The rising demand for “green,” bio-sourced raw materials and intermediates originates from the concept of sustainability. In our industry, sustainability is about employing materials that are safe, efficient to use and derived from renewable resources.
Glacial Acrylic Acid Monomer, commonly known by the acronym GAA, is an unsaturated carboxylic acid co-monomer used by Gantrade customers as a building block to produce acid-functional and crosslinked acrylic copolymers and polyacrylic acids. These copolymers and polyacrylic acids are then used to optimize a number of products including finishes, coatings, adhesives, sealants, inks, flocculants, thickeners, dispersing agents, lubricants, saturants and plastics.
Vinyl acetate-co-ethylene copolymers (VAE), available from Gantrade Corporation and Dairen Chemical Corp. in powder form, are white, free-flowing, dry powders that are readily redispersed into water to re-form a stable emulsion. Sometimes called “solid latex,” VAE redispersable powders (RDPs) are easy to ship, store (excellent storage stability), handle, and dry-mix versus VAEs in an emulsion form. VAEs account for the majority of the global market for redispersible polymer powders.
Cast polyurethane elastomers based on 1,4-butanediol (BDO)-extended MDI systems using PTMEG as the soft segment are among the most useful polyurethane materials, offering cost and performance advantages. We see these elastomers used in a myriad of diverse cast urethane applications including wheels, heavy duty casters and tires for lift trucks, mowers; and all-terrain vehicles; industrial belts, wiper blades, and chute liners; pipe, hose, pump components, and tank liners used in abrasive service; mining, power, and oil-field equipment such as gaskets, valves, hydro cyclones, screens, and flotation parts; athletic shoes, boots and recreational equipment; and medical devices.
Using the broad range of unique polycaprolactone polyols available from Gantrade and Daicel Corporation, formulators can custom-tailor polyurethanes to achieve greater levels of performance. Polycaprolactone polyols in polyurethanes can enhance the capabilities of existing polyurethanes or enter new applications by displacing other material systems, such as rubber and epoxies.
Diethyl toluenediamine (DETDA), is also commonly known in the polyurethane industry by the brand names Ethacure 100, Lonza DETDA 80, and Nitroil ADA I80.
Coil and can coating is an organic material that’s applied on rolled metal strip in a continuous process which includes cleaning (if necessary) and chemical pre-treatment of the metal surface. It also includes either one-sided or two-sided, single or multiple application of (liquid) paints or coating powders, which are subsequently cured and/or laminated with permanent plastic films, cleaning, chemical pretreatment, primer coat application, curing, final coat application, second curing, exit accumulator, and recoilers.
We have written in this space about different performance polyols used to achieve the desired performance of elastomers in various applications. In addition to the disocianate type, polyols offer formulators an ability to achieve a variety of processing and performance advantages.
Glacial acrylic acid (GAA) and glacial methacrylic acid (GMAA) are polymerizable, unsaturated, monocarboxylic acid monomers. Virtually all acrylic copolymers produced commercially contain either of these two monomers at some level, depending on the specific attributes desired in the copolymers.
Acrylate monomers, perhaps the most versatile group of monomers in all of chemistry for commercial development, are used in the production of polymers where formulators can "dial in" multiple attributes, such as rigidity and flexibility, ionic and nonionic, functionalized or non-functionalized, and hydrophobic or hydrophilic functions, etc.
