Surfactants
issue throughout 2011. Environmental concerns such as low
VOC content and alkyl phenol ethoxylate-free products are also
changing the face of the surfactants market with several major
product classes now under threat or being phased out, with customers increasingly looking for alternatives.
Peter Sheridan, director – performance additives, Troy Corp: As
with many other industries today, manufacturers that can continue to offer innovative products with class-leading performance and minimum environmental impact, coupled with
competitive cost-in-use, are in the best position to lead. For the
surfactants market, doing more with less is certainly the case.
Troy makes every effort to provide innovative solutions to its
customers, with efficiency, multi-functional attributes, value and
full regulatory compliance.
Coatings World: What regions present the most opportunity
for growth?
Carsten Bauman, Cognis: The Asian market is probably the region with the highest growth potential for surfactants for emulsion polymerization. Two factors contribute to that development.
1. The overall growth rate of the region with the excellent outlook for typical emulsion polymerization end markets, including
paints and coatings for construction and housing, paper, adhesives and textiles. 2. The fast technological development, which
is catching up quickly with European and U.S. standards, especially in the field of sustainable technologies.
Maureen Mackay, Cytec: We currently see growth in all regions;
however the largest new opportunities are currently in the
Asian market, especially China and South East Asia, and Eastern Europe.
Peter Sheridan, Troy: Asia presents the greatest opportunity for
growth in the long term. Troy is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities in the region, with its full range of products already in place in the Asia market, along with our years of
experience and manufacturing expertise in the region. North
America and Europe are now emerging from the economic
downturn, and we can expect sustained growth over the next
two to three years as consumer and construction markets increase spending.
tants market some of which are also of importance in other
markets such as biodegradability, volatile organic content
(VOC) free, alkyl phenyl ethoxylate (APE) free, the move from
petrochemical to renewable raw materials, a desire/interest to
use natural-based or derived products. Reactive surfactants
also continue to be an area of interest, but the challenge continues to be the cost effectiveness and performance of these
types of products. The ongoing trend in the paint and coatings
industry is the move from solventborne to waterborne systems.
Here the challenge for the surfactant manufacturer is
to provide a product that allows the customer to produce a
final water-based product with the same overall performance
properties.
Peter Sheridan, Troy: Minimizing VOC contribution and endeavoring to accommodate tomorrow’s regulatory restrictions
are key drivers in the surfactants market. Paints and coatings
manufacturers are taking advantage of consumer interest in
“green” products, so suppliers are offering new-generation green
surfactants. Helping coatings formulators to improve the performance of new, low-VOC products hitting the market is a key
focus for Troy.
Coatings World: How is your company meeting the needs of cus-
tomers who are looking for “greener” technologies?
Carsten Bauman, Cognis: As one of the leading surfactant suppliers in the world, Cognis, part of the BASF group, has always
been a driver for green and environmentally sound surfactant
solutions based on renewable resources. Also in the field of
emulsion polymerization, Cognis was a front-runner in developing and offering APEO-free alternatives to the markets.
Disponil FES types in the anionic sector and Disponil A and
AFX types in the non-ionic sector belong to the first wave of
versatile and successful alternatives to APEO products that have
been developed for the market and that have been widely accepted industry benchmarks.
Maureen Mackay, Cytec: We have some R&D efforts investigating new surfactant technologies based on renewable raw materials. We are also exploring opportunities to replace
petroleum-based raw materials used in our current surfactant
products with similar naturally derived products.
Coatings World: What are the key trends affecting the surfac-
tants market?
Carsten Bauman, Cognis: The major trend in the market for
surfactants for emulsion polymerization is the drive for environmentally sound surfactant systems, and primarily the replacement of alkylphenol-based products (APEO). This trend
has been ongoing in Western Europe for more than 10 years.
In other regions this development is still in its infancy and
drives the demand for environmentally sound surfactants.
Maureen Mackay, Cytec: There are many trends in the surfac-
Peter Sheridan, Troy: Troy has worked to develop performance
additives that contribute low or zero VOCs, zero HAPs and
zero APE. Troy’s Z-line of green performance additives incorporate these environmentally responsible attributes, while at
the same time offering the performance coatings manufacturers demand. Troysol ZLAC wetting and flow additive is an example of these efforts. Troysol ZLAC offer the same
class-leading performance of traditional LAC, but without the
VOC contribution. Troy has also been concentrating on introducing multi-functional additives, which are products that do
the jobs of several additives, in one. This offers a further green
