive transition metal at the point of polymerization. So any polymer really is a candidate.\u201c<\/p>\n

Phillips said the firm\u2019s approach to commercialization has shifted over time. \u201cOur go-to-market strategy originally was to target the major chemical companies that had the ability to polymerize.\u201d But, he noted, those companies tended to be more skeptical and dismissive, with a bit of a \u201cnot invented here\u201d attitude. So Mackinac now is focusing more on specialty chemical houses and specialty applications, because those firms have specific needs that aren\u2019t being filled, and this science, he asserts, can fill that need.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have a manufacturing supply stream put together, with some partner companies, where we can actually supply resin or material, in whatever form you want it,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cWe\u2019re not quite to the point we can start shooting parts, and I don\u2019t know that we would get to that level. But we definitely \u2026 can supply material for production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next steps for us,\u201d Phillips continued, \u201care to continue to get the word out about the science and its capability, and hopefully in the very near future, commercialize some of the science that we\u2019re looking to co-develop with our partners.\u201d Ideally, Mackinac is looking for three to six good development partners.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cWe have a couple of products that are done, and we\u2019re in the licensing negotiation stage. I\u2019m pretty optimistic that we should be able to have something done in 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips summarized Mackinac\u2019s approach like this: \u201cWe work with our partners. We co-develop \u2013 whether we black-box it, or whether we just consult and do it in their lab \u2013 but then when it\u2019s done under the license agreement, we allow them to patent that part in their market in their application. All we want to do is license and commercialize the science. Our only patent is the technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: This is the first of two stories looking at the very different approaches that two firms are taking when it comes to developing electrically conductive plastics.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About five years ago, independent chemist Ralph Locke and some fellow inventors were trying to help a beverage-container client figure out how to create a higher-density acrylic resin. They eventually achieved their aim \u2013 but also got a lot more … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":3550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1244],"class_list":{"0":"post-3523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plastics-2","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nConductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics - Prospector Knowledge Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics - Prospector Knowledge Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"About five years ago, independent chemist Ralph Locke and some fellow inventors were trying to help a beverage-container client figure out how to create a higher-density acrylic resin. They eventually achieved their aim \u2013 but also got a lot more … Continued\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prospector Knowledge Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-11T21:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-08T21:02:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"495\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bob Grace\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bob Grace\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bob Grace\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1ccb877b39b97b6edffea515566df093\"},\"headline\":\"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-11T21:00:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-08T21:02:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1515,\"commentCount\":8,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Plastics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/\",\"name\":\"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics - Prospector Knowledge Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-11T21:00:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-08T21:02:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1ccb877b39b97b6edffea515566df093\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":495},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/3523\\\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Prospector Knowledge Center\",\"description\":\"Welcome to the blog for UL Prospector, the most comprehensive raw material search engine for product developers.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1ccb877b39b97b6edffea515566df093\",\"name\":\"Bob Grace\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/media\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Robert-Grace_avatar_1508791447-96x96.jpg9c3cf61917eeafce529135a60aa75f87\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/media\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Robert-Grace_avatar_1508791447-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/media\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/Robert-Grace_avatar_1508791447-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Bob Grace\"},\"description\":\"Robert Grace has been in business-to-business communications his entire career. He has broad global experience and for more than 35 years has worked as a journalist, editor-in-chief, publishing executive and key connector of like-minded parties. He has launched successful publications and C-level events on three continents. While with Crain Communications Inc., he oversaw the relaunch of the 100-year-old European Rubber Journal in London and helped to start Urethanes Technology magazine there. \u00a0In 1988 Bob returned to Akron, Ohio, to serve as founding editor of Plastics News, an award-winning, weekly business newspaper. In 2005 he oversaw the editorial launch of the bilingual (Chinese and English) PN China e-newsletter and website. For more than a decade at PN he also held the titles of associate publisher, editorial director and conference director, and most recently served as business development director. A long-time affiliate member of the Industrial Designers Society of America, Bob has organized numerous design-focused events, earned a Personal Recognition Award from IDSA in 2013, and constantly strives to help bridge the gap between the design and manufacturing communities. In 2014 he left Crain and created RC Grace LLC in Akron, Ohio, as a consultancy that aims to help companies to enhance their branding and market presence, find business partners, connect with design resources (here or in Asia), secure funding and advance their growth initiatives. Email Bob or visit his website at www.rcgrace.com to learn more about how he can help you.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ulprospector.ul.com\\\/author\\\/robert-grace\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics - Prospector Knowledge Center","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics - Prospector Knowledge Center","og_description":"About five years ago, independent chemist Ralph Locke and some fellow inventors were trying to help a beverage-container client figure out how to create a higher-density acrylic resin. They eventually achieved their aim \u2013 but also got a lot more … Continued","og_url":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/","og_site_name":"Prospector Knowledge Center","article_published_time":"2015-12-11T21:00:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-08T21:02:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":495,"url":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bob Grace","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bob Grace","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/"},"author":{"name":"Bob Grace","@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1ccb877b39b97b6edffea515566df093"},"headline":"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics","datePublished":"2015-12-11T21:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-08T21:02:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/"},"wordCount":1515,"commentCount":8,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg","articleSection":["Plastics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/","url":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/","name":"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics - Prospector Knowledge Center","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg","datePublished":"2015-12-11T21:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-08T21:02:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1ccb877b39b97b6edffea515566df093"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/L-R-Bill-Cowell-Ralph-Locke_1Feat.jpg","width":800,"height":495},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/3523\/pe-conductive-plastics-part-1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Conductive Plastics, Part 1: Mackinac shows its backbone when it comes to conductive plastics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/","name":"Prospector Knowledge Center","description":"Welcome to the blog for UL Prospector, the most comprehensive raw material search engine for product developers.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1ccb877b39b97b6edffea515566df093","name":"Bob Grace","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/media\/2017\/10\/Robert-Grace_avatar_1508791447-96x96.jpg9c3cf61917eeafce529135a60aa75f87","url":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/media\/2017\/10\/Robert-Grace_avatar_1508791447-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/media\/2017\/10\/Robert-Grace_avatar_1508791447-96x96.jpg","caption":"Bob Grace"},"description":"Robert Grace has been in business-to-business communications his entire career. He has broad global experience and for more than 35 years has worked as a journalist, editor-in-chief, publishing executive and key connector of like-minded parties. He has launched successful publications and C-level events on three continents. While with Crain Communications Inc., he oversaw the relaunch of the 100-year-old European Rubber Journal in London and helped to start Urethanes Technology magazine there. \u00a0In 1988 Bob returned to Akron, Ohio, to serve as founding editor of Plastics News, an award-winning, weekly business newspaper. In 2005 he oversaw the editorial launch of the bilingual (Chinese and English) PN China e-newsletter and website. For more than a decade at PN he also held the titles of associate publisher, editorial director and conference director, and most recently served as business development director. A long-time affiliate member of the Industrial Designers Society of America, Bob has organized numerous design-focused events, earned a Personal Recognition Award from IDSA in 2013, and constantly strives to help bridge the gap between the design and manufacturing communities. In 2014 he left Crain and created RC Grace LLC in Akron, Ohio, as a consultancy that aims to help companies to enhance their branding and market presence, find business partners, connect with design resources (here or in Asia), secure funding and advance their growth initiatives. Email Bob or visit his website at www.rcgrace.com to learn more about how he can help you.","sameAs":["http:\/\/ulprospector.com"],"url":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/author\/robert-grace\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":1244,"user_id":23,"is_guest":0,"slug":"robert-grace","display_name":"Bob Grace","avatar_url":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/media\/2017\/10\/Robert-Grace_avatar_1508791447-96x96.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3523"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}