Lomon Billions Introduces High-Performance Chloride Titanium Dioxide Pigment

BILLIONS^® BLR-895 titanium dioxide pigment is a new high-performance TiO₂ pigment from Lomon Billions introduced at the ECS. Developed through customer consultation at the company’s 1200 m² technology center in China, and manufactured using the chloride process, the new durable pigment has excellent dispersion, opacity and gloss, and delivers brilliant whiteness with a clean blue tone making it suitable for an extensive range of architectural and industrial coatings.

“We listened to our customers and built their feedback into our product design,” said Julie Reid, Marketing Director. “BILLIONS BLR-895 pigment is a really versatile pigment. It’s suitable for water-based and solvent-based interior and exterior architectural coatings and can also be used in a wide range of industrial applications including coil, powder and automotive coatings.

BLR-895 pigment can deliver a brighter bluer white when compared with several competitive chloride TiO₂ pigments including internationally recognized brands, and thanks to its inorganic surface coating it has outstanding dispersion performance. It disperses quickly and easily into coatings formulations, helping to achieve efficient production and high-quality coatings. We’re delighted that our new pigment has already been approved and used by leading global coatings producers.”

Lomon Billions is now the world’s 4^th largest producer of high-performance titanium dioxide pigments and 1^st in Asia in terms of TiO₂ pigment production capacity. The company manufactures a wide range of high-performance titanium dioxide pigments for all major applications using the sulfate process, including BILLIONS^®TR52 specialist pigment for high-quality inks. The company also produces TiO₂ pigments using the chloride process, including BILLIONS BLR-896 pigment designed for durable heavy-duty industrial coatings that are constantly exposed to intense weathering.

Merck Presents New Products and Concepts

Merck KGaA presented novel products and innovative concepts for the paint and coatings industry. Multimedia displays were used to show the potential and possibilities of the company’s innovations. Underscoring the “Bold & Vibrant” theme, a Rolls-Royce and a Harley-Davidson featuring premium effect pigments attracted much attention.

Merck launched Xirallic® NXT Cougar Red at the ECS. It is the fourth product in the Xirallic NXT series, modeled on the beauty and fascination of big cats. It creates a spectacularly neutral to bluish red and lively sparkle – following the metallic shimmer of Panthera Silver, the interplay between color and extraordinary sparkle of Leonis Gold, and the special intensity and brilliance of Tigris Blue. Used alone or in combination with other pigments, the red crystalline pigments of Xirallic NXT Cougar Red give coatings a mysterious magic with an intense sparkle in a broad spectrum of possible shades. They impart even more depth to black automotive coatings.

The ECS also provided a first look at Meoxal® Victoria Red, which will be available in late 2017. It is the fourth effect pigment in the Meoxal series, featuring excellent color intensity and extraordinary brilliance while evoking the world’s deserts. Meoxal Victoria Red is inspired by the color strength and intensity of Australia’s Great Victoria Desert. The simultaneously color-intense and vibrant effect pigment enables stylings both in pure red and in bluish nuances.

Merck also presented Tivida® FL 3000. It is the first nonionic fluorosurfactant from the Tivida series and is excellently suited for aqueous and nonaqueous coating formulations. Thanks to its high chemical stability, it also works very well in applications with either acidic or alkaline pH values.

Pigments from the Iriotec® 7000 series dissipate electrostatic charge where it develops: on the surface of printed packaging and painted or coated surfaces. The new product Iriotec 7340 has an even lighter-colored mass tone – with the proven conductivity of the Iriotec 7000 range, it is particularly suited for light-colored or colored coatings and floor coatings as well as for conductive primers for electrostatic application (ESTA).

The functional pigments from the Iriotec 8000 series convert laser light to durable, wear-resistant markings that remain in the material. So far, this series has made a name for itself for indestructible markings in all types and colors of plastic. Now there’s Iriotec 8850: This innovative pigment reacts so quickly and sensitively to laser light that only a very thin layer is sufficient for a permanent marking. Light and colored powder-coated surfaces can now be labeled with razorsharp expiration dates, bar codes or trademarks. The pigment’s fast reaction time uses a process developed by LPKF Laser & Electronics AG for an extremely innovative purpose: With laser light and this pigment, a large number of light-colored plastics and powder coatings can be metallized as the basis for the development of 3D circuit carriers. These circuit boards are applied directly to the component, creating totally new design possibilities for designers and product developers.

Inspiring Concepts and Application Examples          

Merck’s booth also featured an innovative concept car (“the car of tomorrow”). Visitors were able to view this type of car “live” in virtual reality with smartglasses. The car meets future automotive trends, requirements, and usage patterns with materials from Merck. These materials include colors for car body paints that virtual users can create themselves using novel effect pigments, as well as autonomous driving, online communication, adaptive headlights, various design options for interiors and exteriors, and innovatively shaped displays.

Merck illustrated the innovative power of its products through the materials used in its own booth. The floor shimmered with a striking-muted effect provided by Miraval® Cosmic Silver. Façade panels showed the possibility of effect pigments with coil coatings and powder coatings, for example with Xirallic NXT Leonis Gold. Liquid crystal window modules created privacy by partitioning the meeting nooks. An eye-catching Rolls-Royce was one of the main attractions, while a Harley-Davidson featuring premium pearlescent pigments at the hall’s east entrance invited visitors to stop by the company’s booth.

The Microbial Control Executive Council Meets with Industry Representatives

The Microbial Control Executive Council (MCEC) is comprised of the world's leading companies producing microbial control solutions. The MCEC attended the ECS and met with industry representatives and press to engage in meaningful dialog about the aims of the group as well as the shared values of its member organizations.

“The MCEC was created to promote and explain the added value and innovation that microbial control technologies bring to society,” said W. Brian Smith, MCEC Co-Chair, and Executive Vice President and COO of Troy Corp. “Member organizations saw the value in an organization of this kind to foster open dialog about microbial control, and to educate the public on the many benefits this advanced technology offers. Additionally, the MCEC was conceived by member companies to educate audiences on the efforts of these companies undertake to ensure the development of safe, environmentally responsible product technologies.”

“Microbial control technologies are essential in today's paints and coatings, both in the paint can during storage and when applied to exterior as well as interior surfaces. The science of microbial control involved determining the source of contaminants and surface growth threats, and then devising the most effective, safest and 'greenest' means to protect them. That is the focus of member organizations at this week's show, and one of the areas the MCEC is engaged in.”

The MCEC is a sector group of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) for the advancement of microbial control. The MCEC brings together six world leading companies supplying microbial control solutions – BASF, The Dow Chemical Company, LANXESS, Lonza, Troy and ICL. The MCEC is headquartered in Brussels and facilitates dialog on behalf of its members with a broad range of regional and global stakeholders.

Olin Positions Itself in European Market

Olin added Dow’s Epoxy business to its own in 2015. With a strong presence in the United States, Olin saw the ECS as an important event to position itself in the European market. The company’s range of technologies include low-VOC and waterborne resins, hardeners and curing agents, basic epoxy resins, specialty resins, resin blends, reactive diluents and composites. The company continues to build up its strong R&D and manufacturing capabilities in Europe and around the world.

Olin made two announcements at the ECS involving collaborations with other companies. The first is that Olin and The NRC Group have announced the start of their new collaboration, in which The NRC Group will begin distributing Olin’s epoxy resins (D.E.R.™/D.E.N.™) and Olin’s curing agents (D.E.H.™) for the coatings, civil engineering, adhesives and composites industries throughout the DACH region as of 1 April 2017. This collaboration reunites the two companies after their previous collaboration of more than 40 years, during which Olin’s epoxy resins products were distributed in the European territories.

As Thorsten Prott, Business Manager of Composites and Construction at The NRC Group’s head office remarked, “We welcome this renewed collaboration and are very much looking forward to the mutual strategic alliance we have set up with Olin. We’re excited to be expanding the already strong customer relationships we have in this core industry and allowing them to benefit from Olin’s epoxy products.”

Juan Antonio Merino, General Manager of Olin Europe, explained, “Olin’s expertise in the epoxy value chain will benefit from this distribution collaboration – and bring our innovation to the marketplace.”

Carlo Spaniol, Olin Europe Commercial Vice President, said, “Olin has extensive manufacturing supply chain capabilities in Europe that provide a competitive advantage. The renewed collaboration with The NRC Group will allow us to enhance our presence in the DACH region, where there is some of the world’s strongest demand for epoxy.”

Olin also announced that after years of successful collaboration in Spain, Olin and Quimidrogua have agreed to expand their cooperation to Portugal. Quimidroga will distribute epoxy resins, produced by Olin’s manufacturing sites, for all applications.

Olin is strongly committed to its customers in the Iberian region, and expanding the collaboration with Quimidroga is testament to the dedication to offering high-quality services to its value chain partners. Olin’s product portfolio, including Olin’s D.E.R. and D.E.N. resins, and D.E.H. hardeners for all industrial sectors will be streamlined and managed by a single distributor, improving the quality of service for our customers.

Juan Antonio Merino, General Manager of Olin Europe, explained, “By expanding its relationship with Quimidroga in the Iberian region, Olin demonstrates its focus on providing exceptional service for its clients across its portfolio of core, differentiated and specialty epoxy products.”

Orion Introduces New Easily Dispersible Specialty Carbon Black Liquid Preparation

Orion Engineered Carbons focued on its new DERUSSOL^® B230 waterborne liquid pigment preparation as part of its continued focus on easy-to-disperse specialty carbon blacks. In addition, Orion highlighted its easy-to-disperse XPB 430 POWDER, a stir-in preparation for waterborne coatings.

DERUSSOL B230 is a binder-free dispersion containing 30% specialty carbon black. Designed for medium jetness and tinting applications, it provides high pigment concentration at very low viscosity. “In this new formulation, the amount of additive needed to stabilize the pigment is drastically reduced,” said Dr. Jennifer Granados, Orion Marketing Manager, Coatings & Specialty Applications. “Optimization of the additive benefits coatings formulators by improving the compatibility of DERUSSOL B230 with other coatings ingredients.”

XPB 430 POWDER offers the highest jetness levels and strong bluish undertones needed for durable, high-quality automotive basecoats. Ideal for both automotive OEM and refinish applications, XPB 430 POWDER is processed to be easily dispersed under high-shear mixing. It can be dispersed directly in water and develops final colorimetric properties within minutes without further milling or additional wetting additives.