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May 1, 2021
Petoskey Plastics Expands with New $30 Million Facility in Texas
Petoskey Plastics Expands with New $30 Million Facility in Texas
Petoskey Plastics, based in Petoskey, Michigan, is expanding to the Dallas, Texas area with a new blown film production facility in McKinney, Texas, the company’s fourth U.S. facility. The plant’s converting and extruding lines will increase the company’s production output about 15% for the first 12 months. Petoskey will invest $30 million in the new facility to help meet the increased demand for the company’s blown film products, including plastic bags and seat covers.
The new facility currently has 53,000 square feet of space but the company plans to expand it to include an additional 40,000 to 60,000 square feet, nine silos, and rail spurs by August 2022. Eventually Petoskey hopes to expand the facility to 130,000 square feet within five years. The facility is located closer to raw material suppliers on the Gulf Coast and customers on the West Coast, reducing delivery time and costs, making products more competitive.
You can read more about the new Petoskey Plastics’ plant and expansion here.
The new facility currently has 53,000 square feet of space but the company plans to expand it to include an additional 40,000 to 60,000 square feet, nine silos, and rail spurs by August 2022. Eventually Petoskey hopes to expand the facility to 130,000 square feet within five years. The facility is located closer to raw material suppliers on the Gulf Coast and customers on the West Coast, reducing delivery time and costs, making products more competitive.
You can read more about the new Petoskey Plastics’ plant and expansion here.
May 2, 2021
Researchers at St. Petersburg University Invent Fast Charging Metallopolymer Battery
Researchers at St. Petersburg University Invent Fast Charging Metallopolymer Battery
Researchers in the Department of Electrochemistry at St. Petersburg University are in the process of filing a patent for their invention that uses redox-active nitroxyl-containing polymers as materials for electrochemical energy storage. Insufficient electrical conductivity is a big challenge when using polymers for this purpose. So, the researchers over the course of three years have synthesized a metallopolymer using a nickel-salen complex (NiSalen) with nitroxyl pendants. The molecular structure of the material allows high capacitance performance over a wide temperature range.
According to the leader of the team of researchers, Professor Oleg Levin, “When studying the charge transport mechanism in this class of compounds, we discovered that there are two key directions of development. Firstly, these compounds can be used as a protective layer to cover the main conductor cable of the battery, which would be otherwise made of traditional lithium-ion battery materials. And secondly, they can be used as an active component of electrochemical energy storage materials.” While the new polymer batteries charge ten times faster than a traditional lithium-ion battery, the capacity is 30 to 40% lower. Researchers are continuing work to improve that number. In addition to faster charging, the new battery operates at low temperatures, does not pose a combustion hazard, and has a smaller environmental impact since it contains less metals.
To read more about this new metallopolymer battery technology, click here.
According to the leader of the team of researchers, Professor Oleg Levin, “When studying the charge transport mechanism in this class of compounds, we discovered that there are two key directions of development. Firstly, these compounds can be used as a protective layer to cover the main conductor cable of the battery, which would be otherwise made of traditional lithium-ion battery materials. And secondly, they can be used as an active component of electrochemical energy storage materials.” While the new polymer batteries charge ten times faster than a traditional lithium-ion battery, the capacity is 30 to 40% lower. Researchers are continuing work to improve that number. In addition to faster charging, the new battery operates at low temperatures, does not pose a combustion hazard, and has a smaller environmental impact since it contains less metals.
To read more about this new metallopolymer battery technology, click here.
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