Borealis
Queo™
Together we can
Queo™ is a range of multitalented polyolefin plastomers and elastomers that bridge the performance gap between conventional plastics such as polyethylene (PE) and conventional elastomers like ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM). Produced using proprietary Borceed™ technology, Queo plastomers and elastomers combine many of the physical properties of a rubber with the processing advantages of a thermoplastic material.
Together we can
Founded in the spirit of cooperation, Queo™ complements the Borealis portfolio, allowing for the development of solutions that create maximum value for the customer.
Broad application
High performance Queo plastomers and elastomers cover various applications, including automotive, flexible and rigid packaging, housewares, and wire and cable applications.
Solutions and support
Queo solutions can be tailored to meet specific needs and are supported by a global team of Borealis experts to help enable our customers to realise their targets.
What makes the Borealis Queo™ plastomers and elastomers offer unique?
Borealis believes in Value Creation through Innovation and providing proven solutions. To this end we are working with our customers and partners to develop attractive polyolefin plastomer and elastomer solutions that fulfill demanding sealing, flexibility, compatibility and processing requirements.
Leading innovator and reliable partner
Borealis is a leading innovator with a track record of over 50 years in the polyolefins industry. In plastomers, Borealis is a European market leader with more than 20 years of experience in producing high-quality polyolefin plastomers based on proprietary technology. Since 2014 Borealis plastomers has been developing a portfolio of elastomers to complement the existing offer. These products have become available commercially in 2016.
A team dedicated to customers
When it comes to operational excellence and maintaining world-class safety standards, the Borealis production plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, has a very strong history of high performance. Moreover, through targeted investments Borealis ensures that the Geleen plant remains state-of-the-art and will continue to provide the highest quality plastomers and elastomers.
Global support on a local basis
Borealis is committed to its customers worldwide. From our dedicated warehouse on the east coast of the United States, we support our growing North American plastomers customer base with an optimised and flexible supply chain. And through close cooperation with our partner Borouge, we are able to serve global key accounts, as well as local customers, in both Asia and the Middle East.
A team dedicated to customers
Borealis plastomers has a dedicated team of around 100 employees based in Geleen, the Netherlands. Our clear customer focus allows us to serve customers with short response times, excellent service levels, security of supply, flexible planning and rapid delivery of innovative solutions tailored to customers’ needs.
Firmly rooted in innovation
While plastomers and elastomers is a newer pillar in the Borealis polyolefin business, it is built on the Borealis platform of innovation and engagement in partnerships with its customers. The Borealis plastomers team is firmly integrated into the Borealis organisation, tapping into resources and innovation facilities, as well knowledge sharing across other business areas to take advantage of the extensive expertise in key PE and PP applications such as automotive, compounding and wire and cable.
Partnering with customers
Close cooperation across the Borealis organisation also means the plastomers team is able to combine relevant know-how from multiple technologies and product families to offer each individual customer high-quality solutions. Joint development projects with customers have already and will continue in the future to result in significant innovations, in areas such as automotive sound deadening sheets, cable halogen free flame retardant (HFFR) products, synthetic grass and hotmelt adhesives.
Extensive technological knowledge
Borealis is a leading global provider of innovative polyolefin solutions with decades of experience. Building on its proprietary Borstar® and Borlink™ technologies, Borealis is committed to advancing the properties and applications of polyolefins, with a strong focus on industries such as automotive, wire and cable, and high-end consumer packaging.
Borceed™ technology
Queo™ products are based on Borceed, a proprietary Borealis technology that enables materials with both plastic and elastomeric properties. Borceed and the plastomers and elastomers resulting from it are also complementary to other Borealis proprietary technologies that target similar markets and customers, such as Borstar® and Borlink™.
Complementary products, diversity in applications
Queo products add value to a wide range of film, extrusion and moulding applications, particularly in the areas of automotive thermoplastic olefins (TPOs), wire and cable, and consumer packaging. While the application of Queo products continues to expand, these innovative polymer solutions are also increasingly replacing conventional polymers like PVC, EVA, EDPM and other flexible polymers.
A quest for the right solution
Combining know-how on PE and PP with expertise on polyolefin plastomers and elastomers for similar applications helps the Borealis plastomers team to fully understand customer needs and find the right solutions. A good example of this is the usage of both plastomers and Borstar products in a single film structure for collation shrink.
Queo™
is multitalented
- Flexible
- Queo™ has a highly amorphous structure, resulting in outstanding flexibility, good optical properties and very low temperature impact resistance
- Tough
- A narrow molecular weight distribution and uniform comonomer incorporation make Queo exceptionally tough.
- Competent
- Queo offers best-in-class sealing performance with lower peak melting points, narrow melting ranges and excellent seal through contamination.
- Team player
- Queo is highly compatible with other polyolefins, allowing tailor-made blends to meet specific requirements.
Queo™ product characteristics
Queo polyolefin plastomers and elastomers close the gap between classic thermoplastic products and rubbers, exhibiting both plastic and elastomeric properties. This is achieved through efficient and uniform incorporation of octene as comonomer and by using a specialised metallocene catalyst.
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By incorporating increasing amounts of octene comonomers into the ethylene backbone structure, Borealis is able to supply Queo solutions that provide our customers with significant benefits.
- Reduced crystallinity
- Improved flexibility and low-temperature impact
- Decreased density
- Lower melting points
Plastomers
The Borealis Queo™ polyolefin plastomers product family offers a unique combination of flexibility (20–100 MPA), high mechanical strength (tensile strength, tear and puncture resistance), state-of-the-art sealing performance (low seal initiation temperatures and seal through contamination), and high clarity.
These properties make Queo plastomers suitable for a large variety of applications, including flexible and rigid specialty and high performance packaging, soft flexible mouldings, specialty compounds for a vast number of end uses such as wire and cable, and automotive acoustic insulation.
Elastomers
Whereas Queo™ polyolefin plastomers are mainly aimed at applications requiring good to moderate flexibility combined with higher thermal properties and high mechanical strengths, Queo polyolefin elastomers are targeted at applications for which very high flexibility (<20 MPa), lower melting points (55–75 °C) and improved low temperature performance (glass transition –55 °C) are key requirements.
The increased product performance of Queo polyolefin elastomers compared to polyolefin plastomers, makes these products the material of choice for applications such as interior and exterior car parts, adhesives, cable compounds, grafted polymers and highly resilient surfaces.
Borceed™ technology
Queo™ products are based on Borceed, a proprietary Borealis technology that enables flexible materials that exhibit both plastic and elastomeric properties. The plastomers and elastomers made possible by Borceed are also complementary to other Borealis proprietary technologies that target similar markets and customers, such as Borstar® and Borlink™.
Queo polyolefin elastomers are made using a combination of Borceed solution polymerisation technology and a specialty metallocene catalyst, which allows higher amounts of octene comonomer to be integrated in the ethylene backbone structure. As a result, Queo copolymers have a lower density and are very flexible with outstanding low temperature impact performance.
The Borceed technology is a Borealis proprietary solution originally developed and marketed by DSM under the name Compact. When Borealis acquired the Dutch plastomers production site in Geleen from DSM and Exxon, ownership of the Compact technology also transferred.
To complete the integration of Compact into the Borealis technology portfolio, it was given the new brand name Borceed. This name was chosen to represent the idea of proceeding towards new heights and exceeding expectations. Moving forward, Borealis is committed to developing and improving Borceed further, paving the way for further Queo plastomer and elastomer developments.
Highlights
Borealis is extending its Queo™ polyolefin plastomers (POP) portfolio with the launch of three new polyolefin elastomers (POE) grades. It is also rebranding its Compact technology, which will now be known as Borceed™. Borceed technology enables flexible materials exhibiting both plastic and elastomeric properties and is the platform supporting Borealis’ Queo products. The Queo portfolio expansion further enhances Borealis’ product offering of high-value specialty polyethylene (PE) products for the high-end segments of the automotive, consumer packaging, housewares, and wire and cable industries.