Istroflex pellets

The Nanovia Istroflex pellets are a biodegradable biocomposite material for FGF 3D printing, developed in 2015 collaboration with the technical platform ComposiTIC and Usine de Kervellerin, and recognized with the CCI Morbihan innovation award. Biocomposite pellets are an excellent sustainable alternative to conventional plastics, and slightly more affordable than filament. Sustainability is an increasingly important factor in various sectors, making the Istroflex pellets an environmentally friendly manufacturing material. Since the Istroflex pellets are filled with particles derived from oysters, the whitish color of the pellets is natural and may vary slightly from one batch to another, without implying any manufacturing defect.

Image 1: A pipe hub 3D printed with Istroflex. Source: Nanovia.

Nanovia Istroflex is characterized by a very good build plate and inter layer adhesion, as well as unproblematic extrusion even on 3D printers with a Bowden extrusion system. Furthermore, very thick layers of Nanovia Istroflex can be sanded. The Istroflex pellets can be used to manufacture 3D printing filament with the help of a desktop pellet extruder, or to extrude directly onto a printing surface with a compact pellet extruder or a large scale pellet extrusion system. The 3D printed parts will have a Shore hardness of 44D/93A, which means they will be flexible, ideal for technical parts that require a certain amount of give or bounce such as shock and vibration absorbers, silent blocks, gaskets, interstitial constricted materials, etc.

Similarly to the Nanovia Istroflex filament, the Istroflex pellets are composed out of cosmetic grade oyster powder sourced in France (Morbihan), combined in a biodegradable polymer matrix. The Istroflex material is compostable according to norm EN 13432, ROSH heavy metal free certified, and free of endocrine disruptors. Furthermore, the Istroflex raw material is safe for the manufacturing of objects destined to come into contact with food according to the European Commission. It should be kept in mind that the adequacy of Istroflex for these applications should be measured on finalized products in contact with food wares in standard temperature and duration conditions.