Specialty chemicals company LANXESS is showcasing its comprehensive product portfolio for manufacturing coating materials at the European Coatings Show (ECS) 2017 in Nuremberg, Germany, from April 4 to 6, 2017. Examples include benzyl products, the latest biocides and environmentally friendly colorants. One of the highlights will be the new Bayferrox iron oxide pigments manufactured at the company’s Ningbo site in China.

High-performance pigments for all kinds of demands
With its Bayferrox and Colortherm iron and chrome oxide series, LANXESS supplies a very comprehensive portfolio of inorganic pigments in more than 100 colors. “As our customers see it, our decades of experience in manufacturing quality products and in process development and optimization sets us apart from many of our competitors,” says Thomas Pfeiffer, Vice President for the EMEA region for the Inorganic Pigments (IPG) business unit at LANXESS. “We continuously invest in new technologies in order to meet the demand for high-quality, sustainably produced pigments driven by the urbanization megatrend.”

The products largely meet customers’ increased wishes with regard to color intensity, consistent quality of color, ease of processing and, last but not least, worldwide availability. “The key advantages of our high-performance pigments are the narrow tolerances in the colors’ shades and intensity. This makes color reproduction faster, easier and more reliable during the manufacture of paints and coatings. What’s more, their micronization makes these pigments extremely dispersible,” explained Dr. Stephan Spiegelhauer, head of IPG’s Global Competence Center Paint & Coatings.

At the European Coatings Congress alongside the trade fair, chemist Dr. Christine Kathrein, head of product development in Product and Business Development at IPG, will give a talk on “Highly targeted color spaces with made-to-measure iron oxide pigments” on Monday, April 3, 2017. She will explain how the chromaticity of inorganic pigments is determined by the complex relationship between particle size and shape, endowment, particle size distribution and dispersibility within the matrix. She will also talk about the Ningbo process developed by LANXESS, which enables a narrow particle size distribution and achieves a color that exactly matches the specified target parameters. Compared to all other iron oxides on the market, the innovative and particularly sustainable Ningbo process makes it possible to manufacture the brightest and most yellow-toned red pigments.

New water-based pigment preparations
LANXESS’s Rhein Chemie Additives (ADD) business unit is showcasing its large portfolio of Levanyl and Levanox water-based pigment preparations in Nuremberg.

With an ideally proportioned pigment volume concentration, the inorganic dispersions of the Levanox series achieve excellent results in opacity, lightfastness and weather and chemical resistance. The excellent resistance of these products means they are primarily used in construction and coatings.

The specially balanced content of organic pigments makes the Levanyl range particularly brilliant and colorful. These products are primarily used in colorings and coatings, wood protection and printing. Recently, ADD has broaden its Levanyl series with 12 new products. They are free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and comply with the key European norms and standards. The new Levanyl types meets standards for use in children’s toys (EN 71-3/71-7/71-9), qualify for the environmental labels Nordic Swan and Blue Angel, and are listed in the database run by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) of “BfR-recommended materials for contact with food.” Ralf Scholtz, head of the Colorant Additives business line at ADD, says: “We have already produced samples and provided our customers with technical advice and the new products have already replaced previous ones without problems in a wide range of applications.”

New regulatory challenges for biocides
Paints and coatings manufacturers are increasingly subject to more rigorous labeling thresholds and other demands on their products, such as lower leaching of active ingredients. The new product range from Material Protection Products (MPP) business unit is superbly equipped to meet these regulatory and technical challenges and allows customers to modify their preservatives strategy accordingly.

Warnings for sensitizers and allergy labeling are playing an increasingly important role in the evaluation of biocides. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has proposed significantly lowering the labeling threshold for methylisothiazolinone (MIT). MIT is one of the most frequently used active ingredients worldwide for in-can preservation. A low labeling threshold for this active ingredient would mean DIY products exceeding these MIT levels could in the future only be sold to professional users.

MIT-free formulations containing combinations of isothiazolinones (BIT, CMIT/MIT, OIT) and/or bronopol are already available. LANXESS is also testing combinations with other non-sensitizing biocide active ingredients. Nicolas Gallacier, global marketing director for industrial preservation & coatings at MPP, states that: “Our registration experts are actively involved in association committees and in close contact with the authorities so as to ensure we can help equip our customers for the new legislation. This shows that LANXESS is a competent partner that enables paints and coatings manufacturers to operate successfully on the market.”

Besides labeling of sensitizers, sustainability is another key issue. Thus paints and coatings manufacturers face the challenge of continuously having to reduce the leaching of biocides from their products even further. LANXESS is showcasing a new generation of preservatives, the “Preventol next” series, at the ECS.

Preventol next A 29-D and Preventol next A 31-D are fungicide/algicide combinations that have achieved excellent results in the laboratory and in two-year external weathering tests in a damp climate. Their innovative slow-release technology meets industry’s growing demands for low leaching and environmental impact.

Industrial chemicals for high-quality formulations
LANXESS is also exhibiting its benzyl products at the ECS. The main exhibit is benzyl alcohol for the production of premium colorant and coating formulations. The company is the leading manufacturer of this high-purity substance, with production sites in India and Germany. With its two facilities on separate continents, LANXESS is very well positioned to supply this key chemical to global corporations with various production locations and small and medium-sized enterprises in a wide range of countries. “Through the ongoing optimization of our logistics processes, we are able to provide our customers with high supply reliability,” adds Hans-Joachim Feldhaus, global marketing director for benzyl products and amines in the Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit.