Lenzing plans new world-scale lyocell fibers plant in Thailand

PRACHINBURI, THAILAND: Lenzing AG said that it plans to build a state-of-the-art facility to produce lyocell fibres in Prachinburi, Thailand.

The company aims to significantly increase its share of speciality fibres as a proportion of total revenue. Following the expansion drive already underway in Lenzing and Heiligenkreuz (both in Austria), Grimsby (Great Britain) and Mobile, Alabama (US).

For this purpose, Lenzing is establishing a subsidiary in Thailand and purchasing a commercial property in Industrial Park 304 located in Prachinburi near Bangkok. A definitive decision on constructing the new production plant will be made in the first quarter of 2018. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2020.  

The selection of Industrial Park 304 in Prachinburi was based on its excellent overall infrastructure, outstanding expansion opportunities and the sustainable biogenic energy supply. Similar to the plant in Mobile, the planned production facility will be constructed on the basis of the latest state-of-the-art technology and feature a capacity of up to 100,000 tonnes annually.

This site will strengthen the worldwide lyocell network of the Lenzing Group and enable its global customers to source TENCEL branded fibres from Europe, North America and Asia.

“The planned expansion underscores our commitment to support the business growth of our customers, which will result in offering them even more environmentally friendly products by using TENCEL fibres, the world’s most sustainable Botanic fibres,” said Stefan Doboczky, CEO of Lenzing.

© Chemical Today News

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Lanxess combines rubber and colourant additive businesses

COLOGNE, GERMANY: Lanxess AG has revised its organisational structure, following its latest acquisition of US firm Chemtura. The two business lines rubber additives business (RAB) and colourant additives business (CAB) now both belong to the Rhein Chemie business unit. 

Lanxess’s goal with this restructuring is to adopt a more targeted approach with an even stronger customer focus. The unit will in the future cover speciality business with active ingredient compounds, speciality chemicals and processing aids for the rubber, plastics and colourants industries.

The new head of colourant additives business is Dominik Risse, who is returning to the operational side of the business from the M&A group function to take charge of this business line. He was previously responsible for Lanxess’s colourants business in his role as head of marketing.

The name Rhein Chemie, which has been a hallmark of success in the chemical industry for over 125 years, will remain the umbrella brand for rubber and colourants business. Lubricant and flame retardant additives business, meanwhile, has been transferred to Lanxess’s additives business unit. Together, these two business units form the speciality additives segment in the company’s extended organisational structure.

The Rhein Chemie business unit currently has around 1,000 employees and supplies more than 2,000 products to over 3,000 customers in 120 countries across the globe. It is split into two business lines:

Rubber additives business

RAB supplies the rubber industry with a broad range of pre-dispersed chemicals, processing promoters, vulcanization and filler activators, anti-sun check waxes, release agents, tire marking inks and high-performance bladders. It provides a wide selection of products from a single source for all applications in the rubber processing industry and also supports important developments in this sector through innovation.

Colourant additives business

CAB is a leading supplier of high-quality colourants for use in numerous demanding applications and manufactures organic colourants at a state-of-the-art production facility in Leverkusen. It serves customers around the world with the help of a global logistics and warehousing network. Outstanding product quality, long-standing technical expertise, high innovation capability and the fulfilment of wide-ranging regulatory requirements are the critical qualification standards of this business line.

“The two business lines have similar requirements and the realignment caters to our specialised business, which sometimes involves small volumes,” said Philipp Junge, head of the Rhein Chemie business unit since April. He is also in charge of RAB having been responsible for this business line since the end of 2014.

© Chemical Today News

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Sustainable biomedical textiles for the future

The textile and clothing industry has a long history in Switzerland. In order to remain competitive in the international market, the industry relies on innovations. The "SUBITEX – Sustainable Biomedicine Textiles" research initiative was set up by EMPA and Swiss Textiles, the Swiss textile industry association, for this very purpose. The industry is working together to promote innovations in the field of biomedical textiles, and to bring them to the market more rapidly.

Textiles are especially suitable for use on and in the human body. The body itself consists of many fibres too, including muscle, tendon and nerve fibre. Textiles can also be used to make copies of entire organs or parts of them. One current example of this is a major project involving EMPA, called "Zurich Heart": under the aegis of the Zurich University Medicine initiative, in collaboration with the University Hospital, the University and ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Zurich, EMPA researchers are developing an artificial heart pump. This will include a fleece textile with a layer of heart muscle cells, which will not be detected by the blood as a foreign body.

"We need to say goodbye to the idea that the development of textiles revolves around cotton T-shirts,” said Rene Rossi, Subitex project manager and head of EMPA's Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles lab. Instead, according to Rossi, their research is focused on a very wide range of ceramic, metal, wood and synthetic fibre.

"A textile is not just a cloth either, but rather a two-dimensional entity derived from a one-dimensional material: a fibre," he added. The entities derived from this are flexible, malleable, stretchable, and light knitted, woven, or crocheted fabrics.

Many Swiss textile companies have also recognised this, successfully transforming themselves into specialist manufacturers of highly technical and high-quality products.

For this, EMPA has developed optical fibre that are used in hospitals to measure the vital functions of premature babies, or as biosensors with pH-sensitive fibre to monitor wounds. Other examples of applications include textile pressure sensors that can be installed in wheelchairs, for instance, in order to show incorrect pressure loads; textile plasters that release medication in a targeted way; and a wettable chest strap that can be reliably used for long-term monitoring of electrocardiograms for cardiovascular patients.

A research initiative with 15 industrial partners

In order to promote further innovations and make even better use of the vast all-round potential of textiles, EMPA and the Swiss industrial association, Swiss Textiles, established the "SUBITEX" research initiative two years ago. The development and use of innovative materials, fibre, fabrics and processes should assure Swiss textile companies a long-term competitive advantage in the global market. As part of this initiative, ten projects co-financed by the Commission for Technology and Innovation (KTI) have already been launched. Fifteen textile companies have now joined the initiative, including Flawa AG, Cilander, E Schellenberg Textildruck AG, Mammut Sports Group, Schoeller Textil AG, Serge Ferrari Tersuisse AG and TISCA Tischhauser & Co AG.

So that it can pass on, even more, textile expertise to Subitex partners, Empa has invested part of the financial contributions from Subitex in the "Self-care materials" research program of the Competence Center for Materials Science and Technology (CCMX) of the ETH domain. The CCMX program is a mix of basic and industrial research and is extremely lucrative, because the Swiss National Fund (SNF) contributes the same amount to the program as that contributed by the industry.

For this purpose, EMPA's electrospinning and microfluidics systems develop fibre systems from smart polymers. These systems respond to external influences such as temperature, pH value, humidity or pressure. Today's systems use small, passive capsules that can only release substances by decomposing. What makes self-care materials special is that their innovative fibre systems release substances in a targeted way over a specific period of time when they are "activated". Very small fibre made from smart polymers can be used not only in biomedical textiles and fabrics but also in packaging films for the food industry.

© EMPA News

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Effective stabilisation for state-of-the-art hybrid polymer sealants

Hybrid polymer, especially Silyl-modified polyether (known as STPE polymers) and silyl-modified polyurethanes (known as SPUR polymers) are the modern hybrid sealants (SMP) which can be used for wide ranges of applications, such as construction and transportations. Combining the strength of polyether and polyurethanes with the weathering resistance of silicones make this hybrid sealant as high performance. But these hybrid sealants also shows some disadvantages, for examples: yellowing, chalking, cracking, after exposing under sunlight in outdoors or high-temperature conditions after several months. So how to improve the wearability of SMP sealants, we found out better weathering resistance results by adding Eversorb. HP1

More than 65 percent of SMP sealants choose STPE polymer as their basic resin. The leading STPE polymer suppliers are Kaneka from Japan and Wacker from Germany. The structure of an STPE polymer consists of a polyether backbone and silane terminal functionality.

Although STPE polymer does not contain urethane bond or aromatic groups, light or heat will still cause photo and thermal degradation. The test results of UV exposure test (340nm,0.89 W/m2/nm) and oven test (105?) for 240 hours both shows the polymer degradation and result in yellowness. (Figure 2) and a dramatic change of viscosity (table1). These results show photodegradation will break either chain and generate free alkoxy radicals (RO.) Those alkyoxy radicals will react with polymers and start the chain oxidation reaction which causes fragments and decrease the molecular weight.We can observe the dropping viscosity (16000=>740 c.p.s). Besides, thermal oxidation degradation will also generate free radical resulting more complicated degradation which causes polymers turn yellow quickly. (Yi from 1.49 =>87.8).

1. QUV exposure test for transparent STPE sealant

1. Test Sample: 2mm STPE sealant plate and Dumb bell (ASTM D412; Die C)

2. Measure unit: Yellowness index (Yi) / Tensile strength and Elongation retention (%)

3. Criteria: ASTM G154-1(340nm UVA lamp);

4. Test period: 1000 hrs.; Temperature: 50 °C

STPE transparent sealant without UV stabilisation in QUV test will turn yellow and decompose very quickly less than 100 hours. By adding Eversorb HP1 2,4% can well protect STPE sealant not to be decomposed and keep colour retention.

2. QUV exposure test result for grey STPE sealant

1. Test Sample: 2mm grey STPE sealant plate

2. Measure Unit: Delta color difference (?E) /Tensile strength and Elongation retention (%)

3. Criteria: ASTM G154-1(340nm UVA lamp);

4. Test period: 1000 hrs.; Temperature: 50 °C

Adding 1phr,2phr Ev.HP1 in STPE grey sealant is slightly different in colour difference. Besides, adding TiO2, carbon black and other filler can also decrease the impact of yellowness issue and adding Ev.HP1 can help to maintain tensile strength and elongation retention after QUV exposure test.

Conclusions:

1. Why hybrid polymer sealant need Eversorb for stabilisation?

Using UV light stabilisation to improve the hybrid polymer sealant further in UV stability and adhesion after a long-time outdoors exposure is necessary. Everlight Chemical provide solutions of Eversorb® HP1 to reduce polymer degradation such as yellowing, cracking, losing mechanical and elastic properties.

2. What are the advantages of Eversorb® HP1

Eversorb® HP1 is a high-performance UV stabiliser providing a long-term UV protection for STPE polymers, especially those high-performance sealants for construction, automotive and other outdoor applications. Unlike other powder additives, its liquid form can homogeneously incorporate in resin system which means you won’t need any heat up a process for incorporation and hardly concern the migration issue.

3. Our recommendation

The recommended dosage of Eversorb HP1 is 0.5~3% based on resin solid. Incorporating Eversorb HP1 in resin prior to catalyst is recommended as another catalyst might interact or interfere the system.

Article By: Everlight Chemical Industrial Corporation, Technical Service Dept. Specialty Chemicals BU

© Chemical Today Magazine

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PPG initiative helps to revitalise historic villa in Milan

PITTSBURGH, US: PPG Industries Inc (PPG) announced the completion of a Colourful Communities project in Milan, Italy, that helped revitalise the Villa Arconati, a historic villa in the hamlet of Castellazzo di Bollate that is the headquarters of the Fondazione Augusto Rancilio (Augusto Rancilio Foundation).

The Colourful Communities program provides PPG volunteers and products, along with financial contributions, to bring colour and vitality to communities where the company operates around the world, such as in Milan and nearby Cavallirio, Italy, where PPG has automotive refinish and architectural coatings plants.

The project brought together more than 125 PPG employees from the Milan, Lainate and Cavallirio sites who volunteered approximately 550 hours to revitalise the villa’s iron façade and historic gardens. PPG provided more than $26,000 in funding and products, including SELEMIX and SIGMA COATINGS paint products.  

The Fondazione Augusto Rancilio, which is focused on architecture, design, urban planning, and artistic and historical protection and promotion, served as a project partner. The foundation is working to restore and develop the villa, which is considered an Italian imagining of Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles in France. The villa’s present structure was completed by the Arconati family in the 18th century and is an expression of the attention to detail and elegance of the Lombard baroque style. 

The villa, which is part of Italy’s artistic heritage, is visited by more than 40,000 people each season. The Colourful Communities project will help the Fondazione Augusto Rancilio expand community access to the site through cultural, educational and private events. 

“PPG is honored to help the Fondazione Augusto Rancilio in its mission to restore and beautify the Villa Arconati to its original state and splendor. Our volunteers did an extraordinary job restoring this important community asset, and it was impressive to see their enthusiasm and engagement,” said Silla Giusti, PPG marketing director, automotive refinish.

“The collaboration between the two PPG sites and businesses is an excellent example of how we are working together through the Colorful Communities program to revitalize community jewels around the world,” added Alessandro Borzino, manager director, PPG Univer.

© Worldofchemicals News

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Sika appoints new regional manager for EMEA

BAAR, SWITZERLAND: Sika AG said that it has appointed Ivo Schadler as regional manager for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and will join Sika's group management. He succeeds Paul Schuler, who was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) in May.

Ivo SchAdler (51) began his career at Sika in 1997. He held various management positions at the Swiss national subsidiary before becoming general manager for the UK and Ireland in 2012. In this role, he not only drove forward the subsidiaries' growth and profitability but also successfully completed the acquisition and integration of Everbuild Building Products Ltd, the UK's largest manufacturer of sealants and adhesives.

In 2015 Ivo Schadler was appointed area manager Europe South and head EMEA target market refurbishment. His area of responsibility included sales activities in the major EU countries; UK, France, Italy and Spain, as well as in the repair and maintenance sector in the EMEA region, managing a turnover of around CHF 1 billion.

© Worldofchemicals News

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DELO's new light-curing adhesive with excellent peel resistance

MUNICH, GERMANY: DELO, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial adhesives for automotive, consumer and industrial electronics applications, now offers a light-curing acrylate with excellent peel resistance for seal bonding.

DELO PHOTOBOND GB4033 is ideal for use in wearables and consumer electronics.

Designed for material joints that require adhesives to be strong, flexible and tight, this low-viscous, one-component, solvent-free acrylate provides excellent sealing properties against water, humidity and dust. It can be used in temperatures ranging from -40°C to +120°C.

Featuring an elongation at tear of 400 percent, DELO PHOTOBOND GB4033 is an extremely flexible, tension-equalizing product. Its elasticity also allows for good peel resistance on glass and plastic. The average peel strength on PEEK, PC or PET is 14 N/cm compared to 1 to 3 N/cm for standard acrylates.

DELO PHOTOBOND GB4033 is fluorescent in blue light, making controlling the precise application of the seal bonding as well as process control easy.

The adhesive cures under both UV and visible light. This large wavelength coverage makes it possible to use transparent materials with low transmittance, like PC. The minimum curing time to reach final strength is four seconds at typical intensities of 200 mW/cm², enabling high-volume applications in short cycle times.

© Chemical Today News

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