AkzoNobel Boosts Microsphere Capacity in Brazil
by Charles W. Thurston
Latin America Correspondent
thurstoncw@rodmanmedia.com
AkzoNobel is opening a new Expancel microsphere produc- tion line within its paint and coatings complex in Jundiaí, Sao Paulo State,
with the aim of serving both the Brazilian
and regional market demand. Until now,
the material was being imported from
Sweden, observed Gunther Zaremba, the
director of marketing for Expancel in
Latin America. “We will be expanding to
30 metric tons per year of capacity and be
able to reduce our clients’ use of primary
materials by up to 20 percent,” he said.
The Jundiaí plant is not affected by
the recent sale of Akzo Nobel’s paper
chemicals business to Kemira, a company
spokesperson noted. Elsewhere in Latin
America, AkzoNobel has three Expancel
plants in Mexico, two in Colombia and
one in Costa Rica.
Microspheres range in size from one
micrometer to one millimeter in diameter, and can be manufactured from a
wide variety of materials including glass,
ceramics, fly ash, polymers and metallic/
mineral substances like titanium dioxide.
The use of microspheres in architectural
coatings bring advantages including
“lower costs, reduced density, shortened
drying time, improved matting, less water absorption and lower emissions of
VOC,” AkzoNobel indicated. A major
cost reduction through the use of microspheres is a higher particle volume concentration with less binder.
3M, which produces ceramic micro-
spheres for the coatings industry, also
notes that the materials impart lower
viscosity and improved flow, burnish
resistance and hardness, gloss control,
a barrier effect against corrosion; they
also allow radiation curing for wood
and powder coatings. 3M also makes
glass bubble microspheres at sites
including a factory near Sao Paulo, “for
industrial applications where there is a
need for fast drying, lightweight coat-
ings, including floors and metals,” not-
ed Eric Adair, the U.S. business manager
for microspheres for 3M, based in St.
Paul, Minnesota.
Among the many industrial uses for
microspheres, the coatings industry uses
them for reduced mixing time for automotive materials, and for Cool Roof
treatments on buildings, Zaremba notes.
The Cool Roof application reduces the
heat absorbed by a rooftop, reducing the
need for air conditioning and thus energy
use, Zaremba points out.
While some microspheres are inert, others can form an encapsulation
around an active ingredient, which can
be released by a catalyst or event. “In the
broadest sense there is a high potential
for the use of microencapsulation for self-healing coatings,” said Anthony Schiavo,
a research associate at Lux Research,
based in Boston.
Nissan has been utilizing its micro-sphere-based Scratch Shield self-healing
automotive coating since 2005, and expects to expand its usage globally, the
company website suggests. “After being
scratched, a car surface painted with
Scratch Shield will have five times fewer
scratches compared with a vehicle painted with a conventional clear coat,” the
company noted.
Similarly, nanoparticles, which range
in size from one nanometer to 100
nanometers, and are used in coatings
as anti-fungal, anti-corrosion, anti-bac-terial and catalytic agents. “Apart from
zinc oxide, the magnesium and titanium
oxide nanoparticles market is anticipated to witness significant growth,” reckoned analysts at London-based Future
Market Insights.
Use of microspheres, particularly in
microencapsulation, promises to extend
the demand for the products in industrial applications of protective coatings.
“Latin America, due to its booming oil
and gas industries, offers significant
prospect for the manufacturers establishing their manufacturing bases and
sale offices in the region,” said analysts
at Dallas-based MarketsandMarkets. Its
recent report on microspheres projects a
global value of the market for all applications at close to $6 billion by 2019.
Among other microsphere encapsulation coatings that are beginning to be
adopted are damage-sensing coatings,
Schiavo points out. “In the automotive industry, the use of carbon fiber frames and
panels is rising, so the use of composite
damage sensing coatings are a potential
long term application,” he added. “The
total protective coatings market is worth
tens of billions of dollars, so the question
is, over the next five years, what percent
of that could be captured by micro-en-capsulation? Is it one percent? We’re still
an early stage,” he concluded. CW
Photos courtesy of 3M
