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Merck introduces new white and red pigments
Additives for Polymers
August 2006
MATERIALS
Merck introduces new white and red pigments
Chemtura adds more efficient Firemaster products
Merck has extended its Iriodin® inorganic pigment range with the additions of Iriodin 6103 Icy White and Iriodin 4504 Lava Red.
Chemtura Corp, a leading global manufacturer of flame retardants, has introduced Firemaster® 600 and Firemaster 602, two new flame retardants for flexible polyurethane foam (FPF) that are reported to be approximately 10% more efficient than existing products Firemaster 550 and Firemaster 552. Both of these new products exhibit outstanding scorch resistance, minimal effect upon foam processing, physical properties and cigarette smoulder as well as a favourable environmental profile, the company says. In addition, Firemaster 602 is specifically recommended for mechanically cooled foams. FPFs generally incorporate flame retardant additives to achieve fire safety. In recent years, flame retardant standards for these foam products, which are used primarily as cushioning in furniture, mattress and automotive applications, have become increasingly more stringent – e.g. the new Consumer Product Safety Commission standard for mattress flammability. At the same time, society demands that flame retardants are environmentally responsible. Chemtura claims that Firemaster 600 and Firemaster 602 fulfil both requirements, and represent the latest in its ongoing commitment to offer customers only those products meeting the highest environmental and fire-safety standards. Anne Noonan, VP and general manager Flame Retardants & Brominated Performance Products, says that Firemaster 600 and 602 were developed in response to customers’ needs and “significantly increase efficiency” while maintaining the physical performance and other favourable properties of the Firemaster 550 family of products. In other company news, Chemtura’s world headquarters facility in Middlebury has recently been certified to the RC14001 international standard for its integrated Responsible Care® and environmental management system. Contact: Chemtura Corp, 199 Benson Rd, Middlebury, CT 06749, USA; tel: +1-203-5732220; fax: +1-203-573-2800; URL: www.chemtura.com
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Iriodin Icy White is said to give plastics a fresh, very pure silver-white character. The secret lies in its manufacturing process, according to Merck: in contrast to other Iriodin silver-white pearl lustre pigments, which are based on natural mica, the Iriodin Icy White substrate is synthetically produced. The synthetically produced mica is coated with titanium dioxide and stabilized against yellowing. The result is a pure silver-white mass tone, high hiding power and powerful lustre, the company says. The properties of the new pigment enable stylings with very pure snow-white effects in plastics and printing applications, Merck claims. According to the company, it offers outstanding new design possibilities, especially when white formulations are to be enlivened with pure silver-white effects, for example for personal care products. Iriodin Icy White also offers great potential for new effect stylings in combination with light-coloured organic or inorganic colour pigments. Iriodin 4504 Lava Red is a new inorganic effect pigment that is said to show “the colour of a seething red lava flow”, with greater colour intensity compared to other effect pigments. As with the new white pigment, its appearance is the result of using a synthetically produced substrate, in contrast to other Iriodin interference pigments that are based on natural mica. The plane parallel and very smooth surface of the synthetic substrate allows Iriodin Lava Red an “extraordinary brilliance and a pure red mass tone”, which is visible from every viewing angle, Merck claims. The new effect pigment is high-temperature resistant and light stable and can be used in combination with both organic and inorganic colour pigments – mixtures with red pigments are said to provide especially impressive effects. Lava Red is suitable for use in numerous plastic, coating and printing applications, where its high hiding power and colour intensity can provide saturated colour stylings even in low concentrations, the company claims. Since its strong effect is achieved without
August 2006
the addition of toxic heavy metals, it also has great potential for new, unusual effect styling for food and cosmetic packaging, household goods, sports and fitness products, as well as for consumer electronic products, Merck says. The company also recently launched five new Miraval™ lustre effect pigments – Scenic White, Magic Turquoise, Magic Lilac, Magic Green and Magic Red – based on synthetic borosilicate flakes. The Magic series now consists of seven interference colour tones and a silver-white colour tone, all with a particle size of 20–200 µm. Scenic White is the first Miraval pigment with a fine particle size of 10–100 µm. It displays a high transparency thanks to its very smooth and visually perfect surface, Merck says. The new silver-white pigment also combines purity of white, brightness and reflecting power. The Miraval effect pigments are suitable for use in print objects, packaging, textiles and plastic foils. Contact: Merck KGaA, Frankfurterstr. 250, D64293, Germany; tel: +49-6151-72-0; fax: +496151-72-2000; URL: www.merck-pigmente.de
Honeywell expands PVC lubricants line, boosts plastics additives R&D capabilities in USA, China Honeywell Specialty Materials has expanded its family of Rheochem® branded high-performance speciality lubricants for PVC extrusion from four to ten standard formulations. The company says the move is in response to strong customer demand and will allow it to meet a wider variety of requirements from PVC producers. It will also continue to tailor formulations for customers as needed. The Rheochem lubricants are formulated to improve productivity for PVC window and door profiles, fencing, piping and vinyl siding applications. “We continue to see strong interest in our highperformance lubricants to solve a number of customer challenges ranging from higher production to changing stabilization systems,” says Michael Calicchio, Honeywell’s global business manager for plastics. Honeywell developed the high-performance lubricants to work with established tin stabilization systems as well as with
Additives for Polymers
emerging calcium/zinc stabilization systems. It has patents pending on the lubricants family, which was unveiled at K 2004 [ADPO, December 2004]. The company says the lubricants have allowed a variety of PVC producers to operate extrusion machinery at peak efficiency, extrude PVC compounds at lower melt temperatures, reduce burning and discoloration, reduce plate-out, lower the frequency of maintenance shutdowns, reduce power consumption, and minimize rejection rates. In other developments, the company has boosted its R&D capabilities for plastic additives in China and the USA by adding new extruders and other equipment at development and application laboratories in Shanghai and Morristown, New Jersey. The investments include two extruders installed at the plastic additives laboratory at Honeywell’s Shanghai Center of Excellence facility. The laboratory was completed in early 2005 and serves as a centre for research into new products as well customization of its “existing, broad additive offerings” for customers worldwide. The company also added a new twin-screw conical extruder to its research laboratory at its Morristown HQ. Contact: Honeywell Specialty Materials, 101 Columbia Rd, Morristown, NJ 07962-2497, USA; tel: +1-973-455-2000; fax: +1-973-455-4807; URL: www.honeywell.com
BASF’s new black pigments halve solar heat absorption BASF has developed two new functional black pigments, Lumogen® Black FK 4280 and Black FK 4281, that are highly transparent to nearinfrared radiation (NIR) in the range from 750 nm up to 2500 nm. This can cut in half the absorption of heat from incident sunlight by dark- or blackcoloured construction elements, the company says. Conventional carbon blacks used to create dark or black colours have high absorption of solar NIR, leading to severe heat build-up in construction elements, which can generate unbearably hot black surfaces exposed to sunlight, warping of darkcoloured window profiles and other side effects. BASF says that use of its new jet black Lumogen pigments solves this problem, with their exceptional NIR transparency halving solar heat build-up and therefore resulting in cooler construction elements. The Lumogen black
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August 2006
MATERIALS
Merck introduces new white and red pigments
Chemtura adds more efficient Firemaster products
Merck has extended its Iriodin® inorganic pigment range with the additions of Iriodin 6103 Icy White and Iriodin 4504 Lava Red.
Chemtura Corp, a leading global manufacturer of flame retardants, has introduced Firemaster® 600 and Firemaster 602, two new flame retardants for flexible polyurethane foam (FPF) that are reported to be approximately 10% more efficient than existing products Firemaster 550 and Firemaster 552. Both of these new products exhibit outstanding scorch resistance, minimal effect upon foam processing, physical properties and cigarette smoulder as well as a favourable environmental profile, the company says. In addition, Firemaster 602 is specifically recommended for mechanically cooled foams. FPFs generally incorporate flame retardant additives to achieve fire safety. In recent years, flame retardant standards for these foam products, which are used primarily as cushioning in furniture, mattress and automotive applications, have become increasingly more stringent – e.g. the new Consumer Product Safety Commission standard for mattress flammability. At the same time, society demands that flame retardants are environmentally responsible. Chemtura claims that Firemaster 600 and Firemaster 602 fulfil both requirements, and represent the latest in its ongoing commitment to offer customers only those products meeting the highest environmental and fire-safety standards. Anne Noonan, VP and general manager Flame Retardants & Brominated Performance Products, says that Firemaster 600 and 602 were developed in response to customers’ needs and “significantly increase efficiency” while maintaining the physical performance and other favourable properties of the Firemaster 550 family of products. In other company news, Chemtura’s world headquarters facility in Middlebury has recently been certified to the RC14001 international standard for its integrated Responsible Care® and environmental management system. Contact: Chemtura Corp, 199 Benson Rd, Middlebury, CT 06749, USA; tel: +1-203-5732220; fax: +1-203-573-2800; URL: www.chemtura.com
2
Iriodin Icy White is said to give plastics a fresh, very pure silver-white character. The secret lies in its manufacturing process, according to Merck: in contrast to other Iriodin silver-white pearl lustre pigments, which are based on natural mica, the Iriodin Icy White substrate is synthetically produced. The synthetically produced mica is coated with titanium dioxide and stabilized against yellowing. The result is a pure silver-white mass tone, high hiding power and powerful lustre, the company says. The properties of the new pigment enable stylings with very pure snow-white effects in plastics and printing applications, Merck claims. According to the company, it offers outstanding new design possibilities, especially when white formulations are to be enlivened with pure silver-white effects, for example for personal care products. Iriodin Icy White also offers great potential for new effect stylings in combination with light-coloured organic or inorganic colour pigments. Iriodin 4504 Lava Red is a new inorganic effect pigment that is said to show “the colour of a seething red lava flow”, with greater colour intensity compared to other effect pigments. As with the new white pigment, its appearance is the result of using a synthetically produced substrate, in contrast to other Iriodin interference pigments that are based on natural mica. The plane parallel and very smooth surface of the synthetic substrate allows Iriodin Lava Red an “extraordinary brilliance and a pure red mass tone”, which is visible from every viewing angle, Merck claims. The new effect pigment is high-temperature resistant and light stable and can be used in combination with both organic and inorganic colour pigments – mixtures with red pigments are said to provide especially impressive effects. Lava Red is suitable for use in numerous plastic, coating and printing applications, where its high hiding power and colour intensity can provide saturated colour stylings even in low concentrations, the company claims. Since its strong effect is achieved without
August 2006
the addition of toxic heavy metals, it also has great potential for new, unusual effect styling for food and cosmetic packaging, household goods, sports and fitness products, as well as for consumer electronic products, Merck says. The company also recently launched five new Miraval™ lustre effect pigments – Scenic White, Magic Turquoise, Magic Lilac, Magic Green and Magic Red – based on synthetic borosilicate flakes. The Magic series now consists of seven interference colour tones and a silver-white colour tone, all with a particle size of 20–200 µm. Scenic White is the first Miraval pigment with a fine particle size of 10–100 µm. It displays a high transparency thanks to its very smooth and visually perfect surface, Merck says. The new silver-white pigment also combines purity of white, brightness and reflecting power. The Miraval effect pigments are suitable for use in print objects, packaging, textiles and plastic foils. Contact: Merck KGaA, Frankfurterstr. 250, D64293, Germany; tel: +49-6151-72-0; fax: +496151-72-2000; URL: www.merck-pigmente.de
Honeywell expands PVC lubricants line, boosts plastics additives R&D capabilities in USA, China Honeywell Specialty Materials has expanded its family of Rheochem® branded high-performance speciality lubricants for PVC extrusion from four to ten standard formulations. The company says the move is in response to strong customer demand and will allow it to meet a wider variety of requirements from PVC producers. It will also continue to tailor formulations for customers as needed. The Rheochem lubricants are formulated to improve productivity for PVC window and door profiles, fencing, piping and vinyl siding applications. “We continue to see strong interest in our highperformance lubricants to solve a number of customer challenges ranging from higher production to changing stabilization systems,” says Michael Calicchio, Honeywell’s global business manager for plastics. Honeywell developed the high-performance lubricants to work with established tin stabilization systems as well as with
Additives for Polymers
emerging calcium/zinc stabilization systems. It has patents pending on the lubricants family, which was unveiled at K 2004 [ADPO, December 2004]. The company says the lubricants have allowed a variety of PVC producers to operate extrusion machinery at peak efficiency, extrude PVC compounds at lower melt temperatures, reduce burning and discoloration, reduce plate-out, lower the frequency of maintenance shutdowns, reduce power consumption, and minimize rejection rates. In other developments, the company has boosted its R&D capabilities for plastic additives in China and the USA by adding new extruders and other equipment at development and application laboratories in Shanghai and Morristown, New Jersey. The investments include two extruders installed at the plastic additives laboratory at Honeywell’s Shanghai Center of Excellence facility. The laboratory was completed in early 2005 and serves as a centre for research into new products as well customization of its “existing, broad additive offerings” for customers worldwide. The company also added a new twin-screw conical extruder to its research laboratory at its Morristown HQ. Contact: Honeywell Specialty Materials, 101 Columbia Rd, Morristown, NJ 07962-2497, USA; tel: +1-973-455-2000; fax: +1-973-455-4807; URL: www.honeywell.com
BASF’s new black pigments halve solar heat absorption BASF has developed two new functional black pigments, Lumogen® Black FK 4280 and Black FK 4281, that are highly transparent to nearinfrared radiation (NIR) in the range from 750 nm up to 2500 nm. This can cut in half the absorption of heat from incident sunlight by dark- or blackcoloured construction elements, the company says. Conventional carbon blacks used to create dark or black colours have high absorption of solar NIR, leading to severe heat build-up in construction elements, which can generate unbearably hot black surfaces exposed to sunlight, warping of darkcoloured window profiles and other side effects. BASF says that use of its new jet black Lumogen pigments solves this problem, with their exceptional NIR transparency halving solar heat build-up and therefore resulting in cooler construction elements. The Lumogen black
3