The new generation: safe and stable baby bottles

The Japanese baby products manufacturer Zoom T is now using Basf’s Ultrason P to produce baby bottles under its Dr. Bétta brand. The polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) meets Zoom T’s strict requirements for its curved baby bottles that are safe and easy to handle. Ultrason P 3010 nat is approved for food contact and features excellent strength, chemical resistance and resistance to superheated steam up to 180° C. These properties ensure that the baby bottles are safe to use, while being lightweight and shatter-proof. They can be used over a long period of time without any loss of their mechanical and optical qualities. The transparent, lightly honey-colored Ultrason P 3010 easily withstands sterilization in microwave ovens or in very hot water. The BASF PPSU allows for designing complex shapes like the Bétta baby bottles as it is also suitable for extrusion blow molding. Ultrason P 3010 outperforms commercially available PPSU materials used to manufacture baby bottles because of its excellent melt stability necessary for the extrusion blow molding process.

“We are aware that Ultrason is also used in sensitive applications and even medical devices due to its outstanding quality. That’s why we count on this material as our goal is to provide maximum safety of our Bétta baby bottles,” says Tomoko Kawai, President and CEO of Zoom T. “This unique PPSU material makes our bottles easy to handle, long-lasting, highly durable and lightweight - perfect for busy moms and dads. With Ultrason P we can perfectly produce the curved geometry of our Bétta bottles by extrusion blow molding. This is important as the curved design stops babies from swallowing air while being nursed, preventing ear infections or colic”.

During extrusion blow molding, the plastic melt is first extruded through a die to form a tube-shaped parison. Internal pressure is then used to inflate the molten parison against the sidewalls of a mold thus giving the part its shape. This flexible process also allows for molding of complex part geometries with various wall thicknesses and designs. The medium-viscosity Ultrason P 3010 nat is particularly suitable for this process due to its inherent high melt stability. This allows the hot, elongated parison to remain stable even near the hot die, ensuring uniform blow molding.

“Health and safety are key aspects in producing not just baby bottles, but also bottles for adults,” says Georg Graessel from Global Business Development Ultrason at BASF. “Ultrason is the ideal material for these kinds of bottles because it makes them safe to handle and it can be used for both hot and cold drinks, remaining stable for a long time. Due to the numerous design possibilities for color and shape as well as the option for producing the bottles either by injection molding or extrusion, it can also be employed to make water bottles for sports or multi-use bottles for green tea which can be found everywhere in Asian countries”.

Ultrason is the trade name for Basf’s product range of polyethersulfone (Ultrason E), polysulfone (Ultrason S) and polyphenylsulfone (Ultrason P). The high-performance material is used to manufacture lightweight components in the electronics, automotive and aerospace industries, but also in water filtration membranes and in parts that come into contact with hot water and food. Because of their extraordinary property profile the Ultrason brands can substitute thermosets, metals and ceramics in many applications.