years of ingenuity.
“The acquisition of ATRP is
an important step to ensure continued innovation at Pilot,” said
Mike Scott, president of Pilot Chemical.
Perstorp Strengthens its
Position in Polyol Market
Perstorp has announced the agreement
for the acquisition of Polialcoli Srl from
Polioli SpA. The agreement includes the
Neo, TMP and TMPDE as well as the associated Formate businesses located at
the Vercelli site (Italy). Included in the
transaction are also technology, know-how and equipment. The 74 employees
who are currently employed in the acquired company, are welcomed to the
Perstorp group.
Evonik Bundles its
Expertise in Crosslinking
Technology
Evonik has combined its isophorone
chemistry and epoxy curing agents business in the new Crosslinkers Business
Line effective. The newly formed Business
Line, headed by Min Chong, is now part
of the Resource Efficiency Segment.
With the acquisition of Air Products’
epoxy curing agents business and
Evonik’s long-time experience in isophorone chemistry, Evonik has a very
broad technology platform and expertise in crosslinker technology. The new
Crosslinkers Business Line offers a broad
range of products and competencies for
coatings and adhesives, civil engineering
as well as for high-performance elastomers and composites.
Evonik is the pioneer in isophorone
chemistry and covers the entire value
chain: isophorone, diamine, as well
as di-isocyanate and polyisocyanate.
Additionally, the product portfolio
contains a full tool box of amine curing agents for ambient and heat cure
applications. The products are mainly
used in industrial applications due to
their mechanical strength, durability,
chemical resistance and excellent adhesion properties.
“Combining both businesses into one
new unit gives Evonik the chance to of-
fer a variety of products for epoxy and
polyurethane applications under one
roof now – be it basic amines, isocyanate
monomers, polyisocyanates or formu-
lated epoxy hardeners,” Dr. Claus Rettig,
Chairman of the Board of Management,
Evonik Resource Efficiency GmbH.
“Apart from the organizational
change, safety and meeting the needs of
our customers continues to remain our
first priority,” Min Chong, head of the
new Business Line Crosslinkers. “We
see ourselves as a partner; interested in
developing next-generation product solutions together with our customers. A
broad technology platform serves as the
basis for further growth and successful
collaboration.”
The business line has a total of approximately 1,000 employees worldwide and production facilities in Europe,
North America and Asia.
OCSiAl to Set Up Nanotube
Production Facility in
Luxembourg
The Ministry of the Economy of the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and
OCSiAl, the world’s largest manufacturer
of single wall carbon nanotubes, have
agreed to collaborate with regard to the
construction of a nanotube production
facility that will have an annual capacity of 250 tons. OCSiAl’s investment will
total € 80 to €100 million and the project
is expected to generate up to 200 highly
qualified jobs in R&D, manufacturing,
sales and marketing, maintenance and
support services.
Etienne Schneider, the Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of the Economy,
said “The implementation of the new
OCSiAl production and R&D facili-
ties in Luxembourg confirms that the
Grand Duchy is a destination of choice
for investment by international high-tech
companies and for R&D activities. This
project is in line with our economic di-
versification policy, which focuses on the
sector of innovative materials and on re-
search-intensive activities, and I am con-
fident that the new OCSiAl operations in
Luxembourg will be a great opportunity
to further enhance the recognition of our
composite materials competence center.”
OCSiAl is the only company that is
allowed to produce and commercialize
single wall carbon nanotubes in industri-
al volumes in Europe. In September 2016,
its core product, TUBALL single wall car-
bon nanotubes, became the first in that
category to be registered under the EU’s
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation
and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
regulations, thus taking the lead in rais-
ing the transparency of nanotube man-
agement worldwide and boosting their
application in a wide range of industries.
In addition to the synthesis facility,
OCSiAl intends to construct a center for
applied nanotechnology focused on industrial solutions for composite, elastomer and thermoplastic materials that will
be based on the most cutting-edge nano-technology achievements.
NatureWorks Launches
New Performance
Chemicals Divison
NatureWorks, an advanced materials
company offering a broad portfolio of re-newably sourced polymers and chemicals,
has formed a Performance Chemicals
Division to supply lactides, polyols, binder resins and chemical intermediates to
companies that manufacture CASE (
coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers),
toners and fine chemicals.
Vercet is a new platform of lactide-based chemistries from the NatureWorks
Performance Chemicals Division. The
customizable properties of Vercet polyols
provide excellent hardness, solvent resistance, and low color in polyurethanes. As
components in polyester resins, Vercet
lactides can be used to create low VOC,
solventborne alkyd resins for wood, and
metal coatings that have excellent adhesion and impact resistance.
Solventborne coatings and hotmelt
adhesives utilizing Vercet intermediate
resins offer a tunable work life, more
end-of-life options, excellent adhesion, as
well as low dispensing temperatures for
food packaging, paper, fiber board, and
wood applications. Vercet lactide-based
products will have direct and indirect
food contact approval as well as inherent health and environmental safety advantages when compared to traditional
chemical building blocks. CW
