Coatings. Adhesives. Sealants. Elastomers. - CASE
The news roundup for CASE and Rubber
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This is part of the news theme experiment I am trying and a large portion of specialty chemicals gets filtered into four main end markets: coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers or CASE. I’m going to put rubber in with the elastomers too. A lot of intellectual property gets developed here so companies are typically less willing to share updates on product development or progress in what they are actually up to as opposed to green chemistry where any advance no matter how small is a signal that the company is virtuous and making the world a better place.
Coatings
Axalta Launches Two Imron Products
Jan 21st Coatings World reported that Axalta launched two new products in their Imron line. Axalta is a automotive coatings giant and the Imron products are focused on recreational vehicles and being able to protect a wide variety of surfaces. The first of the new products launched is a direct to plastic basecoat that eliminates the need for adhesion promoters:
"Imron Elite Direct-to-Plastic basecoat improves productivity and performance for our customers by eliminating the need for a conventional adhesion promoter and simplifying the coating process from three steps to two," said Marko Strukelj, director, Global Transportation Product Engineering at Axalta. "This basecoat also improves overall appearance and enhances adhesion to a plastic substrate."
Sticking anything to a polyolefin or plastic surface is a real challenge. This is primarily due to the low surface energy and typically requires stuff like solvent wipes or corona treatment. Would be interesting to see if this direct to plastic basecoat actually primes for other applications.
The second product that Axalta launched was the ColorPLUS coating system that when in production actually utilizes less volume of product than the competition. Axalta claims 25-30% less ColorPlus coating system is needed when running with oven cure times results in a 30% gain in productivity. This means if you produce 100 coated ATVs in an 12 hour shift you can now do either more than 100 in that same shift or about 100 in 8 hours.
New Launch of a Graphene Reinforced Ceramic Coating
On Jan 20th Coatings World reported that IGL Coatings launched their second graphene reinforced ceramic coating. IGL Coating’s Ecocoat Kenzo was their original graphene reinforced ceramic coating but the demand was so high for it that they decided to come out with another version that was for the broader market.
Similar to the soft-launch of graphene reinforced Ecocoat Kenzo, the improved formula of Ecocoat Quartz+ is reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets for enhanced durability of up to 4 years, upgraded hydrophobicity, increased water spot & chemical resistance, improved slip for efficient cleaning, and superb clarity & gloss.
I haven’t seen many products with graphene actually get launched. Perhaps this is due to me not looking very hard because a few years ago all you could read was about how there were new ways to make graphene at lower costs. The use of graphene in coatings is not new, but it would be really cool to see what a commercially viable product looks like with graphene and the benefits it can impart.
Avery Dennison Launches Recycled Direct Thermal Paper
Have you ever been at CVS buying mundane essentials like mouthwash and toothpaste and when you check out a mile long receipt prints out for you? On this receipt is just stuff I don’t care to ever read or actually read and I’m annoyed I have to deal with it about 99% of the time. It feels like a complete waste of paper, but I understand why we get it and until now it’s all been made from virgin pulp and may or may not contain bisphenol A. Avery Dennison just launched a recycled direct thermal paper or rDT.
“We’ve seen a sharp rise in demand for sustainable direct thermal solutions, especially in the logistics and eCommerce space.” says Vincenzo Palumbo, product manager direct thermal Paper at Avery Dennison, “That such a widely used material didn’t have a recycled option available showed a big gap in the market, and we’re excited to introduce rDT to meet the clear demand for sustainable labels as well as push the labelling industry towards more regenerative practices.”
I hope this product actually gets widespread adoption quickly because it makes a lot of sense. No one cares about the quality of their receipt paper. I am surprised it took this long.
Adhesives & Sealants
Intertape Polymer Group Expands in Virginia
Adhesives and Sealants Industry reported on Jan 25th that the Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) is expanding in Virginia.
The company will reportedly add 30,000 square feet to its facility at 1101 Eagle Springs Rd. and act on a series of investments in production, operations, and capacity, totaling approximately $45 million over the next four years. Virginia successfully competed with Colorado, North Carolina, and Utah for the project, which will create 50 new jobs.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Pittsylvania County and the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance to secure the project for Virginia. Governor Northam approved a $150,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Pittsylvania County with the project. Governor Northam also approved a performance-based grant of $300,000 from the Virginia Investment Performance program, an incentive that encourages capital investment by existing Virginia companies. IPG is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. IPG is also eligible to receive benefits from the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit for new, full-time jobs created. The Virginia Jobs Investment Program will provide funding and services to support IPG’s employee training activities.
So for 50 additional jobs Virginia spent about $450,000 for the expansion of IPG, which comes out to about $9000/job in acquisition costs. I figure about 45 of these jobs are operators and will probably be paid about $15-20/hour (I hope). At a 40 hour work week that comes out to about $31,200/year on the low end.
IPG makes tapes that you might use in packaging for shipping packages, duct tape, films for shrink wrapping pallets, roofing underlayments and more. IPG from what I can tell is primarily capable of doing adhesive coating, hot melt adhesive coating, slitting, and possibly extrusion of thin films. IPG has about 3000 employees globally.
More Shipments - More Automation - More Tape - More Adhesives
Related to the tapes from IPG, Covid-19 has resulted in more packages being shipped, and this means more tapes and more adhesives as Adhesive and Sealants Industry has reported. The increase in packages being shipped has also led to an increase in automated packaging and automated tape laying. Not all tape adhesives are created equally though and the needs for an automated tape operation are different than what is used for DIY shipping.
These aggressive hot-melt tapes are purpose-built for producers implementing more automated packaging lines and shipping cartons that must stand up to the rigors of the single-parcel process. When hot-melt tapes are combined with an automated application system that delivers the appropriate amount of wipe-down force, the added pressure ensures that more of the tape’s adhesive is entangled deep within the fibers of the carton for strong, consistent, and secure seals. Pairing an automated application system with an aggressive, quick-stick hot-melt packaging tape is the best method to ensure a secure seal on recycled corrugated cartons.
Tape adhesive might seem maddeningly tedious, but it’s significant at scale. If you’ve ever bought the absolute cheapest packing tape when moving and compared it to something that might be a little more premium you know that the tapes are not created equal. When it comes to keeping boxes shut on an automated packaging line or in transit during the winter months in a non-climate controlled truck or even some gig worker’s van rental it’s good to know the tape is going to hold.
Elastomers and Rubbers
Thermoplastic Elastomers from Recycled Content
There is so much recycling news going on and Audia Elastomers launched their AudiaFlex line on Jan 14th.
The AudiaFlex family includes the OP line of TPEs based on marine waste plastics. The OP line of elastomer materials includes products with up to 45 per cent marine waste and 70 per cent total recycled material content in a wide hardness range from 20 Shore A to 95 Shore A. Audia is focused on recapturing beach clean-up materials, commercial fishing gear, and ocean-bound plastics as the source for its OP line.
It will be interesting to see if these elastomers make their way into consumer packaged goods and if the marketers will put the provenance the raw materials on the actual packaging. I see a reality in the next few years of it being somewhat commonplace to see high recycled content and recovered marine plastic in products like tooth brushes and shoes.
Continental Launches New Tire Capable of Higher Loads
I usually think of tires as these things I need to get replaced every so often and hope that I don’t run over a nail and have to do a spare change on the side of a highway. I know making tires is incredibly complex, but Continental is making news with their new HL rated tire that launched Jan 21st. The HL I believe stands for “high load,” but this is essentially a regular tire that I could buy from the guy who also changes my oil and according to Continental:
Increasing the load capacity while at the same time meeting customer requirements called for a number of changes in both the tire structure and the rubber compound. “We were dealing here with tradeoffs that needed resolving at a very high level,” explains Dr. Stefan Habicht who was in charge of the development project for these tires. “In terms of construction, we reinforced the bead and enhanced the contour of the tire to reduce tire/road noise. At the same time we also optimized the pattern compound. As a result, we were able to achieve low rolling resistance, ensure precision handling and keep mileage at its customary high level.”
I imagine these tires might be a good fit for Tesla’s Cyber Truck or any sort of vehicle that has to deal with higher loads due to batteries. Congratulations to the team who engineered the tire.
In writing this newsletter I feel like I am getting exposed to things I normally wouldn’t come into contact with. I read a lot more about the chemical industry, polymers, and things I normally wouldn’t have paid attention to if I just went about my day job. I hope this is helpful to the readers too.
Tony
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