Clariant: Solutions for color horizons expansion and product performance boost

As a global leader in specialty chemicals, Clariant will highlight at Chinaplas 2017 innovative technologies and solutions aimed at helping electrical & electronics, agriculture, consumer goods and automotive to achieve higher performance and sustainability with new capabilities and colors.

Recently, the supply of quality, more sustainable agricultural products has been highlighted, along with a stronger focus on reaching top performance in consumer goods as a driver for stronger national demand and sustained economic growth. Sustainable development also rhymes increasingly with electrical, electronics and automotive: pollution and environmental impact sources have to be cut down incessantly.

Shifting towards a greener economy, more Chinese businesses are seeking performance and sustainability enhancements. For Clariant, sustainability is a pivotal element of business approach, from product design to its disposal, while keeping performance high.

At Chinaplas 2017 trade fair, Clariant will display specialty chemical products and solutions that offer great functionality coupled with product safety and sustainability for local customers in numerous industries.
These product highlights will include the following ones.

Electrical & Electronics

• Exolit OP® 1400 non-halogenated flame retardant is an innovation boasting improved thermal stability for PA. The product enables complex items to be injection molded at increased temperatures. Suitable for both hot and humid environments, the product has been awarded the Clariant EcoTain® label for best-in-class sustainability and performance. Products with this label undergo a systematic, in-depth 36-criteria screening that applies all the three aspects of sustainability: social, economic and environmental.

• Licomont® NaV 101 / CaV 102 are outstanding processing aids for PE and PA compounds, boasting an excellent combination of nucleation and lubrication properties. The product thus reduce cycle time in injection molding considerably. They also provide excellent mold release and help making the surface of produced items even smoother.

• The structurally halogen-free new dyes Solvaperm® Yellow 6G / Orange R / Blue GN comply with the most critical international regulations. These solutions expanded the company's pigment portfolio with focus on coloration of engineering plastics (EP).

• Small-lot EP compounds and high-temperature resins (HTR) are manufactured locally at Clariant's Chinese plant. They help saving time in production pipeline, cutting down costs of logistics and importation drastically.

Peter Dufour, Senior Business Development Director, EP-HTR, Clariant Masterbatches Business Unit, dwells on the idea behind these products: "The wide range of engineering resins and high-temperature materials in small-lot compounds, together with our locally-produced masterbatches in China, will save a considerable amount of time for our customers in their production pipeline, while reducing significantly costs involved in logistics and transportation from importation overseas."

Agriculture

• AddWorks® AGC 182 is developed with focus on the manufacturers of greenhouse film. The product is based on Hostavin NOW® technology for film durability increase, providing better chemical resistance against halogenated agrochemicals and sulfur-based products.

Consumer goods

• A paint-replacement solution ColorWorks® helps producing better quality plastic items with low costs and scrap rates. By bringing in colors at the very start of a design project in corporate ColorWorks centers, key decisions on product appearance and cost can be faced without any risk for a speedy product launch.

• High Chroma pigments Graphtol® Carmine HF3C, PV Fast® Red E5B, PV Fast Pink E and PV Fast Violet RL help increasing the appeal of fashionable items such as sports shoes.

AddWorks PKG 902

• AddWorks PKG 902 supports higher recyclate contents while keeping film quality and production efficiency intact. This results in saved raw material and optimized unit cost structure.

• Hostastat® FA 68 coupled with liquid feeding technology and AddWorks LXR 408 bring to the flexible packaging industry the highest cost savings and top production quality, while keeping fumes level low and antistatic performance durable.

Jochen Ahrens, head of sales for Clariant's Additives, Asia Pacific, says that "flexible film industry in Greater China and the Asia Pacific region places a lot of emphasis on achieving performance improvement, film manufacturing cost savings and film differentiation in the marketplace, whether producing for domestic or export markets.

We have tailored the Hostastat FA 68 and AddWorks LXR 408 solutions to address these needs by offering better performance, functionality and sustainability, as well as a service package that helps to give the best possible performance for our customers".

Automotive

• Exolit OP 550 and Exolit OP 560 reactive flame retardants are non-halogenated phosphorus polyols. These products, aimed at flame-retarded PU foams, are chemically reacted into the resin matrix, keeping the foam from migration and evaporation. As a result, very low fogging as per the stringent emission standards for PU flexible foams in the automotive is attainable.

• AddWorks ATR 146 is an innovative low-dosage sulfur-free stabilizer for filled PP compounds. Thanks to reduced VOC emissions, it supercedes today's OEM heat stability standards, while offering unmatched light stability. Plastic items' surfaces are thus protected from discoloration and cracking.

• Finally, a popular lightweight solution, HYDROCEROL® chemical foaming and nucleating agents (CFA), reduce parts' weight, make save raw materials, enhance thermal/acoustic insulation, wall stiffness and surface textures, while preventing sink marks and warpage.